naomi

michael dearth

alice

elliot

jason

Another night, another invention test, another Sam-less episode because he’s up in the Gods after winning the previous night’s challenge.
Tonight it’s an elimination round, and I think we all know who will be going home today, bless him. (Hint: It’s not Elliot.)
The five cooking tonight are Hana, Naomi, Elliot, Jason and Alice, who arrive at the MasterChef Kitchen to find coffee machines and pods on their stations. Guess what the hero ingredient is tonight?!
“Keep sipping, keep tasting and keep savouring that coffee,” Judge Michael Dearth tells the fateful five. “Your task today is to create a dish extracting the coffee from your coffee machine.”
READ MORE:
* MasterChef NZ recap: As the pressure ramps up, a dish is 'ruined'
* Top restaurant Amisfield removes edible pounamu from menu after MasterChef complaint
* MasterChef NZ recap: Is this the worst dish in MasterChef history?
* MasterChef NZ recap: Rustic cooking style flounders under pressure
Mmmm, savour the aroma. This blend has notes of oak, nuttiness and frazzled production assistants desperately trying to shoehorn a Lor coffee machine product placement into an episode.
WARNER BROS DISCOVERY/Supplied The Fateful Five, plus Sam who has immunity tonight. For the record: I am from Wellington. Alone among my people I drink decaf instant, and I don’t care who knows it.
Anyway, Naomi is not sure how to proceed. She’s thinking coffee rubs, coffee syrups, coffee plates, everything coffee up to and possibly including straight-up pouring the stuff all over herself and calling it a job done.
She settles on an orange coffee spiced glazed venison, which – not gonna lie – sounds revolting.
WARNER BROS DISCOVERY/Supplied Jason is giving it his all, but I feel like he knew all along that he’s the weakest link. Alice says she’s going to stick with sweet dishes from now on if she can, as deserts and baking are her wheelhouse. She settles on a Vietnamese coffee desert. YUSS! And decides to add soy sauce. Oh n .
The layered cake she is planning is the most ambitious she has ever made, and I can see what she means. It is super ambitious to make something that sounds disgusting, feed it to the judges and hope to win.
Over at Elegant Elliot’s station, everything is under control.
“I love black coffee,” says Elliot. “Short and strong is my cup of tea.” Chur, bro I see what you did there.
Old mate is a little dark on the whole coffee-as-a-savoury thing, however. He’s right. The only acceptable non-drink form for coffee is coffee ice cream. That’s not just my opinion, that’s science.
He ends up going with a dirty chai latte curry, however, which sounds frankly terrifying on account of it including coffee flavoured chicken, suvee’d in butter. Even writing that felt like an offence before God.
Hana is doing something Ethiopian because, “coffee is native to Africa”, a stretch so good I felt my own back pop. Luck is on her side because Judge Vaughan Mabee loves Ethiopian food.
Jason, God love him, is talking about smoked cauliflower and coffee puree with coffee beef. His face, voice and demeanour are calm, but his hands are screaming, ‘oh God, oh God, why did I put myself in this situation?’
WARNER BROS DISCOVERY/Supplied Coffee is the hero of this episode. Now he’s doing shibari on his hank of beef. Jeeze Jason, come on, there are kids watching.
He’s giving himself lots of options and back-ups through the cook, including one element that I reckon sounds actually edible, which is a coffee glazed aubergine. I could be down to taste test that.
Alice has misjudged the smallness of her cake tins, which considering she’s putting soy sauce in her cake sounds like a recipe for going home.
Naomi just mixed condensed milk with vinegar, Elliot is making onion skin ash, and Hana is making crispy coffee noodles. I was not prepared for being traumatised by food tonight.
Best of luck to the judges, I’ll be rooting for you.
Seriously though, this close to the end of the series, who we have left are superb chefs, and they’re giving it there all tonight. If anyone can make coffee flavoured chicken, venison and noodles work, it’s this lot.
Warner Bros Discovery/Supplied The judges are not messing around tonight. Mabee says it’s exciting seeing how the chefs have changed and developed. The planning has ramped right up and that can only mean good things for the gourmet. While he’s talking, however, there’s some weird yelling in the kitchen that they pretend didn’t happen. Could it be the unintended result of Jason searing his beef with popcorn in the pan “to keep people on their toes”?
With ten minutes to go, Elliot is in crisis. He’s put the roast veg tray on the induction plate, and now they are all burned to buggery. He reckons he’s going home, but still manages to pull together a very nice looking plate. It’s meant to suggest a splash of coffee on a counter, and it’s got me reaching for my $29 Kmart steam cleaner, so I reckon that’s a win.
Inspired by her time at Amisfield, Naomi takes it up a notch by whipping out the stone she found to use as a decorative plating option.
WARNER BROS DISCOVERY/Supplied Who’s the prettiest cake at the ball? Alice’s tiny cakes look utterly divine dotted with tiny flowers – more of that Amisfield influence?
Jason’s dish looks like the kind of thing you’d get at the Spud and Lettuce pub on a bad night. He looks resigned to his fate.
Hana’s dish looks like it’s been prepped for a New World Meal In a Minute campaign. The vege looks so... vege.
Elliot’s dish is ready for it’s close up, Mr De Mille.
The last 10 minutes fly by, and we’re on to the judging.
Alice is up first. Judge Nadia Lim questions whether cake can be inventive, Alice proves it can.
Naomi and her stone plate are next. It looks great, but how does it taste? “A bit too sweet,” says Dearth.
Hana’s deconstructed curry follows and off the bat, Lim loves the vibrancy and the plating. Dearth calls her an “intelligent chef”, which is the culinary equivalent of telling someone who just asked you out they have “a great personality”.
WARNER BROS DISCOVERY/Supplied Jason never really got to grips with the plating up. Elliot is next. Mabee and Dearth don’t like the plating at all, which seems unfair considering they’ve all been raving about his elegant plating all season so far. Dearth calls the dish “too esoteric”. If anyone knows what the hell that means, please let me know.
Elliot looks crushed. He is sure he’s going home, but we’ve all seen what Jason’s been up to tonight, so we know he’s not.
As Jase puts the dish in front of the judges and Dearth is taken aback. “It looks like you took it from a buffet,” says Mabee, articulating what everyone is thinking. And there you have it.
Warner Bros Discovery/Supplied Jason is sent home after delivering a dish that looked like he took if from a buffet. In the final moments it’s clear they all love Jason, and they're reluctant to deliver the bad news, but that’s what we’re all here for: weeding the culinary wheat from the chaf. Tonight, Jason is that chaf.

Stuff.co.nz - Stuff

MasterChef NZ recap: 'It looks like you took it from a buffet'

MasterChef NZ recap: 'It looks like you took it from a buffet' | Stuff.co.nz

middlemore hospital

wellington

counties manukau dhb

health nz

mark gosche

The former chairman of the now defunct Counties Manukau DHB says the responsibility for dealing with an investigation into a patient’s death at Middlemore Hospital last month is now in the hands of Health NZ.
The district health board ceased to exist on Friday under the Government’s new health reforms .
Former chairman Mark Gosche was approached for comment about the case at his Mt Wellington home on Monday.
When asked if the board needed to take responsibility for the patient’s death, which happened during his tenure, he said it would be something that will be looked at in the inquiry.
READ MORE:
* It's a waiting game in our overloaded and under pressure hospitals
* Call for DHB to release preliminary findings from patient death investigation
* Health Minister says free GP visits are a success before review is complete
* A woman left ED because of long waits. Hours later she had a fatal brain haemorrhage
“I don’t have the authority to speak now because I’m not the chair. We don’t exist as a board any more and all of our responsibilities have shifted to Health NZ ,” Gosche said. “But they are carrying out a thorough investigation.”
Gosche was asked if the public deserved to know more about the events leading up to the patient’s death.
“It will become clearer once the investigation has been concluded and that’s the whole point in doing the inquiry,” he said.
The patient first arrived at the emergency department at about 1am on June 15 with a severe headache. She was told it would likely be hours before she could be seen and left.
She returned to the hospital in an ambulance a few hours later after a “massive” subarachnoid haemorrhage and died the following day.
A doctor said the woman should have been given priority, because "headaches are always meant to be taken seriously", despite the fact the emergency department was experiencing record admissions and long wait times for patients .
JASON DORDAY/STUFF Health Minister Andrew Little and Associate Health Minister (Māori Health) Peeni Henare have formally launched two new health entities at AUT in Manukau, south Auckland. Gosche said the board received the investigation’s preliminary findings , which were presented by Counties Manukau Health’s acting chief executive Dr Pete Watson at its final meeting on Thursday.
He said it was the same brief statement which was given to the media last week.
“That’s all we got as a board. So there’s nothing more that I can add. All I know is what we were told and you were told in that statement.”
Last week Counties Manukau Health’s acting chief executive Dr Pete Watson said chief medical officer Dr Andrew Connolly was leading a review of the incident, which hadn’t yet been finalised.
“Our preliminary investigation has confirmed that at the time of the patient’s arrival at our emergency department was extremely busy and wait times for a consultation with a doctor were long.
“From time to time when waiting times are long patients may choose to leave our emergency department before they are seen, as occurred in this case. This patient had a catastrophic medical event a few hours later at home and returned to the hospital emergency department.
“Unfortunately, despite immediate medical assessment and appropriate treatment, her condition did not respond.”
EMILY FORD/Stuff Former Counties Manukau DHB chairman Mark Gosche says more details on the events leading up to the patient's death at Middlemore Hospital last month will be outlined in an outstanding investigation into the case. (File photo) Former Counties Manukau DHB deputy chair Tipa Mahuta, Katrina Bungard and Dianne Glenn all refused to comment on Monday and directed questions to Middlemore Hospital’s communications team.
Former board members Reece Autagavaia, Garry Boles, Colleen Brown and Paul Young were also approached for comment for this article.
Last week the DHB said it didn’t have a time schedule for the completion of the investigation.

Health bosses silent on outstanding patient death investigation at Middlemore Hospital

Health bosses silent on outstanding patient death investigation at Middlemore Hospital | Stuff.co.nz

auckland

compliance unit

chloë swarbrick

swarbrick

Auckland heavyweights have rallied behind iconic food truck The White Lady after Stuff revealed its licence to operate is on thin ice.
Local MP Chloë Swarbrick has thrown her weight behind the truck and its owners, the Washer family, in the hope of securing its future beyond a temporary licence that runs until September.
She said The White Lady’s “gnarly and awful” situation should be a “wake-up call” for the council Compliance Unit tasked with handling this and other inner-city establishments.
“If an institution that has been operating for the better part of a century can’t navigate the system, there is something deeply and profoundly wrong,” Swarbrick said.
READ MORE:
* The White Lady, long an Auckland icon, could be shut down by council regulations
* The White Lady: The story behind Auckland's oldest and most iconic food truck
* Auckland's White Lady food cart shuts for first time in 72 years in coronavirus lockdown
Close to 74 years after it first opened its truck doors, The White Lady’s annual licence was reduced to just six weeks in April, following complaint from a nearby business that odour and smoke were entering their store. There were also complaints of littering and drunk customers blocking the store’s entrance.
The situation hadn’t improved by May, and in June the council issued a temporary licence while it continued its assessment.
Swarbrick said there should be more outlets like The White Lady, not fewer , because of the vibrancy and fun they bring to the city.
She’s been in touch with surrounding businesses in an attempt to come up with creative solutions to the problems of litter and people crowding the footpath, she said.
Chris McKeen/Stuff Max Washer is the latest manager of the White Lady food truck family business which has been operating in Auckland for 74 years, but now is being “micromanaged” by Auckland City Council, he says. “It can never hurt to have your local MP in your corner fighting the cause,” she said, “but if the system worked, we wouldn't have to get involved.”
Mayoral candidate Leo Molloy said has been phoning people “high up the food chain” to try and help.
On Monday, Molloy said The White Lady is a valuable part of Auckland’s culture, especially for the 2am and 3am crowd.
It’s an important part of the cityscape, he said, and he would be disappointed to see it lost to tricky bureaucracy.
“I just hope like hell that common sense prevails,” he said.
Chris McKeen/Stuff Mayoral candidate Leo Molloy said the truck is a “positive influence” on Commerce St and the surrounding streets. Molloy said the truck, which has been operating since 1948, is actually a “positive influence” on Commerce St and the surrounding streets, where people don’t see crime around it the way they do in darker corners of the city centre.
Swarbrick said The White Lady’s situation calls to mind the efforts to pedestrianise Queen St, especially amid ongoing construction and disruption in the area.
Council needs to think about these things “drastically differently” in order to protect the CBD’s character and support businesses to succeed there, she said.
There has been a flood of support following the news that The White Lady’s licence was on tenterhooks – owner Max Washer said he can’t believe the response.
Chris McKeen/Stuff Max and his parents Peter and Anna Washer are still involved in the family business that opened in the 1940s. “It’s been mind-boggling to be honest, we’ve had amazing support,” he said on Monday.
“We just want a thriving and healthy nightlife in Auckland with our fellow small businesses in the area... we just want to sell our hamburgers.”
The family is still working closely with council, which Washer says has been very helpful, as well as taking advice from a number of people who have taken an interest in the situation.
Washer said he’d love to see more street trading happening, and for more small businesses to get the opportunities The White Lady has had.
Stuff understands Auckland Councillor Richard Hills has become involved as well. Hills could not be reached for comment by deadline.
In a statement, an Auckland Council spokesperson agreed that The White Lade has been an iconic part of Auckland’s history.
“While the council acknowledges the significance of The White Lady, we must ensure that businesses are operating in accordance with the same regulations that all other businesses or operators must follow.
“We are currently working with The White Lady’s team and with Auckland Transport, to achieve the best outcomes for Aucklanders, surrounding businesses and for The White Lady.”

White Lady's licence problems a 'wake-up call' for central Auckland's future

iceland

international energy agency

A Swiss company has started work on the biggest carbon dioxide capturing plant in the world!
The new facility has been named Mammoth. It is located in Iceland where a similar plant called Orca already exists.
It’s hoped Mammoth will play an important role in tackling greenhouse gas emissions.
How does the carbon-catching machine work?
Well, direct air capture, or DAC, is a special type of technology that removes carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air.
Climeworks, which is the company behind both the Orca and Mammoth plants, says the new facility will contain around 80 large blocks of fans and filters that suck in air and extract its CO2.
This will then be mixed with water and injected underground where a chemical reaction will turn it into rock.
The new Mammoth plant, which is set to be completed within the next 18 months to two years, will be able to remove 36,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the air per year.
Why is a carbon-catching machine important?
There are currently 18 direct air capture facilities in the world according to the International Energy Agency. However, they aren’t able to collect enough CO2 to make a significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions.
Carbon dioxide is what’s known as a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases are those in the Earth’s atmosphere which contribute to global warming. They do this by trapping the Sun’s heat, causing the Earth’s temperature to increase.
Global warming can have a direct impact on climate change, which is a big problem affecting communities all over the world.

Kiwi Kids News

Carbon dioxide capturing plant to be built in Iceland

invercargill

watene

longwood forest

dale tama watene

george ivor hyde

mary-jane thomas

sandy maree graham

dale watene

The Crown prosecutor in a murder trial at Invercargill says the evidence is clear – there was no struggle for a rifle when an Otautau man was shot in the head and killed.
Sandy Maree Graham, 32, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Dale Tama Watene, 40, at Otautau on April 16, 2020.
George Ivor Hyde, 25, has pleaded not guilty to being an accessory after the fact to Watene’s murder, between April 16, 2020 and April 27, 2020.
Watene's body was found in the Longwood Forest on May 18, 2020.
In her closing address on Monday, Crown prosecutor Mary-Jane Thomas said: “The evidence is clear – there was no struggle going on for the rifle when this man was shot and killed.
READ MORE:
* Woman accused of murder says man's family 'deserve to know the truth'
* Murder accused says she does not know if she pulled trigger or not
* Crown firearm expert: Dale Watene shot no closer than 80cm
* Murder accused suspected her phone was bugged
* Not enough physical evidence in house to say where man was allegedly shot
* Kids 'played' while Dale Watene's grave was dug, court told
“If there's no struggle going on then the only narrative is that Sandy Graham shot Dale Watene, and it's still at close range, in the head."
Graham elected to give evidence and last week told the jury she did not think the rifle was loaded, the gun fired while she and Watene wrestled for it, and that she did not know if she pulled the trigger or not.
Graham also said she was concerned about losing her children for having an unlicensed firearm.
On Monday, Thomas said Graham feared losing her children because she had intentionally shot and killed a man.
The Crown “were not suggesting for a second there were not circumstances where Watene acted appallingly in that house”, Thomas said.
"But Sandy Graham gave as good as she got.”
Supplied Dale Watene's body was found in Southland's Longwood Forest on May 18, 2020 after he was last seen in Otautau on April 16, 2020. Evidence presented by Graham's lawyers showed Watene had convictions for threatening behaviour, against a former partner, and offensive weapons.
Thomas said there was no evidence Watene hit women, other that what Graham told the jury had happened the night he died.
Thomas said the Crown’s case did not rely on Graham's lies to police, friends and Watene's family, but instead upon science.
A firearms expert said Watene's face could not have been closer than 80cm from the rifle muzzle when it fired.
Thomas suggested Graham downplayed her knowledge of firearms.
In his closing address, Graham's lawyer Philip Shamy said one of the most difficult things for a jury to recreate was an atmosphere of domestic violence.
"But it's a trap. Domestic violence is not a calm and considered situation. Bear that in mind when you consider this case.”
Shamy was "not here to blacken" Watene's character, but past convictions for domestic incidents were relevant.
"He was a jealous man."
Kavinda Herath/Stuff Police at the Otautau house where Dale Watene was last seen. [File photo] Shamy reminded the jury that Graham did not have to prove anything, and that it was difficult giving evidence "especially when you're on the menu".
The Crown did not have to prove motive, but Shamy asked "why on this night would she do that?"
“The only thing we really know is that unfortunately Mr Watene is dead, shot by that firearm.”
Shamy highlighted that the pathologist could not say how a tear on Watene's tongue had occurred, nor what angle the gun was at.
Speaking about distance the muzzle was from Watene's face, Shamy said the expert's evidence "went from one metre to 80cm, so what's that one-fifth of his measurement?"
"And that's how difficult this area is."
Shamy called into question the reliability of witness testimony which the Crown said showed the gun was loaded at the time.
"There's evidence that she never fired that .22.​ So how is she supposed to know all these things about how to operate it, load it, unload it, fire it," Shamy said.
The trial started in the High Court at Invercargill on June 13.
Justice Gerald Nation is expected to sum up the case on Tuesday after Hyde's lawyer gives her closing address.
The Southland Times

Otautau man 'intentionally shot and killed', Crown says

Otautau man 'intentionally shot and killed', Crown says | Stuff.co.nz

new zealand

taranaki

parliament

gurdeep basra

The retail sector is growing increasingly concerned about the impact of the proposed Smokefree 2025 action plan, which would “significantly” reduce the number of businesses selling cigarettes.
The action plan, which aims to get New Zealand’s population more than 95% smoke-free, was tabled two weeks ago and is due for its first reading in Parliament soon.
The cabinet paper states between 5000 and 8000 outlets across New Zealand currently sell tobacco products, and proposes a regulated market model where only a set number of retailers can sell such products.
The plan’s current modelling used a reduction of 95% of retailers, leaving only a few outlets with exclusive rights to sell tobacco.
READ MORE:
* The future of the corner dairy: Owners will need to 'diversify' business in order to survive without tobacco
* Smokefree 2025 plan is '100 per cent theory' and will destroy dairies, owners' group says
* Ban on selling ciggies will sink corner stores, says Taranaki dairy owner
Gurdeep Basra, who runs a dairy in central Auckland, said most – if not all – dairies probably wouldn’t survive if they couldn’t sell tobacco.
“It depends on location, but I would feel for the smaller businesses that lost the right. It’s not just the revenue margins, it’s the foot-traffic that cigarettes bring,” he said.
ANDY JACKSON/Stuff Auckland dairy owner Gurdeep Basra said most dairies probably wouldn’t survive if they lost the right to sell tobacco. (File photo) This includes the Onehunga Superette in south Auckland – its owner, Karmjit Singh , said the dairy would close its doors if it lost the right to sell cigarettes.
“They make up 70% of my revenue, but they also draw customers in, where they’ll often buy a drink or something while they’re there,” said Singh.
“I’m 100% sure I’d have to close if I lost the right to sell.”
And with the country’s ongoing spate of ramraids , Basra is even concerned about outlets that would retain the rights to sell tobacco products.
Victims of recent ramraids and break-ins have typically seen their cigarette stocks targeted, and Basra believes the action plan will only intensify the vulnerability of the remaining outlets.
Bhumika Patel/Supplied CCTV footage of dairy robbery shows thieves stealing cigarettes and tobacco from behind the counter. “[Reducing the outlets] would escalate crime and create a strong black market. People would target the shops which still sell them due to availability.”
Customs Minister Meka Whaitiri expressed in a Cabinet meeting last year her concern the significant reduction didn’t consider the impact on black market trade.
Dairy and Business Owners group president Sunny Kaushal said the action plan’s proposals are “well-intentioned, but misguided”.
“It would put crime on the higher side – even during the transition [of reducing the outlets]. We’re getting seriously concerned about this,” he said.
But Kaushal believes dairies could be part of the solution.
Ministry of Health data shows a 94% compliance rate among the country’s dairies and convenience stores when it comes to selling tobacco.
DAVID WHITE/STUFF Dairy and Business Owners group president, Sunny Kaushal said dairies can be part of the solution to tobacco sales. Kaushal has called for these businesses to have the right to sell a wide range of vape products as an alternative.
The 2025 plan doesn’t prevent retailers from selling vape supplies, however current Smokefree legislation restricts dairies and convenience stores to selling only three flavours : tobacco, menthol, and mint.
Selling more flavours would bring customers back to their local dairy and keep profit up, according to Kaushal.
“We need a proper plan and time for a transitioning revenue model.”
New Zealand dairies have gone tobacco free in recent years, with mixed results. Christchurch dairy owner Tara Aitcheson made the decision not to sell tobacco when she took over in 2018 – instead turning her store into a pie shop.
A north Canterbury dairy owner said the decision to drop tobacco had “been a struggle financially”, but she felt safer.

Dairies say most wouldn't survive the Smokefree 2025 plan

Dairies say most wouldn't survive the Smokefree 2025 plan | Stuff.co.nz

pfizer

malaghan institute and vaccine alliance aotearoa nz

le gros

You are not permitted to download, save or email this image. Visit [image gallery](/image_purchases) to purchase the image.
Director of the Malaghan Institute and Vaccine Alliance Aotearoa NZ, Le Gros said the BA.5 variant had found a "weak link" in people's immune systems, and would probably rise to soon be the dominant virus.
The variant had managed to "shapeshift its spike protein" to be different to spike proteins in previous variants, Le Gros said.
"It's just sneaky... It doesn't seem to be any more deaths but it does seem to be the same level of hospitalisations as the original Omicron, so it's still a very serious virus, it's a variant of concern, it should be taken very seriously - you don't want it, you don't want to be infected by it if you can avoid it."
While the vaccine was not as effective against this strain, it was still the best defence, Le Gros said.
He urged eligible people to get their second booster.
"The virus is still working away from the immunity that's generated by the current Pfizer vaccine, but it's better than nothing and it keeps those levels up - the best protection you have."
Vaccinologists around the world are still working to find a better vaccine, but it was important moves to find a better one were accelerated, Le Gros said.
"There's actually a recent vaccine which came out which works really well against different variants, but you need to be trying to push that forward because we're all sitting back at the moment saying 'we've solved it'. We haven't. This is going to go on and on unless we get a better vaccine."
Le Gros and his team are also working on a pan-Covid-19 variant, which he hopes will be in clinical trials early next year.
Le Gros is hopeful a vaccine will be made which only needs to be given to people once every five years.
"We hope that we can find the sweet spot that really nails this virus. There are a lot of scientists who, the more we learn about it, how it varies, what's important to the virus - it should be possible."

Otago Daily Times Online News

Vaccine 'not as effective but still the best defence'

经销商反映官方数据不停在变，购车补贴系统被戏称为“雷区”

生气，到底有多伤身？

又一家银行加入房贷返现大战，借款人最高可获得2万纽币

移民部长一席话惹怒餐饮酒店业：“这是一种侮辱，是傲慢”

新西兰房价未来是否还能十年翻一番？

christchurch

west coast

te maru place

redwood

neighbours

ram karki

john kirk-anderson

colin baillie

Fears father may have died in campervan fire while son slept next door
Neighbours fear a father may have died in a campervan fire while his son slept in the house next door.
Police confirmed one person died in a fire that engulfed a campervan in the Christchurch suburb of Redwood early on Monday morning.
Emergency services were called to the blaze in Te Maru Place at 12.39am. The person was found in a campervan parked in the driveway of a house.
Detective Senior Sergeant Colin Baillie said an investigation was under way.
READ MORE:
* Body found after caravan fire in Northland
* Police at scene of suspicious caravan home fire on West Coast
* Woman killed in Christchurch house fire
“The death is currently being treated as unexplained,” he said.
Ram Karki, who lives across the road, said he was one of the first on the scene.
He heard a loud bang and thought someone was breaking into his car but went back to bed when he saw no-one was there.
Soon after, he heard a second loud bang and looked outside to see a fire across the road.
“I just opened my curtain and saw a big fire.”
He ran over as another couple was trying to open the property’s locked gate. Karki jumped the fence and frantically knocked on the door of the home.
“We started yelling fire, fire.”
It was a few minutes before a young man answered, he said. The campervan in the driveway was well ablaze by then.
Karki said the man, believed to be in his early 20s, told him it was only him and his dad at home.
The man went to his dad’s bedroom but no-one was there, Karki said.
“We couldn’t find him, so we realised he must be in the caravan.”
Amanda Panfilow, who lives a couple of houses down, said she had met the residents recently at a neighbourhood barbecue.
The young man who lived there was in “complete shock” following the fire and she tried to comfort him, she said.
“We heard a bang and I could see big flames ... just horrific.”
A scene guard was to remain there overnight on Monday, and police and fire investigators are returning to the property on Tuesday.

Fears father may have died in campervan fire while son slept next door

Fears father may have died in campervan fire while son slept next door | Stuff.co.nz

wellington city council

paul eagle

eagle

warwick lampp

andy foster

aaron lloyd of minterellisonruddwatts

richard maclean

Wellington council asked to take back claims mayoral hopeful Paul Eagle breached election rules with billboards
Wellington mayoral candidate Paul Eagle's lawyer has asked Wellington City Council to retract its statements claiming he is breaching election policy by advertising his campaign.
More digital billboards have popped up around the capital this week, after the first batch caused confusion online last Monday , the day Eagle announced he was running for the mayoralty. Twitter users questioned their legality as they fell outside the permitted election advertising period.
Wellington City Council spokesperson Richard MacLean said displaying the signs before August 27 went against council policy – but as the signs were on private property, there wasn’t anything the council could do.
Eagle’s lawyer, Aaron Lloyd of MinterEllisonRuddWatts, addressed a letter to the council’s electoral officer Warwick Lampp, saying the guideline document the council has pointed to “clearly does not apply to the advertising Mr Eagle is using”.
READ MORE:
* Wellington mayor Andy Foster canvassing allies ahead of announcing run for second term
* Candidate 'disappointed' after election hoardings tagged for use of te reo Māori
* Cops called on pensioner but Wellington not alone in local body nastiness
Eagle said other candidates had in previous years advertised early without problems, to which MacLean said in this case “we’ve received a lot of heat [from the public] so we feel compelled to act”.
Eagle’s campaign spokesperson Georgina Stylianou said on Friday afternoon, the electoral officer contracted by the WCC confirmed to Eagle’s lawyers that there is no legal basis for him, or the WCC, to require the campaign advertising to be taken down.
“On this basis, we will continue to use billboard advertising to communicate with voters as many other candidates have in previous elections prior to the formal campaign period.”

Wellington council asked to take back claims mayoral hopeful Paul Eagle breached election rules with billboards

Wellington council asked to take back claims mayoral hopeful Paul Eagle breached election rules with billboards | Stuff.co.nz

Dean Robertson was in tears, after finding out he couldn't compete at this month's Birmingham Commonwealth Games. The para bowls athlete - who is legally blind - only learnt of his ineligibility after undergoing a strict eye examination, which found Robertson could have some vision restored with the use of special lenses. His dreams of going to the Games might be shattered, but the silver lining is life-changing. The story of Robertson's bowling career is best summed up by the man who introduced him to the sport. "It's remarkable, really, what he's achieved," said Kevin Smith. Robertson discovered bowls less than five years ago at a Blind Foundation have-a-go night. "He put I think it was a $20 note out on the floor," said Smith. "He landed right on the jolly thing and we had to pay him the 20 bucks." From there, the partnership between Robertson and his director was born. Three months later, they competed at their first national championships. "We went up to Tauranga and he played eight games and he won seven." Robertson said:"Yeah, I won my national title after three months." He was duly selected for the Commonwealth Games, but a required eye test changed everything. "We were in tears down the street," said Smith, but there is a silver lining. Previously, Robertson could only see 45cm blurred, now he's able to put faces to names, including his newborn grandchild. "When they put the glasses on me at the hospital, just the temporary glasses, I could see the Port Hills for the first time in eight-and-a-half years," said Robertson. His best mate is no longer needed as his director and he'll be less busy at the bar. "He gets my drinks or he used to," said Robertson. "Now I can get them myself." This isn't the end of his bowling journey - he now plans to compete against able-bodied athletes. With improved vision, who would bet against him?

MSN New Zealand | latest news, Hotmail, Outlook, photos and Videos

Blind bowler's 'failed' eye test dashes Comm Games hopes, but changes life

sporting shooters association while police

national organised crime group

sporting shooter association

neville dodd

While Police continue to blame the licensed firearm community for guns in the hands of gangs through straw sales, it was reported on 30 June that a man had been arrested for just that. However:-
"A man believed to be a patched member of the Head Hunters allegedly purchased guns for gang members despite having his firearms licence revoked.
The investigation was generated by the National Organised Crime Group’s operation into firearms diverters, now believed to be the "primary source" for organised criminal groups."
As stated by the investigating officer "In this case the 26-year-old male had made those purchases after his firearms licence was revoked, police suspect that he retained the licence card,"
Said Neville Dodd President of the Sporting Shooter Association. "While we welcome this arrest, if Police had done their job the offender’s firearm licence would have been seized along with any firearm he held when his licence was revoked. Why do they only suspect he retained his licence, they should know because its surrender should have been recorded? This is another example of sloppy administration of firearms by police.(1)
NB: excerpts of relevant legislation follow:
Section 28: Effect of revocation or surrender of firearms licence
(1)A person whose firearms licence is revoked must immediately surrender their licence to a member of the Police.
(2) On the revocation or surrender of a firearms licence, the holder of the licence-
(a) ceases to be licensed to possess any arms item or ammunition under the licence or any endorsement on it; and
(b )must, on demand, deliver any arms item or ammunition in their possession or under their control to a member of the Police.
and
(7) A person commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 6 months, or to a fine not exceeding $10,000, if the person, without reasonable excuse, contravenes subsection (1) or (2)(b).
All articles and comments on Voxy.co.nz have been submitted by our community of users. Please [notify us](/about-voxy#Contact_Voxy) if you believe an item on this site breaches our [community guidelines](/about-voxy#Community_Guidelines) .
Voxy: Your Voice

Voxy.co.nz - National

'More sloppy police administration' - Sporting Shooters Association

australia

lindt

dfo homebush

After two years of stalled bricks-and-mortar operations due to Covid-19, Swiss chocolatier Lindt launched its first new store in Australia in two years at DFO Homebush last month – bringing its new, global in-store offering Down Under for the first time. The shop features the brand’s new in-store design, which uses mirrors, wood, copper and natural light to create a welcoming, modern environment. Plus, while the store will feature the brand’s usual pick-and-mix offer, where customers

Inside Retail

Chocolate channels: Inside Lindt’s new in-store and online strategies

st georges road

havelock north

UPDATE: Fatal Crash, Havelock North - Eastern
Police can confirm one person has died in a three-car crash on St Georges Road, Havelock North.
The deceased was in one car, and three others injured were in a second car - one seriously injured, and two moderately injured.
The Serious Crash Unit is on scene and the road remains closed at this stage.

Scoop NZ - Regional

UPDATE: Fatal Crash, Havelock North - Eastern

memphis

netflix

hawkins

joyce byers (winona ryder

hawkins' middle school

vecna

millie bobby brown

How to get the Stranger Things look
First you played the game , then you fell hard out for the music . What’s next in Stranger Things’ all out assault on pop culture? Fashion, of course.
The final two episodes of season four have dropped on Netflix and that late ‘80s proto-grunge vibe is haunting you like Vecna haunts Hawkins' Middle School kids.
There’s still plenty of colour and Memphis design style prints – check out Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and the gang’s skating get-ups – but the ‘90s and grunge are just around the corner, so it’s a relaxed, vaguely sporty, definitely unisex thing that’s and all about Mom jeans, bomber jackets, plaid shirts and baseball caps. Here's how to get the look, now.
READ MORE:
* These first-look photos of Stranger Things season 4 will have you feeling upside down
* The Stranger Things Creators have good news about the future of the show
* Stranger Things renewed for Season 4...and traveling outside of Hawkins
* The rise and rise of '90s style
Mom jeans
Go full Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) with high-waisted acid wash blue jeans, a baggy cut and looser hem that suits pretty much anyone. Roll the cuff for extra ‘80s sass – make Joyce proud.
Hellfire Club shirts
Who doesn’t want to join the edgiest club at Hawkins High? Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) makes this shirt look metal-tastic, with a leather biker jacket and sleeveless denim vest, but it works just as well under...
Flannel shirts
I lost count of how many flannel shirts turn up in this season, but I think almost everyone except Hopper has worn one, and he’s only missing out because he’s in a Russian jail. Go for black and red – the Stranger Things colours.
Hawkins High hoodies
It can get chilly travelling to The Upside Down and saving the universe – you gotta add a few layers. Class of 1989, represent!
Chucks
There’s only one shoe fit for outrunning a Demogorgon, and it’s a pair Chuck Taylor high-top sneakers. Preferably in black: it hides the blood and goo.
Trucker caps
Dude, there is no time to worry about your hair when you’re facing Vecna or 001 in a nightmare flashback of your worst moments. Forget your do, just put a big hat on it.
Also, handy for disguising yourself when a crack team of US military elites has put you on their kill list. You’re ready to take on the Big Boss.
Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2 is available to stream on Netflix now.

How to get the Stranger Things look

How to get the Stranger Things look | Stuff.co.nz

queenstown

nz ski

rees hotel

paul anderson

mark rose

Tourism bosses do dishes and work in ski rentals as staff sickness hits amid surge in Aussie visitors
Tourism bosses are washing dishes, making beds and renting skis to customers as they battle critical staff shortages amid a surge in Australian visitors.
Mark Rose, chief executive of The Rees Hotel in Queenstown, is doing shifts in the kitchen most days of the week and, like most of his executive staff, has been helping strip beds and do housekeeping duties.
“I started out washing dishes when I was 13, and I am back washing dishes in my 60s,” he said.
NZ Ski chief executive Paul Anderson spent Monday morning working in the rentals department at Mt Hutt skifield due to six staff suffering from Covid-19 or isolating.
READ MORE:
* Hunt is on for thousands of workers as skifields welcome return of Australian visitors
* Tourism businesses 'thrilled' at end of isolation but want borders open to visitors sooner
* Conferences cancelled, but Queenstown is open for business
There were 20-minute delays in guest services at the mountain due to staff shortages and restricted options for food and drink.
Some people were waiting up to an hour, according to reports on social media, but Anderson was unaware of that, saying they might have arrived at peak time and got caught behind someone taking a long time.
Anderson said the company had employed more staff than usual across its three mountains (1350 compared to 1250 in previous years) to allow for anticipated sickness.
Ski businesses often suffered a “double whammy” when staff with Covid-19 were living with other workers who were then required to isolate.
This week, the first of the New South Wales school holidays, was busy , and next week was expected to be even more so as the New Zealand school holidays start.
Such a time was always busy, Anderson said, but this year was more challenging.
“It’s the amount of juggling we have to do because we don’t know where our shortages will be on any one day.”
In Queenstown there were long queues for buses to Coronet Peak and The Remarkables on Monday morning.
NZ Ski has 29 buses and shuttles operating in Queenstown, and all were operating working on Monday, taking over 2000 people to the mountains, Anderson said.
Five buses were leased because of expectations more people would want to travel by bus due to rental car shortages.
Anderson said this was “the new normal”, saying it was a “good thing for the planet.”
The Ruapehu ski fields of Whakapapa and Tūroa are “a decent storm away” from fully opening ski slopes, chief executive Jono Dean said.
“We haven’t taken on the bulk of our staff yet.”
But in Queenstown, Rose said he could not get enough staff, with workers contracting Covid-19 or having to isolate.
Last week 15% of housekeepers were off with Covid, and three out of seven chefs.
“I’m probably better off than most, but we’re just having real trouble getting staff even at the high rates we pay. There really isn’t anybody around.”
He had only opened 80% of the hotel and expected to operate at between 70% and 80% over the next three months.
Rooms were serviced daily, but guests were offered the opportunity to forgo that in exchange for the hotel planting a native tree , he said.
The staff shortage is hitting across the country.
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Jim Boult said the main cause was the lack of migrant workers due toborder closures.
Erica Stanford, National’s immigration spokesperson, said there were fewer than 5% of the working holidaymakers in New Zealand that would have been here in pre-Covid times.
“We barely have any international students, and the essential skills category doesn’t open to applications until tomorrow.”
In Wānaka, Trout restaurant manager Toni Fox was operating with two chefs instead of the usual four.
“We are advertising everywhere, but nobody is coming in off the streets. We used to get backpackers coming in handing in their CVs and now nothing.
“There are so many people arriving in town, and we are turning away customers every day.”
Hospitality NZ has found the average hourly rate in the industry has risen by 8.9% since last year, while the average salary has risen by 10.5%.
The highest wages were being paid in the Queenstown and Southern Lakes area, where the average hourly rate was $26.55, or 8.7% above the national average.
Queenstown Chamber of Commerce chief executive Ruth Stokes said she was regularly hearing about businesses having half of staff off work because they were unwell.
“We appreciate that we’re not alone in this. It’s a factor more broadly in New Zealand and internationally. I’m not sure there’s an answer any time soon.”
A Restaurant Association survey from May showed 59% of the 566 members who responded reported their mental health and wellbeing was suffering as a result of the impact of Covid-19 on their business.

Tourism bosses do dishes and work in ski rentals as staff sickness hits amid surge in Aussie visitors

herne bay

pieter de wet

de wet

Countdown will remove single-use plastic produce bags from 19 supermarkets late this month after a successful trial in the chain’s Herne Bay store which opened in June.
The pilot, which begins on July 25, is planned to help Countdown management understand how to make the transition as easy as possible for customers.
“As we get used to a new normal, we want to bring some renewed focus to delivering on the ambitious sustainability commitments we have set out to achieve by 2025, including our action on plastic,” said Countdown’s commercial director of fresh, Pieter De Wet.
“Setting a goal to be out of single-use plastic produce bags ahead of any government ban feels like a positive start.”
Countdown was the first supermarket to phase out single-use plastic bags at the checkout in all of its stores, well ahead of the government’s ban. Now, says De Wet, the retailer wants to be the first to phase out plastic produce bags.
“Our customers use around 50 million single-use plastic produce bags each year. With a government phase-out expected by mid-next year, we want to help our customers adapt to being single-use plastic produce bag-free ahead of time.”
He said the company had received a lot of feedback from customers suggesting single-use produce bags are unnecessary and a lot are already forgoing them in stores.

Countdown to remove single-use plastic produce bags from 19 stores

marlborough

bordeaux

marlborough sauvignon blanc

yvonne lorkin

Excise tax: Five fantastic Marlborough wines for under $25
New Zealanders can expect to pay more for their bottle of wine as excise tax is lifted by 6.9%, its biggest increase in 30 years. So wine expert Yvonne Lorkin gives us her top 5 wines for under $25. Because we still enjoy a wine at the weekend, don’t we?
Misty Cove BDX 316 & 317 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2021, $24
“Most days I try to work as one with nature. For example, I take inspiration from the birds, where every few minutes I just let out a big scream. When screaming’s not appropriate, I find that a sip or six of this stylish sauvignon blanc does the job of connecting me with nature as well. Unusually for Marlborough, the Misty kids have produced a sauvignon solely from Bordeaux clones. Clone 316 yields smaller crops of loose clusters and medium berries, whilst clone 317 yields larger berries with thicker skins and when combined, they create tropical notes of guava, passionfruit, and calamansi. It’s a refreshing, juicy style, with less grass and capsicum, and more mouth-coating textures, meaning it’s a mouthquake with spicy tom yum soup.” Mistycovewines.com
READ MORE:
* Prices likely to keep rising faster for longer, economist suggests
* Marlborough fills the tanks with one of its largest vintages
* Alcohol-free beer and cider sales are booming, but why do they cost so much?
Wairau River Marlborough Summer Riesling 2021, $20
“Take a second, sit down, and strap on a helmet – because this lightning bolt of lemon and lime lusciousness is going to shake your brain. It scooped the trophy for Champion Riesling at the prestigious 2021 Marlborough Wine Show, and as soon as you sip, you’ll see why. Absolutely stacked with apple and lemonade and hoisted high with honeysuckle and heavenly acidity, it offers a demure 9.5% alcohol that ensures a splash of natural sweetness saturates the mouth and all is well with the world. Sambal chicken? Oh, yes.” Wairauriverwines.com
Zephyr Marlborough Pinot Gris 2021, $23.99
“Whenever I have a hankering for an elegantly styled pinot gris with subtle pear and nashi nuances (which occurs with alarming regularity these days), I turn directly down Zephyr Street. Lithe, leggy, and mineral-focused, this Ben Glover-crafted gris has a delicious apple-centric finish and a tonne of personality. Pop it in the fridge for 45 minutes before serving, and it’ll impress the pants off your friends. If you’re solo then sip it with rich, spicy chilli con carne and all your wildest dreams will come true. It’s that good.” Zephyrwine.com
Jackson Estate Homestead Marlborough Pinot Noir 2020, $23
“Jackson Estate’s winemaker Matt Patterson-Green has crafted a pinot noir with serious personality and pluck, and despite being a spring chicken, it also happens to show some of the same depth and seductive spices of a characterful cougar. The tannins are what get me though; they have delicate grip and lovely intensity. The acidity and textures are vibrant and alive, and the cranberry and cherry complexity is nothing short of excellent. Thinking of crumbed beef schnitz slathered in mushroom sauce? Yessir!” Jacksonestate.co.nz
Mud House The Narrows Marlborough Pinot Noir 2020, $21.99
“The ‘Narrows’ has fast become one of my favourite, best-value pinot noirs full stop. Highly complex, deeply fruity, dark, fulsome and supremely elegant, it boasts an injection of cranberry, pomegranate and vanilla across its firm tannins and juicy textures. It has a great nose, fat with black cherry, tamarillo and dried herbs, it’s luscious, toasty, tweaked with wild thyme complexity and I love its poise on the palate. Incredible value for money.” Mudhouse.co.nz

Excise tax: Five fantastic Marlborough wines for under $25

Excise tax: Five fantastic Marlborough wines for under $25 | Stuff.co.nz

timaru

showgrounds hill

south canterbury

timaru district

aorangi stadium

infometrics

primeport timaru

foleys timaru

scott base

alister hunt

Supply and worker shortages ahead for Timaru's big new builds
A 25-year veteran of the building industry says Timaru’s construction industry is busiest he’s ever seen it while another has concerns over how sustainable the current situation is.
Infometrics data for Timaru, for the January to March 2022 quarter, shows non-residential building consents up 100.5% and residential consents up 29.4% compared to the previous year.
These current conditions are expected to ramp up in the Timaru District with South Canterbury region also has projected major builds Timaru area, including the redevelopment on Theatre Royal, Aorangi Stadium, the $344m rebuild of Scott Base, at PrimePort Timaru – set to create 700 new jobs in the region – the largest public housing project in 50 years for the region beginning next year and Showgrounds Hill development, which was already finding sourcing materials to be big challenge .
Alister Hunt the branch manager for plumbers Foleys Timaru, said he has “concerns of how sustainable it is to keep going like this” considering the current climate.
READ MORE:
* Slower, dearer, harder: Is New Zealand broken?
* House prices rise fastest in NZ, Reserve Bank says
* Plenty of jobs in South Canterbury but not enough workers
“There is a massive shortage of skilled workers and plumbers.”
Hunt says he is “shocked at the price increases” and receives one or two emails a day about price increases on products and was experiencing delays on receiving some of them.
“We used to have surety of pricing, we have great relationships with our suppliers but they’re at the mercy of it as well.
“The whole landscape has changed,
“There are significant delays on normal items and there are no delays on others, it's just a state of being.”
Stu Heap, Master Builders South Canterbury president and owner of Stu Heap Building, says he is “absolutely flat out” and is aware of the skills shortages in the region.
“It’s a struggle to say the least, there is a skill shortage.”
He said it was “hard for Timaru to compete with places like Auckland” when trying to encourage skilled workers to the area.
“It’s hard to attract people to Timaru when there’s other places they could go.
Stuff has previously reported that the Gib shortage was heavily affecting building industry, forcing companies into liquidation and sourcing their Gib from Trademe at six times its Bunnings retail price .
However, Heap said his supplier, Placemakers, was able to supply Gib to Master Builders’ businesses and this hadn’t been much of a problem for his business.
In regards to the new builds around Timaru, Heap said “they’ll certainly put the pressure on” but he can’t complain.
“You can’t complain that there’s too much work, you just have to go out there and get it done.
“I’ve been building for 25 years and never seen it this busy, which is great.”
However, painter and decorator Grant Jenkins had experienced the “flow on effect” of gib shortages.
Jenkins, of Grant Jenkins Contracting, said the delay on builds caused by Gib shortages meant a delay on his team going in and getting their painting work done.
“It does affect our timelines.”
Despite this, Jenkins believes, “we’re pretty lucky in Timaru at the moment. There’s lots of new projects and lots new builds” but it did raise the issue of skilled worker shortages.
“Due to the immigration and border closures, there’s definitely a lot less skilled and qualified tradies.”
Carol Newman, branch manager of recruitment agency, Stafford Personnel she could no see the situation improving soon.
“The labour market is so tight, there’s not enough numbers,” Newman said.
She believes there will be difficulty filling the roles for all the big builds around Timaru.
“It’s hard to resource what we need now.
“We haven’t got enough now, so how are we going to resource them?
“We’re not bring in enough people.
“We haven’t got enough now, let alone extra projects.”
Newman said Timaru would need to source workers from outside the region and overseas to complete these major projects, but also had concerns over their accommodation situations.
“Accommodation is another issue, we haven’t got enough accommodation, that’s another challenge.”
Gordon Collister, Top 10 Holiday Park owner, said while it would be “very difficult for people from out of town” to find accommodation for the new builds, this wasn’t necessarily new.
“A big portion of our accommodation in Timaru is used by out-of-town workers.”
From Monday-Friday the holiday park is always filled with mostly out of town workers. Collister had positive outlook towards the new builds which will bring even more workers to the area.
“It will keep us busy.
“It will fill us up.
“It will keep us busy.
“These big projects, give us confidence. We’ve had a hard time over the past few years.”

Supply and worker shortages ahead for Timaru's big new builds

Supply and worker shortages ahead for Timaru's big new builds | Stuff.co.nz

subecz

natalie thorburn

malachi subecz

thorburn

Women’s Refuge joins call for mandatory abuse reporting to stop child harm
Women’s Refuge is the latest group to call for those working with children to have a statutory obligation to report child abuse concerns in wake of Malachi Subecz’s murder.
The daycare of Subecz, 5, failed to report his extensive injuries to police or child protection services in the month before his murder.
“We absolutely support reporting requirements for workforces involved with children, because making it part of a standard professional obligation is a vital part of keeping children safer,” Dr Natalie Thorburn, principal policy advisor at Women’s Refuge, said.
However, the Women’s Refuge warned against extending those obligations to households or family members who know a child is being abused. In these cases, victims of family violence could end up facing criminal consequences for violence perpetrated by their partners, Thorburn said.
READ MORE:
* Stolen childhoods: The men paying to watch child sex abuse and those trying to stop it
* 'Why didn't you scream?': Child sex abuse complainants face victim blaming, badgering in court
* Former Scout leader jailed for sexual offending remains a risk, continues to deny offending
“Mandating it for communities could make people less inclined to speak out about it, not more. Increasing awareness of child abuse and increasing community knowledge and confidence about recognising and reporting it is far more likely to engender people to take that difficult step of reporting.”
Subecz, whose killer was jailed last week, is the latest child death to spark debate around child protection measures because a number of adults saw his injuries – including his daycare – and did nothing.
The child was abused and neglected, and weighed only 16kg – the same as he did when he was three – when he died in circumstances which the judge described as “ nothing less than tortur e”.
Ferro-James Sio also died aged 5 after a brutal beating from his own father in 2020. The boy’s kohanga had noticed the injuries , and spoken to his father about them.
Still, there is no law which compels education or health care workforces to report child abuse to the authorities - despite calls for at least a decade .
A coroner investigating the 2006 deaths of twin babies Chris and Cru Kahui called for compulsory abuse reporting in education and health care. It is best practice for professionals to report, but a statutory duty would ensure they spoke up, Garry Evans said in 2012 .
National MP Joseph Mooney has a member’s bill which would require anyone who knows, or ought to know, that abuse against a child has taken place to report this to police.
It is yet to be pulled from the biscuit tin so is not on the pathway to becoming law, but would balance the requirement to report abuse with the ‘reasonable excuse’ defence – where someone fears for their or another person’s safety, or believes that the information has already been disclosed by another person.
“The idea behind this bill is to send a message that if you know harm is being done to children you need to do something about it and to add to that, there can be consequences for failing to do so," he said.
“Unfortunately, it is seen in case after case that there are people who knew who reasonably would have known about the harm being done to children but they haven’t proactively done anything about it.”
Education Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed there was an Oranga Tamariki review “underway” and a systematic review would also take place.
“While these happen it would be inappropriate to comment further,” he said.

Women’s Refuge joins call for mandatory abuse reporting to stop child harm

Women’s Refuge joins call for mandatory abuse reporting to stop child harm | Stuff.co.nz

tim tams

griffin

effie zahos

Shoppers could be unwittingly paying more for less at the supermarket as manufacturers shrink product sizes but not prices.
The tactic, referred to as “shrinkflation” , allows companies to charge more without actually changing the price of their product.
Because the size reductions are small, there’s often little visible change to the product and shoppers are less likely to notice they’re actually paying more for what they get.
Canstar finance expert Effie Zahos​ said shrinkflation was not new but was back in the headlines thanks to supply chain shortages adding to the cost of production.
READ MORE:
* How to avoid paying too much while doing your grocery shop online
* Chocolate Thins get even thinner as Griffin's slash the size of biscuit packages
* Huge variations found in what food manufacturers say is a serving size
“By reducing the size of a product and keeping the prices the same businesses are able to maintain their profit margins.”
andy macdonald/Stuff Original Tim Tams, left, come in packs of 11 but newer flavours like chewy caramel, right, are sold in packs of nine with significantly more air between the biscuits. Shrinkflation, also known as “the grocery shrink ray”, “deflation”, or “package downsizing”, is on the rise worldwide and big name brands aren’t immune.
In March, Cadbury chocolate maker Mondelez International reduced the size of family blocks in the UK by 10% but kept prices steady. Mondelez said rising production costs were behind the decision to slash the blocks from 200g to 180g – a move it made in New Zealand in 2019 .
More recently, shoppers here have complained about a host of shrinking products, including biscuits, matches and nappies.
Original Tim Tams come in packs of 11 but newer flavours like white chocolate and chewy caramel are sold in packs of nine with significantly more air between the biscuits and no difference in price.
Beehive matches, once sold in 50s, now come in boxes of 45, a 10% decrease, and Huggies DryNites boys’ nappy pants recently went from nine to eight in a pack.
Zahos said shrinkflation was not always about protecting the bottom line and some producers had been forced to change packaging and, in turn, sizing, due to supply chain issues.
andy macdonald/Stuff Because size reductions are small, there’s often little visible change to the product from the outside. “In other cases, regulatory guidelines such as dietary intake recommendations may force producers to revisit their products and sizing.”
One way shoppers could ensure they got the best bang for their buck was by using unit pricing .
“By using standard units of measurement you can easily compare the prices of products, regardless of their size, brand or the way they are packaged or sold.”

Shrinkflation: The sneaky way businesses charge more

Shrinkflation: The sneaky way businesses charge more | Stuff.co.nz

gwyneth paltrow

middle east

borneo

new south wales

wolgan valley

sukau rainforest lodge

david attenborough

sabah

david

Hotel rooms named after famous guests, from David Attenborough to Gwyneth Paltrow
This article was published by Australia’s traveller.com.au and is republished with permission.
I once slept in Sir David Attenborough's bed.
Or at least I think I did. I was at a riverside Sukau Rainforest Lodge, set deep in the orangutan-inhabited jungles of Sabah, the Malaysian state on the island of Borneo, where there were two single beds in the suite named in tribute to that most cherished of nonagenarians.
As I tend to do in such configured rooms when travelling solo, I spread, nay dumped, most of my personal effects on one of the vacant otherwise undisturbed single beds (not pretty but there's no one else around to care, least all of Sir David himself) and sleep in the other one.
READ MORE:
* Travel guide for women travellers in the Middle East: Tips and advice
* Emirates One and Only, Wolgan Valley, New South Wales: A perfect resort, for a price
* Three lessons I wish I’d learned sooner about travel
Therefore at the end of each day's wildlife viewing, I never got around to trying out that other mattress in which the great man, who had used the lodge as his BBC nature documentary filming base, may well have slumbered.
Pop a plaque on the room door and a few archival photos and you have a potential marketing edge and the opportunity to exploit your hotel's heritage.
One establishment where the art of naming rooms has been more or less perfected is the atmospheric Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, Vietnam, dating to 1901. It boasts a Somerset Maugham Room, a Charlie Chaplin Room and a Graham Greene Room, all former distinguished guests.
Elsewhere around the world, and proving one doesn't have to be deceased to have a room dedicated, there's the Venus Williams V Suite at the Hotel at Midtown, Chicago; the J.K Rowling Suite at The Balmoral, Edinburgh; the Francis Ford Coppola Francis Suite at Palazzo Margherita, Bernalda and k
Much closer to home, and at the absolute opposite extreme from that Paltrow pad, there's the room at the early 20th century Hotel Kurrajong in Canberra in which the former Australian Labor prime minister Ben Chifley resided when in the capital.
It was in 1951 that Chifley, rarely pictured without his pipe, collapsed in his room as the result of a coronary while in the company of his secretary Phyllis Donnelly. The Sydney Morning Herald reported the next day that she had "taken in some newspapers" at the time. He was pronounced dead on admission at hospital.
Chifley, Prime Minister from 1945 to 1949, was opposition leader by that time and had lived at the Kurrajong throughout much of his parliamentary career, eschewing The Lodge which opened in 1926, the same year as the Kurrajong itself.
Old Parliament House is a mere 700-metre stroll from Hotel Kurrajong. Today on the walk there from the hotel you can see Peter Corlett's charming statue of Chifley in the company of fellow Labor PM and Kurrajong resident John Curtin, depicting the pair strolling to work together.
Poor old Curtin, worn out by the immense pressures of being a wartime prime minister with the perceived, though probably not real, threat of Japanese invasion, also succumbed to a heart attack while in office, with Chifley, his treasurer, replacing him.
Hotel room nomenclature can be a delicate business and the discreet Kurrajong's innkeepers don't highlight the possibly salacious aspect of Chifley's demise. What's more, there's also a rather fine line between who gets a room named after them and who doesn't.
No one, aside from his indoctrinated Russian acolytes, would surely want to place a disposable hotel slipper-clad toe, let alone a whole foot, in a Vladimir Putin Room.
But a Volodymyr Zelenskyy suite? Well, that would surely be indefinitely booked out with all proceeds possibly going to Ukrainian refugees.
Details: The Chifley Experience at Hotel Kurrajong Canberra starts from AU$389 a night and includes daily breakfast for two, a $50 food and beverage credit and a tribute whisky on arrival for two. See hotelkurrajong.com.au
The writer stayed as a guest of Hotel Kurrajong.

Hotel rooms named after famous guests, from David Attenborough to Gwyneth Paltrow

Hotel rooms named after famous guests, from David Attenborough to Gwyneth Paltrow | Stuff.co.nz

asia

china

ukraine

melbourne

jacinda ardern

solomon

ardern

Why PM Jacinda Ardern has everything to play for during her visit to Australia
ANALYSIS: Does New Zealand take the Australian relationship for granted? It always seems to be there, a bit up and down, but something to be relied upon.
Now, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is investing a decent chunk of time into the relationship.
Ardern's trip to Australia has several elements. The first is leading a trade delegation to show off New Zealand business.
The second is to continue to right a trans-Tasman relationship which has, in some senses, been under strain over several years. The third is to continue to outline New Zealand's place in the region, and in the world.
READ MORE:
* Climate change and Ukraine on the agenda for Jacinda Ardern's trip to the US
* In a tense and changing world, Jacinda Ardern's Asia trip was worth it
* Jacinda Ardern denounces Solomon defence pact with China, but says she can't just 'drop a WhatsApp' to Xi Jinping
The trip kicked off at cricket's Colosseum, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with a 'welcome to country', the Indigenous Australian version of powhiri. While officials and trade delegates milled about in the long room, the week ahead was filled with excitement.
Australia is a big market, and each of the businesses on this trip, which include tech, food and beverage, aviation and clean-tech companies – among many others – are keen to hit Australia with the imprimatur of the prime minister and the New Zealand Government.
For all that there is the preconception – on both sides of the Tasman – that New Zealand and Australia are similar countries, they are in fact very different. And arguably growing more different both culturally and economically. Having the Government's backing on these sorts of missions matters.
Australia is currently a country in the midst of political change. After 15 years of policy failure in the climate change space, it now appears – judging on the election result at lest – that climate has finally been pushed through as an issue for voters and Anthony Albanese's Labour Government is leaning into it.
That will be positive for New Zealand and for cooperation on climate change .
While China is New Zealand's biggest trading partner, Australia is still the most important economic relationship. We basically have a shared labour market and through Closer Economic Relations, which turns 40 next year, the freest trade between any two countries on the planet.
Australia matters for New Zealand. Two-way trade is worth $22 billion, it's the biggest source of tourists to New Zealand and the fourth-biggest current source of migrants (although the number is currently very low).
While New Zealand has a direct relationship with China, we also have big, indirect exposure through Australia. China is also its biggest trading partner.
But there have been issues gnawing at the relationship. 501 deportees have been corrosive, not primarily on principled reasons, although there certainly are some, but for the crime wave it has exported to New Zealand.
Additionally, New Zealanders still struggle with a simple path to citizenship. While the former issue is unlikely to go anywhere so soon into Albanese's tenure, there could be movement in the latter.
Ardern now has the practical distinction of being the most pro-US prime minister since Sir Robert Muldoon. Not temperamentally perhaps, but in action, New Zealand is moving closer to the US and the liberal democratic club of countries.
China is very important to New Zealand, and will continue to increase in economic importance to the world, but this new era of geo-strategic competition means that increasingly New Zealand is siding with the US-led West more openly and forcefully than in the previous 30-odd years.
Continuing a shift begun under former foreign minister Winston Peters, Ardern, and her Government, have responded appropriately to the forces now shaping the world.
This trip and a speech at the Lowy Institute will further expand on the themes Ardern has built in Europe and in a speech to Nato last week. The key planks of it are that while New Zealand maintains its independent foreign policy (a good bit of decades-long jingoistic branding, as if most other countries don’t have one), it also backs the US-led rules-based international order, a free and open Indo-Pacific, the CPTPP free trade bloc and so on.
In the Pacific, it means being carefully respectful of sovereign nations while working to ensure that they don't get sucked too closely into China's orbit. Part of that is encouraging more US economic engagement in the region.
In short, it is all there to play for. Often times the Australian relationship is taken for granted. But it shouldn't be. New Zealand is the smaller sibling and is a price taker in some ways. However, it is the closest source of at-scale commercial opportunities, our closest ally and a partner in the region. And a new Government does make a high-level political reset more realistic after the narrow political mantras of the Scott Morrison, Peter Dutton era – the former and current Australian Liberal Party leaders.
It is worth the investment of that most precious prime ministerial asset: time.

Why PM Jacinda Ardern has everything to play for during her visit to Australia

Why PM Jacinda Ardern has everything to play for during her visit to Australia | Stuff.co.nz

dunedin hospital

southland

lumsden maternity centre

southern district health board

southland hospital

former southern district health

uthern district health board

chris fleming

louisa steyl

fleming

'The health system is always going to be constrained,' DHB boss says
- Chris Fleming says it was stories about patient harm that kept him up at night during his time as Southern District Health Board chief executive.
- He stands by his decision to downgrade the Lumsden Maternity Centre.
- Fleming says there will always be a need for charity hospitals in New Zealand because the healthcare system is rationed.
Southern District Health Board chief executive Chris Fleming’s resignation coincided with the disestablishment of district health boards, and he says Southlanders must speak up to make sure their needs are met in the future. Louisa Steyl reports.
Southland’s former health boss wishes he could have solved the region’s GP crisis and nursing shortage before leaving his post.
He also would have liked to see more progress on the new Dunedin Hospital build and less bureaucracy to get infrastructure projects like the ED expansion at Southland Hospital approved.
Former Southern District Health chief executive Chris Fleming stepped down last week, marking the end of a 30-year career in healthcare.
The job has been by far his most challenging, he says, and there’s still lots that need to be done to improve services in Southland and Otago.
READ MORE:
* Covid-19: Up to 200 nursing vacancies close Southern beds
* Southern DHB missed cancer diagnosis despite seven trips to ED
* Southern leaders welcome health reforms
* Southern District Health Board's new plan could cost patients more
“This is the only DHB that’s got everything,” Fleming says, referring to the scale and complexity of services delivered in the district.
A road trip around the district spans 750km and there are more people here who live further than two hours from a hospital than anywhere else in the country.
Residents live in small clusters far away from each other and delivering services close to their homes is sometimes costly.
But the DHB had been funded according to how many people its supports and with just 330,000 residents, the district doesn’t have the population mass to support its geographical challenges, Fleming says.
He is somewhat disappointed that he hasn’t been able to solve the district’s fiscal woes completely over the past six years, but pragmatically, there was only so much he could do without compromising patient care, he says
“The underlying factor is the underfunding of the [health] sector."
Years of underfunding in New Zealand’s health system meant the DHB had to continue investing in improvements and cover rising medical costs for a growing population while also trying to shrink a deficit.
When he joined the DHB in 2016, then Minister of Health Jonathan Coleman had just sacked the entire board and replaced them with a commissioner over a deficit that was expected to blow out to between $30 and $42 million.
Southland and Otago accounted for 160% of New Zealand’s total DHB deficit at the time.
These days, it accounts for about 3 or 4% with a year-to-date deficit of $21.863m in June, as it grapples with costs related to Covid-19, staffing shortages and outsourcing.
While he knows that people want services closer to home, someone must have “the courage to come up with a national plan” for how healthcare is delivered that’s “realistic about the money” and finite staff and infrastructure, Fleming says.
He means that in some cases, it’s too expensive to offer specialist treatments in too many places.
In other cases, it means moving services, so they’re more evenly distributed.
That was the thinking behind the DHB’s controversial decision to downgrade the Lumsden Maternity Centre .
Fleming stands by the decision, despite the strong criticism and opposition he received from the northern and western Southland communities.
“In an ideal world, we’d have primary birthing units everywhere.”
But having three primary birthing units close together (in Lumsden, Winton, and Gore) wasn’t logical when there wasn’t one in Wānaka, he says.
It’s this rationed nature of New Zealand’s healthcare system that also makes Fleming believe Southlanders should be grateful for the community-funded Southland Charity Hospital, rather than seeing it “as a blight” on the health system.
Under his leadership, the Southern DHB had committed to supporting the charity hospital wherever possible, he says.
The hospital was founded in response to patients struggling to access colonoscopies . While he hopes this will not be its main focus in the future, he acknowledges that there will always be unmet needs because there were always be people in the community who cannot afford private healthcare.
“The health system is always going to be constrained.”
The subject of colonoscopy access has been raised repeatedly during Fleming’s time with the DHB, leading to a series of internal and independent reviews from 2017 and a public apology from the board in October 2020.
The reviews found that delays and strict criteria for colonoscopy wait lists were causing harm to patients because their bowel cancer was diagnosed too late.
Fleming says he lost sleep over these stories of patient harm and adverse events – not just in terms of colonoscopy services.
Equally concerning to him was the “urology disaster” – when a review found that at least 10 prostate cancer patients had their lives cut short while waiting seven months for urgent surgery.
Earlier this year the board were told that more than 3000 patients were overdue for ophthalmology appointments , and long oncology wait lists that were described as “criminal” last year have been further delayed by Covid-19 and staffing shortages.
But there’s a sad irony to the fact that these “darkest days” also produced his proudest moments, he says, in the sense that he’s proud of the improvements made in these departments.
“Each and every one of those issues has been worked through. Where we’ve turned a rock over we’ve been very open in the public about it,” Fleming says.
But he warns: “We can’t be complacent, it doesn’t take much of a population shift to change again.”
Health New Zealand will need to keep investing and increase service capacity if it wants to keep up with the rapid population growth in the district.
Fleming says it will be important for Southlanders to hold the new health authorities to account, to keep engaging and to keep pushing for what they need – because a lot of creative ideas come from the region.
There needs to be a sustainable solution to help people access primary care “in this part of the country,” he says, because the model of overworked GPs in smaller communities isn’t safe.
He doesn’t think the average Kiwi understands the importance of an ongoing relationship with a GP – not just for preventative care, but also for advice on navigating the health system.
And New Zealand needs to do more to grow the nursing workforce.
“It’s obvious that we didn’t take enough action five to 10 years ago. We can’t blame this on Covid.”
But if there was ever a time for change, it was with strong Pasifika and Māori wāhine leading the health system, Fleming says, referring to Health New Zealand interim chief executive Margie Apa and Māori Health Authority Interim Chief Executive Riana Manuel.
The health reforms gave Fleming a chance to pause and ask himself what he wanted to do with the next 10 to 15 years of his working life.
Running a regional health structure wasn’t high on the agenda, so when his son suggested they look for a business to run as a family, he was in.
They’ll be operating two Paper Plus stores 100km apart in the Waikato – where the family are from – and Fleming says it will give him the opportunity to give his son a head start.
When he joined Crown Health Enterprises as an accountant back in the early 90s, it was to avoid the regional transfer his previous employer was suggesting.
He stayed in the industry because of the kind of people who worked in healthcare and because it consistently challenged him to find solutions, he says.
“I realised that no matter what I’d done, there was still more to do. It got me hooked.”
Fleming isn’t convinced he’ll leave healthcare completely.
He’s already been offered opportunities to consult, particularly in the aged care sector – because he does come with three decades of experience after all.
New Zealand’s 20 District Health Boards have been dissolved as part of a major health overhaul.
As of Friday, they merged into a single entity known as Health New Zealand, while a Māori Health Authority will work alongside the new agency to achieve health equity.

'The health system is always going to be constrained,' DHB boss says

'The health system is always going to be constrained,' DHB boss says | Stuff.co.nz

havelock north one

georges road

dominion post

One person has died while three people are injured in a serious crash involving three vehicles on St Georges Road in Havelock North.
A statement from police said on Monday the person who died was in one car, and the three injured were in a second car. One was seriously injured and the other two suffered moderate injuries.
The police statement did not give details about the third car involved in the crash.
Emergency services were called to the scene about 4.30pm.
The road is closed and the Serious Crash Unit is at the scene.
The Dominion Post

One dead, three injured in three-vehicle crash in Havelock North

One dead, three injured in three-vehicle crash in Havelock North | Stuff.co.nz

white ferns

birmingham

lea tahuhu

tahuhu

lauren down

ben sawyer

Five weeks after being left off the NZ Cricket contract list, Lea Tahuhu is back in the White Ferns environment. The veteran fast-bowler was a notable and controversial omission in May, but has been recalled into the Commonwealth Games squad, after Lauren Down withdrew to focus on her wellbeing. Even Tahuhu's surprised to be heading to Birmingham. Even in her wildest dreams, she didn't expect to already be back in black. "I was disappointed to have missed out in the first place and thought that dream of going to the Commonwealth Games was gone," she said. But it's not, after being called in as a replacement. "It was always my ambition to fight my way back in and to have been given that now is really exciting." While she's fit and raring to go, a minor passport issue briefly threatened to curtail her plans, but has since been resolved. "I have got my passport," she laughed. "I can confirm I've got my passport and will be on the plane." Among those delighted to see her return is the man who delivered the good news last week - new Ferns coach Ben Sawyer. "It was weird sort of saying welcome back, but she's been great around the group, even the couple of hours we've had here, so she's going to play a big part for us," he said. "I'm looking forward to seeing what she can do." What's not on the to-do list is proving a point. "I'm comfortable coming in," said Tahuhu. "I'll play a similar role, I'm sure, so not too much changes for me from that point of view." After a rollercoaster few weeks, Tahuhu's just happy to be wearing the fern on her chest again.

Birmingham call-up gives dumped White Ferns speedster Tahuhu career boost

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