By 1News Reporters

An alleged Vietnamese cannabis syndicate in Auckland has been shut down, with 12 people being arrested.

Police described the organisation as “one of the largest syndicates” operating and supplying cannabis grow houses in Auckland.

Officers executed 19 raids in Flat Bush, Howick, Sylvia Park, Wiri, and Massey as part of the operation late last week. Police were supported by Immigration NZ and Customs.

The alleged kingpin, a 36-year-old Flat Bush man, was among those arrested.

During the raids, officers seized around $1.25 million worth of cannabis cultivation equipment and $80,000 in cash.

A pistol and ammunition were found at one Massey property, with around 35kg of cannabis and “several large bags” of MDMA pills also seized.

The alleged kingpin faced six charges, including participating in an organised criminal group, money laundering, supplying equipment used in cannabis cultivation and possession of cannabis for supply.

He appeared in the Manukau District Court on August 20 and was due to reappear in November.

Two women and nine men also arrested faced charges relating to participating in an organised criminal group, money laundering and drug offences.

Detective Senior Sergeant John Brunton said the 10-month investigation went beyond cannabis grow operations found in houses.

“We have deliberately taken the time to investigate the syndicate’s activities and build a picture of its network, which we will allege is one of the largest of its kind.

“Police have been working closely with a range of agencies as part of the investigation, learning more about the syndicate’s criminal activities.

“This includes allegations of supplying cannabis cultivation equipment, cannabis cultivation and money laundering.”

Across the whole investigation, more than five tonnes of cannabis material was seized across 50 rental properties.

Eleven Vietnamese nationals, who police described as “crop sitters”, have been deported.

“Five further crop-sitters remain in New Zealand pending prosecution. Police continue to work with Immigration New Zealand through this process.”

Brunton called last week’s busts a “fantastic result” that sent a message to operating syndicates.

“We are watching,” he said.

“Police are closely working across other law enforcement and government agencies to target syndicates involving themselves in this sort of criminal offending.”

Tonga Police arrested and charged 69 people with drink-driving last week after conducting breathalyser tests on more than 2,800 motorists.

Police said those arrested included 49 men and 20 women as part of an ongoing operation aimed at improving road safety and enforcing traffic laws.

A further 27 motorists were issued infringement notices for driving under the influence of alcohol, according to a police statement released today.

Police did not disclose where the checkpoints were conducted, the alcohol readings recorded or the penalties faced by those charged.

The operation follows continuing concern about road safety and alcohol-related driving in Tonga.

Police warned that intoxicated motorists endangered not only themselves but also their passengers, other road users and surrounding communities.

“The public is reminded that drunk driving is not only risky for the driver; it also puts passengers, the surrounding environment, and other road users in danger,” the statement said.

Police have urged motorists not to drive after consuming alcohol and to make alternative transport arrangements.

Giles Dexter of RNZ, Lauren Crimp of RNZ

The prime minister and education minister’s announcement the government has introduced a bill to ban social media for under-16s has caused two of the three parties in government to distance themselves from it, while it also appears to have caught Labour on the hop.

National is progressing its efforts to ban under-16 year olds from social media platforms, but so far is going it alone, unable to gather the support of its coalition partners, and Labour holding its support until it gets some more answers.

The bill puts the pressure on social media companies to take “reasonable steps” to check users are of-age, and includes the establishment of an online safety regulator and penalty regime.

The bill was introduced to Parliament on Monday as a government bill, and announced through a government press release, even though New Zealand First and ACT confirmed they had invoked the agree to disagree provision.

With 11 sitting days to go, the prime minister admitted the bill would not get its first reading before the election.

“We’ve got a lot of important bills to get out the door, but then we’ll pick this up on the other side of the election. But I think now this is the right thing to do,” Christopher Luxon said on Monday.

With New Zealand First and ACT long making it clear they opposed a ban, and without Labour’s guaranteed support, it meant Erica Stanford brought the bill to Cabinet for sign-off knowing that National did not currently have the numbers to progress it past first reading.

It leaft Labour free to push out its decision on the bill until after November, or for New Zealand First and ACT to fight against it should there be another round of coalition negotiations.

Labour, which had released a list of 79 questions it wanted answered, was likely to discuss the bill further at Tuesday’s caucus meeting, with leader Chris Hipkins open to coming to a position before the election.

Hipkins said his party would continue to engage with National on the bill “in good faith”, even though the prime minister’s admission the bill would not get its day in Parliament any time soon came as a surprise.

“We were working on the basis that we thought they were asking us to support it before the election. It’s clear, I now understand from the press conference, not from any communication with them on it, that they don’t intend to progress it,” Hipkins said.

National’s coalition partners were even more unimpressed with the way the bill was announced, with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters going through great pains to stress it was a National bill, not a government bill.

“Here we are having to tell a coalition partner how MMP works, and this is not how it works on this occasion. You’ve got two parties that aren’t agreeing,” he said.

David Seymour, meanwhile, said it was National’s right to “go it alone” and put the bill out before the election, and wished the party luck, but he did not believe it was a serious solution.

“I think people can judge for themselves, one party pushing through what is really an election campaign policy for themselves, at exactly the time the government needs to stick together,” he said.

Luxon said it was “perfectly reasonable” that parties formed their own view of the bill, but insisted the bill was “not a political thing”.

“It’s actually a Kiwi thing, and that’s what this is really about, and that’s what we really want the other parties to think about too.”

Stanford rejected an allegation from Peters that New Zealand First had only been made aware National wanted to introduce the bill on Friday, and had first seen the Cabinet paper over the weekend.

“The bill has been circulated for a number of weeks. It’s been with all parties. In fact, I offered New Zealand First a full briefing with my officials, which they accepted, so they certainly have had the Cabinet papers for a really long time.”

Hipkins said it had been “difficult” to get information out of the minister, but he did not want the matter to become a political football.

“My comments here are relatively moderate. I’m a little frustrated, but they’re moderate because I do want to find a way forward.”

Luxon and Stanford were also keen to put politics aside, with Stanford saying Labour would get a response to its questions shortly.

“It was quite a long, detailed list. Nothing particularly insurmountable. They’re just actually intelligent questions, but nothing of serious concern,” she said.

“We’re happy to engage with any political party on this, because it’s about the kids, not about political parties per se,” Luxon added.

Despite the political back-and-forth, the policy is popular with the public, even amongst supporters of parties that oppose it.

A RNZ-Reid Research poll from June 2025 had 57.8 percent of respondents say they supported a ban, with 31.6 percent opposed.

National supporters overwhelmingly agreed with a ban – 75.1 percent – while even ACT and New Zealand First supporters were also in favour.

Those invited to the announcement included students, principals, and members of the B416 campaign group, which has lobbied the government extensively for a ban.

Whangaparāoa College principal Steve McCracken, who is also chair of the Secondary Principals’ Council, said there had been some success in Australia of children disengaging with social media, which he said was a good sign.

“This is a step towards trying to help our young people actually just reconnect with each other, and become better citizens overall.”

A government fact sheet released alongside the announcement said around three in 10 children in Australia no longer had social media accounts.

The prime minister said the government was trying to make it the new normal.

“I came through an era in schooling where actually you didn’t have to have a bike helmet in primary and intermediate school, and then eventually at intermediate school it became a law, or became normal, that actually everyone wears their bike helmet, and then it became abnormal when you didn’t have a bike helmet on, and it’s no different here.”

Dr Maneesh Deva, a paediatrician but also an adviser for the B416 group, said he welcomed any action to protect children against big tech.

“We’ve moved from a play-based generation to a phone-based generation. What we’re seeing is really high rates of anxiety, self-harm presentations, sleep disturbance, and attention problems,” he said.

“I think the kids describe it well when they say that, what are you seeing on social media? They call it brain rot. And I think they’ve pretty much got it right.”

Not everyone in attendance was convinced.

“I don’t think it’s going to work. I strongly believe that people are going to find ways around it,” said Naenae College student Josiah Scott.

“I think a ban is quite a privileged stance. People that can’t interact, like marginalised communities, a big part of their ability to interact with each other. Disabled people who can’t get out of the house as easily as most people, people who can’t afford to do extra activities, aren’t going to be able to connect with these people anymore,” said student Lily Sang.

She said a better step would be to fund ‘third spaces’ better, and give teenagers a place to go and build connection.

“If you’re going to take away one form of connection, you need to be able to build up spaces and make them more accessible for people.”

But Queen Margaret College (QMC) student Biju Kim said she often found herself scrolling instead of studying.

Fellow QMC student Ana Bareta agreed, saying while social media could bring good things like connection, she also found herself scrolling without realising how long she had been scrolling for.

“I could have been doing study, I could have been outside, I could have been hanging out with my friends. But no, I’ve just been scrolling, or just on social media.”

Attendees received a short heads up, with Stanford’s office confirming to RNZ they were invited to an “update to the work being done to reduce online harm” late last week.

RNZ has approached TikTok and Meta for comment, but Stanford pre-emptively dismissed any opposition the ban was likely to get.

“I’ve met with some of the tech companies, and they make all the same excuses that you would expect them to make: ‘oh, but we’re trying, oh, but there’s worse things out there’. At which point, I say, ‘what? Worse than learning how to self-harm on your platform?’.

“At which point, you know, they sort of walk out with a tail between their legs because they know the harms that their platforms are causing.”

This story was first published on rnz.co.nz

Australia has announced a new AUD$20 million investment from 2026 to 2029 to support locally led gender equality, disability equity and social inclusion outcomes in Tonga.

The investment was announced by Australia’s Ambassador for Gender Equality, Michelle O’Byrne, during her first visit to Tonga, where she joined Minister for Internal Affairs Hon. Fane Fituafe in engagements across Vavaʻu and Tongatapu focused on women’s leadership, participation and inclusion.

The new investment builds on the close partnership between Tonga and Australia and supports priorities led by the Government of Tonga, including as outlined in the Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality Tonga (WEGET III) Policy, the National Disability Inclusive Development Policy and the recent National Women’s Fono.

The portfolio reflects Australia’s commitment to working alongside the Government of Tonga, civil society and communities to support Tongan-led priorities and practical, locally led solutions.

Quotes attributable to Ambassador O’Byrne

“Tonga and Australia are Kaumeʻa Ofi – close friends. Our partnership is built on decades of cooperation, deep people-to-people connections and shared values.”

“Tonga and Australia share a commitment to advancing gender equality, disability equity and rights, and social inclusion. Through this investment, Australia is proud to work alongside government, civil society and communities to support Tongan-led priorities, because development is strongest when it is locally led.”

“Inclusive societies are stronger societies. When women and men can participate equally, when people with disability can contribute fully, and when communities are free from violence, countries are more resilient, prosperous and secure.”

The investment will support the implementation of Tonga’s national gender equality and disability inclusion policies through expanded partnerships with the Ministry for Internal Affairs and civil society organisations and the continuation of Australia’s flagship Families Free of Violence initiative.

For 78 years, Siaʻatoutai Theological College has been weaving what its name symbolises—a spiritual “fisherman’s net” designed to prepare generations of ministers and lay leaders to bring people to Christ and serve the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga.

The meaning behind the name, bestowed by Queen Sālote Tupou III, has emerged as the college commemorates nearly eight decades of theological education and ministerial formation, according to its former principal, the Reverend Dr Paula Onoafe Lātū.

Lātū explained that sia means to weave a net, while ʻa toutai means by a fisherman.

He said the traditional sia has two types of mesh: pako lō taha, or single-layered mesh, and pako lō ua, or double-layered mesh. The pako lō taha has a fixed mesh size—traditionally about four inches—and therefore catches fish of a corresponding size.

By contrast, the two layers of the pako lō ua adjust in relation to each other, enabling the net to catch larger fish.

Lātū interpreted the name Siaʻatoutai theologically. In his view, the fixed pako lō taha represents the unchanging rule of law contained in the Holy Bible, while the two layers of the pako lō ua symbolise the Old and New Testaments.

The church’s annual conference established the college on August 14, 1948, under the patronage of the late Queen Sālote Tupou III.

Since its establishment, Siaʻatoutai has played a central role in providing spiritual formation, Wesleyan theological education and ministerial training in Tonga.

That mission is reflected in its motto, Ke Kalaisiʻia mo Kelesiʻia ʻEtau Langa ki ʻItāniti—“Let our building towards eternity be Christ-centred and grace-filled.”

The original expression, Ke Kalaisiʻia mo Kelesiʻia, is believed to have been coined by the Reverend Dr Alfred Harold Wood. The college’s inaugural principal, the Reverend K.D. Groove, later added the words ʻOku tau langa ki ʻitāniti—“We are building towards eternity.”

The two statements were formally brought together for the college’s 25th anniversary in 1973 and have continued to guide its spiritual and academic work.

Siaʻatoutai currently offers five academic programmes, including a Certificate in Theology and Pastoral Ministry taught in Tongan and a bilingual Bachelor of Divinity programme delivered in Tongan and English.

Its programmes are designed to deepen students’ understanding of scripture, Wesleyan theology and pastoral ministry while preparing both ordained and lay leaders for service.

The college also operates a Ministerial Formation and Training Programme aimed at developing future church leaders and equipping them to serve their congregations with theological knowledge, wisdom and compassion.

As it marks 78 years, Siaʻatoutai has reaffirmed its commitment to forming Christian leaders, strengthening the Church and continuing what it describes as its enduring work of “building towards eternity” through Christ and grace.