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Injuries of 4-year-old Alestra Kepa-Hati in weeks before her death revealed

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission

Police have revealed a four-year-old child who died in Northland almost nine years ago had suffered a broken arm, broken pelvis and two separate head injuries.

Police reignited their investigation into the October 2015 unexplained death of 4-year-old girl Alestra Kepa-Hati last week.

Detective Sergeant Natalie Syddall, of the Northland CIB, said Alestra’s injuries occurred in the two weeks before her death, when she was living with caregivers in rural Kaikohe.

Northland police were continuing to speak to two people of interest to the investigation, but wanted to hear from anyone who had seen Alestra, or had any involvement with her or her two younger siblings, after 28 August 2015.

According to information gathered so far, that was the last day the pre-schooler had been seen by anyone other than her caregivers.

At that time she was said to have been uninjured and healthy.

Syddall said injuries like those suffered by the four-year-old did not just happen.

“It is likely someone knows something or has seen something and that’s why we need the community’s help. It’s been nearly nine years since Alestra’s death. Allegiances change over time, and now is the time to do the right thing by this innocent child.”

Syddall said information could be provided in person at a local police station, or by calling the 105 reporting line and quoting file number 151003/8395.

Information could also be passed on anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111

Nelson woman who stole $8k worth of supermarket items says ‘maternal instinct kicked in’

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By Tracy Neal, Open Justice multimedia journalist,  New Zealand Herald.

Ebony Rapana was living in emergency accommodation, the pantry was empty and her children were hungry so “maternal instinct kicked in”, and she stole more than $8000 worth of supermarket items.

Despite no longer being in that situation, having found a home to rent, she now has to pay the money back and serve four months of community detention.

Rapana covered her face and fled the dock in the Nelson District Court on Friday, moments after Judge Tony Zohrab granted the right for media to take photos in court. She had just been sentenced on nine shoplifting charges she admitted in April.

She said she was desperate at the time and she had shared what she took with others who were in the same position.

Four charges were for theft of goods worth over $1000. In total, she stole items worth $8278 from several Countdown stores over 10 months from July 2022.

Rapana’s most expensive outing was in July 2022, when she walked out of a central Nelson Countdown supermarket with a trolley-load of goods including health and beauty products, meat and confectionary worth almost $1300.

She was seen on CCTV walking the trolley out of the store.

Police said Rapana’s method was to place low-value items on top of the trolley and walk out.

On 9 August 2022, she returned to Countdown, loaded a trolley and once more tried to conceal items by placing low-value items on top. On that occasion, the theft of goods totalled $639.

A few days later she was back at the same store, where she loaded a trolley and walked through the checkout, making no attempt to pay for the items, worth $1132.

She returned on 31 August, this time stealing items worth $1050.

On 30 December 2022, she entered Countdown Trafalgar Park, loaded a trolley and went through the checkout without paying for items worth $1279.

Her trip to the supermarket on 24 March 2023 resulted in the theft of goods worth $619.

On two trips to Countdown in April last year she stole goods totalling $1276, and on 8 May she returned and left with a trolley load valued at $986.

Defence lawyer Kris Main said Rapana had since been trying to be a productive member of society and was an active member of a church and her children’s school.

She had been remorseful over her actions, and while restorative justice was an option explored, it did not go ahead.

Woolworths NZ, formerly known as Countdown, told NZME in April the company had experienced a 326 percent increase in thefts from its stores over the past six years. At the same time, there had been an 806 percent rise in security incidents and a 303 percent increase in physical assaults.

The company declined to say how Rapana was able to offend so repeatedly from its stores, but it had “a number of safety and security measures being rolled out” to make stores safer for team members and customers.

Woolworths NZ said it knew that strong relationships with the police, community groups and other retailers were critical to addressing the problem, and this was something it continued to build.

It was recently reported that the supermarket chain was investing $45 million in security upgrades to tackle the sharp rise in shoplifting and aggression. These included trolley lock systems, push-to-talk radios and double-entry gates.

Woolworths operates more than 190 stores, serving about three million customers every week.

Judge Zohrab acknowledged that Rapana regretted her actions and was worried about “blowback” from media coverage and the impact on her children.

Person seriously injured following assault in Auckland’s Papakura

By
Kaniva Staff
-

Emergency services are responding after a person was seriously injured following an assault in the Auckland suburb of Papakura this evening.

Police say emergency services were called to the scene on Great South Rd, near Subway Rd, around 8pm.

“One person was located with serious injuries,” police said.

The road is closed while police examine the scene.

Diversions are in place.

People are asked to avoid the area if possible.

Repair ship on its way, but Tongan internet users still struggling to stay connected

By
Kalino Latu
-

With a cable repair ship still nine days away from Tonga, internet customers in Vava’u and Ha’apai are struggling to keep connected.

Tonga Cable Ltd

And customers have been warned that satellites may not be the answer, even as Elon Musk’s Starlink is applying for a license to operate in the kingdom.

Sources told Kaniva News it was hard to make calls on Digicel and the ATM service was “up and down.”

Our source said EFTPOS was barely working which means transactions are hampered.

However, while the internet has improved, the good patches are intermittent and there are  still “off hours.”

The ABC’s Pacific Beat said internet services to Vava’u and Ha’apai earlier this month were severely disrupted, forcing internet providers to switch over to satellite internet. The rest of the country is still connected.

Former head of the Tonga Cable Company, Edwin Liava’a, said fibre optics provided greater capacity and bandwith, but continued breaks had made satellite providers attractive.

Media have reported that Tongan internet users have resorted to using Elon Musks’s Starlink satellite service, but at a cost.

The government is not happy with people using Starlink. They say it is technically illegal since the American company is not a registered provider in Tonga.

However, the Tonga Government is considering issuing Starlink a licence to offer broadband internet services in Tonga.

Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni said Starlink had applied for a licence to operate and the government was taking it into consideration.

People in Tonga who live in areas that have poor internet coverage already use Starlink connections to run their business internet and to communicate with family and friends. 

This has led to questions about whether the government should have already had a satellite back up plan or whether a second cable would be a better answer.

A government spokesman told Kaniva News this evening a second cable was needed to back up the existing cable.

Satellite backup was also needed when cable was completely disrupted with limited capacity. Cable had high capacity and repair costs, but low operating and maintenance costs.

Satellite was low in capacity, but high in operating costs to provide back up telecommunications.

“Satellite technologies like Starlink are very low in operating expenditure, but only suitable for residential and offices, not telecom backups,” the spokesperson said.

Questions have been raised about whether the government should have sought help from foreign naval vessels, including helicopters.

A specialist cable repair ship is sailing to Tonga from Singapore and is expected to arrive  in the islands next Thursday (July 18).

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Communication  said it appeared the cable had been broken by a recent earthquake near the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano. It was detected 73-96kms from Tonga’s main island of Tongatapu and  northwest of Haapai islands.

The Ministry has a spare section of cable about 60km long which it hopes will cover the damage.

“If not, we have to wait to give time to manufacture new cables”, the Ministry said.

This is the third time Tonga’s undersea cable has been disrupted.

In January 2019 Tonga’s cable was cut in an incident Tongan authorities blamed on a Malta-registered ship, the Duzgit Venture.

Tonga Cable said the cable was cut into four sections by an anchor dragged along the sea bed.

In 2022 the Hunga Tonga  volcanic eruption destroyed portions of the cable and cut Tonga off from the rest of the world.

At the time we reported comments by Dean Veverka, chief technical officer for Southern Cross Cables, which owns two other cables in the area.

He said satellites could only handle a  small percentage of the traffic requirements out of any country.

“These days submarine cables carry about 99 percent of all communications between countries,” he said.

Supreme court restrains Talaiasi Nau from using Tonga Body Building Federation name

By
Kaniva Staff
-

A Supreme Court judge has ordered Talaiasi Nau, head of a rival body to stop using Tonga Body Building Federation (TBBF) name in the body building competition on 04 July 2024.

Talaiasi Nau

Justice Langi made the order after an urgent injunction was filed with the supporting affidavit of Tofavaha Tuifua and Piano Fatai.

The court also made the following orders against Nau:

“The respondent is restrained from using TBBF name in any future body building activities.

“The Respondent is restrained from using TBBF social media name and account

“The Respondent shall forthwith issue a public notice that the bodybuilding competition on 04 July 2024 is not affiliated with TBBF.

“Any other future other to hear the full matters concerning the assets of the Applicant held by thew Respondent to be referred to in the Writ of Summons and statement of claims”.

The decision came as part of a years-long dispute between the two rival  bodybuilding federations.

As Kaniva News reported recently, the two groups both call themselves the Tonga  Body Building Federation and fight over control of the national sports body.

The group led by Nau is recognised by the Tonga Amateur Sports Association and National Olympic Committee (TASANOC).

The other group, which has threatened legal action, is led by Tofavaha Tuifua and is recognised by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Sports. In the past Tuifua’s group has received significant government funding.

The TBBF was established in 2009, with Tuifua as first president. After he  left to live in Australia, a new board was elected and continued to run as the TBBF. Secretary of the TASANOC-recognised TBBF board Mary Nau told Matangi Tonga in 2019 that Tofavaha had returned to Tonga after 10 years away and wanted to use the name of the TBBF.

The Supreme Court ruled this belonged to Nau. However, in 2022, Onedera demanded pay $15,400 to settle the long running legal dispute.

In 2016 the South Pacific  BodyBuilding Federation voted to take disciplinary action against Nau for bringing the SPBBF into disrepute.

Repair ship on its way, but Tongan internet users still struggling to stay connected

By
Kalino Latu
-

With a cable repair ship still nine days away from Tonga, internet customers in Vava’u and Ha’apai are struggling to keep connected.

Tonga Cable Ltd

And customers have been warned that satellites may not be the answer, even as Elon Musk’s Starlink is applying for a license to operate in the kingdom.

Sources told Kaniva News it was hard to make calls on Digicel and the ATM service was “up and down.”

Our source said EFTPOS was barely working which means transactions are hampered.

However, while the internet has improved, the good patches are intermittent and there are  still “off hours.”

The ABC’s Pacific Beat said internet services to Vava’u and Ha’apai earlier this month were severely disrupted, forcing internet providers to switch over to satellite internet. The rest of the country is still connected.

Former head of the Tonga Cable Company, Edwin Liava’a, said fibre optics provided greater capacity and bandwith, but continued breaks had made satellite providers attractive.

Media have reported that Tongan internet users have resorted to using Elon Musks’s Starlink satellite service, but at a cost.

The government is not happy with people using Starlink. They say it is technically illegal since the American company is not a registered provider in Tonga.

However, the Tonga Government is considering issuing Starlink a licence to offer broadband internet services in Tonga.

Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni said Starlink had applied for a licence to operate and the government was taking it into consideration.

People in Tonga who live in areas that have poor internet coverage already use Starlink connections to run their business internet and to communicate with family and friends. 

This has led to questions about whether the government should have already had a satellite back up plan or whether a second cable would be a better answer.

A government spokesman told Kaniva News this evening a second cable was needed to back up the existing cable.

Satellite backup was also needed when cable was completely disrupted with limited capacity. Cable had high capacity and repair costs, but low operating and maintenance costs.

Satellite was low in capacity, but high in operating costs to provide back up telecommunications.

“Satellite technologies like Starlink are very low in operating expenditure, but only suitable for residential and offices, not telecom backups,” the spokesperson said.

Questions have been raised about whether the government should have sought help from foreign naval vessels, including helicopters.

A specialist cable repair ship is sailing to Tonga from Singapore and is expected to arrive  in the islands next Thursday (July 18).

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Communication  said it appeared the cable had been broken by a recent earthquake near the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano. It was detected 73-96kms from Tonga’s main island of Tongatapu and  northwest of Haapai islands.

The Ministry has a spare section of cable about 60km long which it hopes will cover the damage.

“If not, we have to wait to give time to manufacture new cables”, the Ministry said.

This is the third time Tonga’s undersea cable has been disrupted.

In January 2019 Tonga’s cable was cut in an incident Tongan authorities blamed on a Malta-registered ship, the Duzgit Venture.

Tonga Cable said the cable was cut into four sections by an anchor dragged along the sea bed.

In 2022 the Hunga Tonga  volcanic eruption destroyed portions of the cable and cut Tonga off from the rest of the world.

At the time we reported comments by Dean Veverka, chief technical officer for Southern Cross Cables, which owns two other cables in the area.

He said satellites could only handle a  small percentage of the traffic requirements out of any country.

“These days submarine cables carry about 99 percent of all communications between countries,” he said.

Tongan church labels council ‘stealth-like’ in ongoing stoush over derelict Auckland house

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By Sam Smith, Stuff

Auckland Council has incurred the wrath of the United Church of Tonga, which has accused the authority of being “the villain” over the costly repairs of a dilapidated historic building in the affluent suburb of Grey Lynn.

The on-going stand-off between the church and state concerns repairs the council has ordered the church, which owns Carlile House a Victorian-era house, to carry out.

It is estimated to be in the tens of millions – money, the church says, it doesn’t have.

“I do think that they are the villain” James Prescott, the Deputy Chair of the United Church of Tonga, says about Auckland Council who is looking to enforce a dangerous building notice it issued the church in 2021.

Carlile House, has been standing on Grey Lynn’s Richmond Road for over 150 years. However, for the last 30 years it has fallen into a state of disrepair, with part of the roof having collapsed and other parts falling off the building.

The council issued Carlile House with a dangerous building notice in 2021 and the house is now fenced off and boarded up to prevent people from entering.

A council spokesperson, David Pawson, told Stuff , the United Church of Tonga, was legally required to carry out work to prevent Carlile House from remaining dangerous, the “work has not been completed”, he said.

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The derelict Carlile House on Richmond Road in Grey Lynn.
LAWRENCE SMITH / STUFF

That work included getting the roof, flashings, and downpipes fixed and would incur a “significant cost”.

Pawson said the council was considering options to progress the matter, but added no decisions have been made as to what the next steps were, aside from the fact that prosecution and doing the work on the owner’s behalf were on the table.

The church say they feel threatened by the council and that they do not have the money to carry out the work required by them.

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The house is in a bad state of disrepair and has been issued with a dangerous building notice.
LAWRENCE SMITH / STUFF

“They said according to their powers they would have the right to come in and repair what it is they wanted repaired and on-charge that to the church,” Prescott told Stuff.

He said the council has not given them enough time to assess their options and that they are acting in a “hostile” and “stealth-like” manner towards the church.

“The people at the council have said well if it falls down, even if it was the last brick remaining, we are still going to hold you to fixing it up.

“I can sympathise with the idea of protecting a piece of Auckland’s history, but they are all legislative powers without any resources contributing to that. They are forcing an owner to take on their mandate of restoring old buildings.”

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The house has been left largely abandoned since the early 1990s.
LAWRENCE SMITH / STUFF

Prescott said the church had already spent $40k on securing the building, although he did admit they have not started any maintenance on the building, as directed by the council.

“They don’t want to put up any money to help in that exercise at all,” Prescott said, adding that a full restoration would cost between 10 and 15 million dollars, money the church does not have.

“If we had the money, or if there was money, we would like it to be redone into its former glory. The cheaper option is to knock it down and build something that is functional to what we need. The option of a refurb is a hell of a lot more expensive than knocking it down and starting again.”

Demolition of Carlile House though is off the table given its category one heritage listing. This means the building will continue to fall down unless maintained, or a decision is reached on its future between the church and the council.

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The house is owned by the church next door.
LAWRENCE SMITH / STUFF

Prescott said selling the land the building is on is also not an option as they believe they would be selling it at a massive discount because of the building’s heritage protection. “Nobody would want to touch it,” he said.

The property has a CV of around $8 million.

Built in 1866, Carlile House has been many things over the years, including an orphanage, a home to evangelical Christians, a remand house, and a hostel for Tongan workers.

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James Prescott standing inside the house.
CHRIS MCKEEN / STUFF

Auckland’s first Tongan church was built next door to the house in 1978 and the United Church of Tonga has been there ever since.

The house was cross-leased and transferred to the church’s trust in 1990. Since then, it has largely remained empty, although the church used to sell tapa cloth amongst other things in the foyer area.

The council and church have been in discussions around the building’s future for a number of years, however, things have reached a stalemate in recent times, with neither being able to come to an agreement on what to do with the building.

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The council and the church cannot come to an agreement on the future of the house.
LAWRENCE SMITH / STUFF

The church did put a proposal to the council where they would gift the building to them so the council could instead use the money it was going to spend on buying the house to restore it.

The church would then buy back the building for it to be used for community events. This offer was rejected by the council.

The council also presented their own options to the church. The first option was to buy the building from the church, with no conditions attached. They say this would have meant the council was in a position to negotiate with third parties interested in restoring the building.0000000001C003065E9Carlile House from the air.
JASON DORDAY / STUFF

They also proposed a second option whereby the building would remain under the ownership of the church, and the council would act as a developer on its behalf. Both of these offers were rejected by the church.

Since the house was issued with a dangerous building notice, there have been no further discussions on any proposals put forward and the council has not included the purchase of the house in its annual budget for 2024/25.

As for what next? Prescott is not optimistic of a solution any time soon. “ The solution by default is it just sits there and it looks ugly to all of Auckland. It is overgrown and it just becomes more frail with each passing year.”

– Stuff

Defence Minister Judith Collins heading to Tonga for armed forces centre opening

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission

Defence Minister Judith Collins is heading to Tonga for three days for the opening of an Armed Forces Leadership centre.

The $6.5 million centre, partly funded by New Zealand’s Defence Force and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will be opened by King Tupou VI on Tuesday, providing a programme adapted from the New Zealand Pacific Leadership model.

“New Zealand has a long, shared military history with Tonga and the development of this leadership centre is an excellent example of that partnership in action,” she said in a statement.

“This type of partnership is important as the Pacific is our home and we all benefit from sharing knowledge and working together to support a secure, stable and prosperous region.”

Departing on Monday, Collins will also meet with ministerial counterparts “to discuss regional challenges and opportunities in advance of the South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Auckland later this year”.

She will also visit the Tongan National Disaster Risk Management Office to hear about NZDF’s role in humanitarian and disaster relief and training, and travel to a Tongan army camp, before returning to New Zealand on Wednesday.

Family fighting to keep aunt in New Zealand as Immigration tells her to go

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission

An Auckland family is heartbroken two beloved members of the family are being told to leave the country by Immigration NZ.

Loasi Latu and her husband have lived in New Zealand for decades and have been told they have until Friday to leave the country voluntarily.

It was complicated by the fact Latu is a carer for her brother Viliami, who is a New Zealand resident and needs 24/7 support.

Latu has helped to raise many members of her wider family. On top of that, she is now the full-time carer for Viliami due to his intellectual disability and epilepsy.

An older woman with a man wearing a red cardigan.

Loasi Latu and her brother Viliami. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi

Latu said she was scared about being sent back to Tonga after more than 20 years in New Zealand.

“I feel heartbroken. New Zealand is my home. I’m scared. I don’t want to leave my brother. I am the one who understands him and the one he listens to. All my family is here and my grandkids.”

Family spokesperson Karina Kaufusi, who lives with Latu, said it has been a difficult time for the family and they were approaching RNZ and going public with their story as a last resort.

“My family is heartbroken and we have psychological reports from specialists talking about the psychological impacts it will have not only to my uncle Pila, but actually to three generations.

“My siblings and I, we’ve got really good jobs, we contribute to the economy significantly. She looks after my nieces. So they get to keep their nana. If she stays and they will be psychologically impacted if she is no longer here to care for them. So we’re absolutely devastated by this.”

The couple are technically overstayers, more than 20 years past the student visas they originally travelled to New Zealand on.

But they say they started the process of applying for residency before their visas expired, but were taken advantage of by their immigration advisor, who took their money but did not apply for residency.

They believe if they had been better represented, they would have been given residency years ago.

They applied for a special direction for permanent residency from the minister in 2023, but this was declined.

Since then, they have gathered further evidence for a new application with Associate Minister Chris Penk, but Immigration New Zealand said the couple must leave New Zealand even though that process is underway.

“They’ve told my aunt and uncle that they need to voluntarily leave this country by Friday. So all we’re asking is to let the process run through, let the minister review this new compelling evidence that we have gathered.”

That new information includes reports about how Latu’s brother, who is nearly 70 and lives with an intellectual disability and epilepsy, would be adversely affected if she were to leave the country.

The family calls him Pila and said Latu caring for him means he is not straining the public system by requiring full-time care.

But if she cannot do it then the options are put Pila into care, send him to Tonga, or keep him in the family, which could mean a lot of change for Kaufusi.

“The first option would be to put him in an already stretched public healthcare system that will cost New Zealand millions and millions of dollars because he needs 24/7 supervision and care. That option, for us, it’s not culturally appropriate.

“We’re a Tongan family and in our Tongan culture, we don’t give our vulnerable, we don’t give our elderly people to strangers to take care of them. The family takes care of them and so the second option, being the youngest of the family, being single, being a woman, my Tongan, an obligation and duty to my family is to sacrifice the career that I have.

“I’m a young, brown, female senior structural engineer. The engineering industry needs more females, it needs more pacific people in it, and I would be sacrificing and giving that up so that I can look after my uncle Pila to provide the 24/7 supervision that he needs.

“The third option is to send him back to Tonga …. He deserves a quality life here. Tonga doesn’t have the resources to look after my uncle.”

They said they believe sending Latu to Tonga would have humanitarian and economic impacts, through increased cost on the taxpayer to care for Pila, and a lower quality of life for him.

RNZ asked Immigration if it had considered the wider consequences if the couple were to leave NZ, and why it could not wait to hear the response for the second application for special direction.

It did not respond directly to RNZ’s questions.

In a statement, national compliance manager Stephanie Greathead said Latu and her husband have been in the country unlawfully since 2004 and are liable for deportation.

She said they have no further right to appeal, and she encouraged them to leave voluntarily.

The family’s latest request for a special direction is with Penk.

A spokesperson said: “Minister Penk is unable to comment on specific cases due to privacy reasons. Requests for ministerial intervention are prepared by Immigrations officials before being considered by the minister in accordance with the Immigration Act.”

Tributes flow for Tongan mobility scooter victim after being fatally hit by car in Hamilton, NZ

By
Kaniva Staff
-


A person on a mobility scooter has died after a collision with a vehicle in Hamilton yesterday afternoon.

(file image) Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller

He has been identified by Tongan family members and relatives on Facebook as Fakataha Tau’aika.

Police said they were called to the scene on Peachgrove Rd around 2.20pm, Tuesday.

The deceased was taken to Waikato Hospital, where he later died.

The vehicle left the scene but has since been found, and the driver is assisting police with their enquiries.

Part of the road was closed while the serious crash unit carried out a scene scene examination and has since reopened.

Loved ones of Tau’aika are paying tribute to him on social media.

“This is so unexpected”, a commenter wrote.

“This world makes me sick”, another wrote.

“It will take the whole day to describe how I am being devastated by your death”, one commenter wrote.

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