NZ Herald 13th November 2025

accuser stillfacing prosecution

+ Intelligence service stands by security vetting of disgraced cop

Underdog fight

British bookies back their boys to edge ABs

AND-RUN DRIVER SURRENDERS MPANY DIRECTORSHIP

Makes betting easier than winning a one-horse race.

released this week

Exclusive Second digital harassment charge remains despite an apology from police,

writes Jared Savage

The young woman charged under digital harassment laws for making sex allegations against former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon

McSkimming is still facing prosecution over alleged abusive emails sent to the detective who investigated her the Herald can reveal

Instead of investigating whether the sex claims could be corroborated or not, police used the anonymous emails as evidence to prosecute her for a harassment campaign against McSkimming

She was arrested and charged under the Harmful Digital Communications Act in May 2024, placed under restrictive bail conditions and silenced by wide-ranging suppression orders

The failure by the highest-ranking police officers in New Zealand to investigate the woman s repeated allegations has been criticised in a bombshell investigation by the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA)

McSkimming accuser facing prosecution

In response to the report, new Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said the ambitions of McSkimming who competed with Chambers for the top job last year were put above the interests of a vulnerable woman

“She was ignored and badly let down, Chambers said on Tuesday night That was unacceptable ”

McSkimming had admitted to having an affair with the woman who was nearly 20 years younger than him, which ended in 2018

But he denied the sexual assault allegations which he said were motivated by revenge to destroy his career

The IPCA criticised senior police officers, including former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster, for accepting McSkimming’s narrative without further investigation

Instead, the emails led to the woman being prosecuted

“Concerningly, some within the police failed to recognise that a possible victim of sexual assault, who had allegedly been told for years by a very senior police officer that she would not be listened to (and that explicit images of

her might be distributed) if she tried to complain, might present as a desperate person sending sometimes extreme and abusive emails in an attempt to be heard,” the IPCA wrote The digital harassment charge against the woman was only recently withdrawn by the Crown

This was because McSkimming no longer wished to give evidence against her rather than the significant failings identified by the IPCA

Despite Chambers’ apology to the young woman this week the Herald can reveal that the woman still faces another prosecution under the Harmful Digital Communications Act

In August this year, the woman allegedly sent abusive emails to the officer in charge of the original prosecution against her She also allegedly sent emails to the detective s wife Court documents alleged the 10 emails were sent with intent to cause serious emotional distress”

The emails were sent shortly after it was publicly revealed that McSkimming was

‘further’ welcome home for Rocky Horror writer

Alex Robertson

‘Im never going to give up, Richard O’Brien, the acclaimed writer of The Rocky Horror Show said earlier this week after being awarded a Scroll of Honour by the Variety Club of New Zealand

“Giving up on yourself is, perhaps, the greatest crime we could ever commit ”

It s been over 50 years since the first night of the cult musical that has been in continual production since, playing to over 30 million fans worldwide

The opening night was pretty special ” O’Brien recalls “It was a very small and close audience of 62 people We were right in their laps And Vincent Price was sitting in the middle of them That was quite daunting and special ”

The Variety Club Scroll of Honour recognised his incredible contributions as an actor, writer, musician, television presenter and, of course, as the creator of one of the most iconic musicals of all time

O Brien admits that to be included among the luminaries who have been awarded the scroll gives him great pleasure

“But most of all it makes me feel even more a part of Team New

Zealand, he said

Being part of the New Zealand cultural landscape is very important to O’Brien who came from England with his parents to live in Waikato

However, he had a few struggles when applying for citizenship in 2011

“I should have done it before I left but I just assumed that I was a Kiwi ” he said, pointing out to the authorities that New Zealand had claimed him three times: as Kiwi boy done good with Rocky putting up a statue of him as Riff Raff (from Rocky) in Hamilton and appearing at No 94 in the top 100 iconic New Zealanders list

O Brien says that his smash-hit musical almost happened by chance after he lost out on playing Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar Instead he’d been sent home with 300 quid in his pocket and asked to entertain the staff at EMI film studios in London for their Christmas party where he performed the recently written Science Fiction/Double Feature, which became the production’s opening song

When I got home I thought, that s not bad for a prologue for a movie based on the very themes in the song And it went from there really,” he said Just six months later, in June 1973, The Rocky Horror Show opened at the Theatre Upstairs in Sloane Square London The rest as they say, is

history O’Brien will be celebrating 84 years on this planet next year and admits to feeling a little sluggish these days, but shows no outward signs of slowing down

Last year he toured the nation with his satirical show The Kingdom of Bling and will be following a British production of Rocky around New Zealand next year

He says his favourite line from the show is: It s not easy having a good time ” And he appeared to have a good time at the Crowne Plaza Hotel when

awarded the Scroll of Honour in front of hundreds of people at the event on Sunday

“On the night of the award I recalled one of the loveliest things when I came back to New Zealand,” he said “I handed over my passport and the officer said Welcome home Richard O’Brien ’ And I thought, Oh God! That s wonderful

“And I thought that with this award it was a further welcome home

McSkimming accuser facing prosecution

The young woman was charged again under the digital harassment law which carries maximum penalties of two years in prison or a $50,000 fine.

She currently has interim name suppression.

Her defence lawyer, Steven Lack, declined to comment because the matter was before the court.

But at a previous appearance in the Wellington District Court, Lack told the judge that he would apply for the case to be dismissed because the prosecution was an abuse of process.

This raises the potential for Coster and the other police officers criticised in the IPCA report to be called as witnesses and cross-examined in court next year.

Asked why the charges had not been dropped given the circumstances, a spokeswoman said the police were unable to respond before deadline.

The fallout from the IPCA report has been widespread.

Coster has taken leave from his job leading the Government’s Social Investment Agency, senior police staff will face employment proceedings for allegedly bringing the police into disrepute, and the Government will establish a new position of InspectorGeneral to scrutinise police behaviour.

continued from A3 Intelligence Service stands by McSkimming security vetting A6-7 Emmerson’s view A17 himself facing charges of possession of objectionable material on his work phone and laptop.

Guilty hit-and-run driver resigns

Man who hit two women and dogs

no longer Laser company director

Lane Nichols

Aman who drove into two women walking their dogs and left the scene has resigned the directorship of his Auckland company following a social media firestorm and public outrage

Solomon Barnes resignation follows his conviction for careless driving and failing to stop and his rejected bid to secure permanent name suppression in the hope of saving his career

It also comes after separate investigations were launched by his franchise parent company, Laser Group and an industry body after the Herald revealed Barnes’ identity last month

Barnes had just left home and was driving along the semi-rural Attwood Rd, Paremoremo about 7 10am on Sunday June 8 when the hit-and-run occurred

He was on a Zoom call and trying to call his mother in the moments leading up to the crash

Wandering north along the road edge in single file were best friends

Sue Fletcher and Denise Prouse, with their dogs Macky and Luna

Distracted, Barnes ploughed into the women and their dogs with his white Ford Ranger ute, knocking them into the roadside ditch

As they lay seriously injured and crying out for help, Barnes drove off without stopping to check on the victims, later telling a judge he thought he’d hit a recycling bin

He eventually pulled over further up the road, but only to inspect damage to his car

Prouse and Fletcher both waived suppression so they could speak publicly about that day’s harrowing events

Barnes operated franchisee firm Laser Plumbing & Roofing Whenuapai and was the face of the company

He was sentenced in September to 200 hours’ community work and disqualified from driving for 12 months after pleading guilty

Barnes argued unsuccessfully that his identity should be permanently suppressed because having his name published in connection with the offending would cause Laser Group to cancel his franchise contract because of reputational damage

Solomon Barnes’ resignation follows his conviction for careless driving and failing to stop, and his rejected bid to secure permanent name suppression.

A judge rejected Barnes plea, ruling his offending was serious, that customers had a right to know about his actions and it was for the company to decide whether those actions warranted termination, not the court

Barnes’ lawyer Graeme Newell immediately signalled his intention to appeal the suppression decision

Judge Mark Williams granted him 20 days to file an appeal with the High Court

However, Barnes abandoned the legal challenge and the Herald published a story on October 26 revealing his identity and that of his two victims

Barnes photos and bio information had already been scrubbed from the company s website, but the Herald understands there was a social media firestorm surrounding his offending once his name was publicly revealed

The Herald newsroom also fielded correspondence from concerned locals and industry professionals outraged about Barnes actions

Immediately after the sentencing Laser Group general manager Kyle Weir said the company held its people to a high standard and was disappointed the incident had oc-

curred Mr Barnes has taken full responsibility for his actions in this personal matter and has accepted the fair consequences laid out through the courts

The company s response would be guided by its values Weir said

“As is standard practice, any discussions related to corrective measures will be addressed through an internal Laser Group process and in line with the Laser Member Agreement ”

Master Plumbers, Gasfitters & Drainlayers New Zealand also launched an investigation after Barnes lost his bid for name suppression

A spokeswoman said Laser Plumbing Whenuapai was a registered member of Master Plumbers and the sector organisation was treating the incident “extremely seriously”

“We are conducting our own investigation and have been in contact with the company involved

“Our organisation does not condone criminal behaviour in any form and we recognise the Laser Group is undertaking its own internal process ”

Under mounting pressure, Barnes has now resigned from his

directorship and ended his involvement in the day-to-day operations of the company, the Herald can reveal

A spokeswoman for Laser Plumbing & Roofing Whenuapai said it was a small, locally-owned business which took pride in serving its community

“Like everyone affected we are devastated by the events surrounding Solomon s personal actions Our thoughts are with the victims and their families

“The situation prompted open and difficult conversations about the future of the business and our responsibility to our community, staff and customers

“Following these conversations, it is appropriate that Solomon steps down as a director and day-to-day team member of Laser Plumbing & Roofing Whenuapai ”

Company office records show Barnes ceased being a director of AJ Plumbing & Roofing (2007) on October 30 but remains a 50% shareholder

Asked about his shareholding, the spokeswoman said as Barnes was not engaged as a standard employee, the company was working through an

Tax plan lifts Labour, but Govt still ahead:

Thomas Coughlan

Labour has gained support in the latest Taxpayers’ Union-Curia Poll, rising 2.1 points on last month’s poll to 33.3%.

The poll is the first public one to be published since Labour announced its capital gains tax policy, which has led the party to several election defeats. However, Labour’s surge is not

enough to offset declines on the left, meaning the current Government would retain office if an election were held today.

National is up 0.6 points to 30.2%,

the Greens fell 2.8 points to 9.2%, NZ

First is down 1.5 points to 9.1%, Act is up 2 points to 8.6% and Te Pati

Maori is down 1.1 point to 3.3%

This would give National 39 seats, Act 11 seats and NZ First 12 seats a total of 62 seats and enough to

govern. Labour would get 42 seats and the Greens would get 12 seats.

The poll assumes Te Pati Maori or ex-Te Pati Maori MPs retain their seats, giving that group six seats.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has gained support as preferred Prime Minister, rising 1 point to 20.8%.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has dropped marginally, falling 0.3 points to 20.6%.

NZ First leader Winston Peters is

down 1.4 points to 8.5%, Act leader David Seymour is up 3.7 points to 7.7% and Green co-leader Chlo ¨ e Swarbrick is down 2.2 points to 4.1%

Hipkins has favourability of -2%, unchanged from the last poll. Luxon’s favourability has lifted 4 points to -10%.

The poll has a margin of error on 3.1% and was conducted between Sunday November 2 and Thursday November 6, 2025.

administrative process to finalise the necessary arrangements as quickly as possible

Prouse told the Herald she felt there had been a lack of transparency

She believed Laser Whenuapai should have stood Barnes down sooner during the four-month court case rather than waiting for the public backlash after he was finally named and before he was removed as a director

Fletcher is incredulous that Barnes behaved in the way that he did Barnes bid for a discharge and permanent name suppression was galling and personally insulting, she said

In a statement provided through his lawyer, Barnes apologised for his actions and the harm he had caused the victims, their families and wider community

“I take full responsibility for what occurred and accept the court’s judgment and consequences I am committed to making amends, including fulfilling the court’s sentence, providing reparation and taking meaningful steps to build and regain trust in my community ”

Spy chief stands by the

Director-General assures Collins processes were appropriate

David Fisher

The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service says it stands by its national security vetting of former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming

On October 28 Judith Collins asked Director-General Andrew Hampton to provide his assurance their vetting was thorough and he gave her that assurance on November 6 after reviewing the file, according to an NZSIS spokesman

“The Director-General has reviewed this file and taken advice from experts within NZSIS

He considers that NZSIS processes and final recommendation were appropriate taking into consideration the information NZSIS had access to or that it could have lawfully and reasonably obtained at the time

“Those processes included verifying information obtained from Mr McSkimming with referees The Director-General is satisfied the vetting process was conducted thoroughly and appropriately ”

Collins confirmed she had sought and received an assurance from Hampton who reviewed the file himself, and provided me with that assurance”

The NZSIS spokesman confirmed McSkimming was granted national security clearances in 2020 and 2023 by police on the intelligence agency’s recommendations

During those years McSkimming led police s digital transformation and data-systems work, positions that placed him at the centre of major technology programmes and gave him access to sensitive operational networks

It was also a period during which he was accessing objectionable publications on a police device conduct he later admitted in court

During this time serious allegations about his sexual conduct surfaced, including on social media

Eventually he came under the scrutiny of the IPCA and failures were exposed in how police had handled complaints about him McSkimming resigned from police in May

The NZSIS has refused to disclose the level of clearance McSkimming

Accuser could get payout, experts say

Samuel Sherry

The woman who brought forward allegations against Jevon McSkimming but was in turn prosecuted could receive a payout, two legal experts say.

McSkimming was the Deputy Police Commissioner until an investigation found objectionable material on his work devices earlier this year.

The woman who brought forward the allegations was prosecuted for a harassment campaign against McSkimming. She would likely receive some compensation if she sought it, legal experts Gary Gotlieb and Bill Hodge said.

She was arrested and charged under the Harmful Digital Communications Act, silenced by wide-ranging suppression orders and placed under restrictive bail conditions.

Retired University of Auckland law professor Hodge, whose background is employment, said if he were advising her, he would encourage seeking compensation.

“I’d say, ‘Hey, you were an employee’, even though she was casual, she might have an avenue or a lens through which compensation or even a gratis, simply a lump sum being given without her raising a grievance.”

He said an avenue for the woman to claim compensation might be for her as an ex-police employee, to claim compensation pursuant to breaches of safety in the workplace, or police could make a gratis payment, without admitting legal

held, but the job advertisement published ahead of his appointment said the successful applicant would be “subject to a Top Secret Special (TSS) security clearance

Top Secret Special is the most restrictive clearance possible of four levels, preceded by Confidential Secret and Top Secret

The spokesman said the NZSIS had commenced a review of its policy settings for national security clearances before the IPCA report came out

“This is part of its continuous improvement of vetting processes, and in response to the evolving security threatscape Any relevant informa-

liability for the charge against her under the Harmful Digital Communications Act.

Hodge added there was a pathway for police employees to raise grievances “and that’s a means of getting compensation through employment legislation”.

“I imagine she would have civil remedy for damages based on the findings of the IPCA and misfeasance in public office,” retired barrister Gotlieb said.

With regard to former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster, Gotlieb said he likely felt loyal to McSkimming, but did not do anything illegal in his action.

“I suspect his failings are obvious in hindsight particularly after the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) shows he dropped the ball. I don’t expect he would face any charges as he didn’t interfere with evidence, discourage witnesses, and didn’t use his position to block the investigation, he delegated this to others maybe not the correct people in retrospect.”

Hodge told the Herald there wasn’t a crime committed, but there were institutional failings and an investigator from an organisation like the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre should have been appointed early on.

“That was the failure that Coster failed to trigger because he had a preconception that McSkimming was a victim,” Hodge said, “and I think that’s the prevailing theme that I see. Now that’s not a crime, but that’s just an institutional failing from the top.”

tion from the IPCA s report will be taken into account during this review

It’s possible the vetters knew elements of McSkimming s misdemeanours but considered them irrelevant to their specific mandate of assessing his security level

The spokesman said the service’s sole purpose in national security vetting was to assess a person’s suitability to access classified information including whether they have vulnerabilities that could be exploited, and how those could be mitigated The spokesman said national security vetting was not intended to act as a substitute for an

employer s recruitment HR or internal security processes

But an independent review commissioned by the Public Service Commission the government agency that selected McSkimming for the statutory role showed it had taken heart from the NZSIS vetting process

The review commissioned in December by Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche completed in March and released on Tuesday showed the clearance was treated as an assurance of McSkimming s personal integrity

It found no fault with NZSIS processes but found the commission s confidence in the clearance stopped

it from investigating McSkimming s personal conduct more thoroughly

When one of six referee interviews carried out by the commission mentioned a strange relationship with a woman” the comment wasn’t probed further as it should have been according to the independent reviewer Miriam Dean KC

However she also said the commission “was entitled to place considerable reliance on the fact that this relationship had not prevented McSkimming from being granted a security clearance”

NZSIS security vetting for highlevel clearances such as that McSkimming held also involved an

‘An absolute disgrace’: Police Commissioner Chambers

Imogene Bedford

Police Commissioner Richard Chambers has given a scathing assessment of his predecessor Andrew Coster’s handling of allegations against Jevon McSkimming and the decision to keep sex complaints against the former top cop secret.

Speaking to Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB yesterday, Chambers said he was briefed on the matter by a senior detective a mere two days before he took up the top role on November 25, 2024.

Chambers was emphatic about his disappointment in Coster’s secrecy around the scandal.

“It’s an absolute disgrace. It’s lacking in leadership, it’s lacking integrity. You know, so he’s going to need to answer to that,” Chambers said.

McSkimming served as New Zealand’s Deputy Police Commissioner until an investigation uncovered objectionable material on his work devices earlier this year. It has now been revealed the probe

concerned allegations of sexual misconduct accusations high-ranking police were aware of, going so far as to arrest the complainant on harassment charges.

Yesterday morning, it was revealed Police Minister Mark Mitchell’s office had received 36 emails containing allegations against McSkimming since December 2023.

Mitchell has told the Herald then Police Commissioner Coster directed police staff in the ministerial office to send the emails directly to his own office and to not share them with the minister or his political staff.

Chambers also told Ryan Bridge on Herald NOW yesterday that Coster never personally “told me anything about this stuff”.

He called the police executive’s conduct “appalling”.

“A commissioner must never get involved, and other senior leaders must never get involved in matters of this nature,” Chambers said, “but they involved themselves in this. The interference was clear for all to see.”

Chambers said the entire controversy “shocks me” and impacts the reputation of all police.

“[It] lets us all down when the most senior leaders of the New Zealand Police behave in this way.”

He also criticised McSkimming’s lack of “personal responsibility” throughout the appointment process.

McSkimming, 52, had claimed the woman who made complaints about him was seeking “revenge” after their consensual extra-marital affair soured.

“I think there was a narrative that they bought into that there had been some issues as a consequence of an affair that had occurred a number of years prior. Even that I knew nothing about,” Chambers said yesterday.

But he admitted senior police involved in the appointment process also had to take responsibility for

believing McSkimming’s story.

Acknowledging the five or six members of the police executive mentioned in the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) report, he said while most of the staff have since left the police, employment investigations are under way for three other individuals.

Now that Coster has moved on to become chief executive of the Social Investment Agency, Chambers said the matter was “between him and his employer, the Public Service Commission”. Coster told the Herald in a statement that he would not be commenting on the “employment conversation”.

Mitchell was asked on Mike Hosking Breakfast if Coster could get a payout if he loses his new job because of behaviour in his previous job.

vetting of McSkimming

interview that encouraged complete disclosure, checks with referees including managers and colleagues, financial and social-media checks, and searches against the agency’s intelligence holdings.

While the NZSIS made the recommendation, the decision to grant clearance sat with the sponsoring agency. In McSkimming’s case, that was police. It was also up to police to manage the high-trust clearance and report any new information that could affect his suitability for it, to the NZSIS.

The spokesman said that section 220 of the Intelligence and Security Act 2017 meant information gathered

through vetting isn’t allowed to be passed on or used for any other purpose.

The Herald has previously been told by intelligence agency staff that the information is guarded closely because it is of such a highly personal nature.

McSkimming’s receipt of Top Secret Special clearance would have placed him among a small cadre trusted with the country’s most sensitive information.

The NZSIS annual report for 2023/2024 showed there were 150 Top Secret Special applications for vetting clearances over a 12-month period.

For comparison, there were 878 Top Secret applications for vetting processes, 170 for Secret vetting processes and 162 for Confidential clearances.

McSkimming’s dramatic fall from grace was not the only integrity shock this year around security for those in powerful roles.

In June 2025, Michael Forbes, the Prime Minister’s deputy chief press secretary, resigned after media revealed he had secretly recorded sessions with sex workers and captured intrusive images of women.

The case prompted questions about vetting practices around Beehive staff.

Coster fallout: A good man can do bad things

AudreyYoung comment

Former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster doesn’t strike you as a bad person. Integrity is extremely important to him. Yet a good man can do bad things, even if he doesn’t comprehend it at the time.

The Independent Police Complaints Authority report into complaints about one of Coster’s deputies, the disgraced porn-addict Jevon McSkimming, sets out a series of actions and inactions that took no account of a former lover’s repeated complaints and entirely favoured the Deputy Commissioner to the extent she was arrested for harassing McSkimming (the charges have since been dropped).

It means that Coster, who thought his police career ended nicely in November last year with suitable acknowledgments and thanks, ends his police career a year later with a level of public and political opprobrium that will pain him.

The opprobrium by Police Minister Mark Mitchell, Police Commissioner Richard Chambers and Public Service Minister Judith Collins was on full display in the Beehive Theatrette on Tuesday night, streamed live, and on the 6pm television news bulletins. Collins was unstoppable. If the report were about her, she would be ashamed, “deeply ashamed”, she said.

If Prime Minister Christopher Luxon had received such a report about one of his ministers, the PM would have had them out the door “that day”.

She would not concur that the behaviour of the police executive had amounted to corruption, “but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck ” If this were just about the opprobrium of the politicians, it wouldn’t count for much. The National Party opposition opposed Coster’s appointment in 2020 and politicised his role in unprecedented ways during Covid-19. But this is not just political. The

fact is, they have the clinical, unemotional and damning IPCA report to give backbone to their criticism.

For example, Coster tried to hurry up the IPCA investigation so it wouldn’t interfere with McSkimming’s application to become Police Commissioner.

About the only solace Coster could take from the report is this conclusion: “We do not wish to imply that any of the actions we criticise in this report involved officers consciously doing the wrong thing or setting out to undermine the integrity of the organisation. We found no evidence that this was the case.”

Coster left the police to take up a position for which he was wellsuited: the chief executive of the Social Investment Agency, a special project of Finance Minister Nicola Willis. His employer is now the Public Service Commissioner, Sir Brian Roche, who rated Coster’s leadership skills highly.

Such is the gravity of the IPCA report that Coster is now on leave and it would be very surprising if he is doing anything other than negotiating his exit package.

Aside from the devastating impact on the young woman involved, one of the worst aspects of the whole McSkimming saga is the reputational damage to, and public trust in, police.

There have been copious reports over many years monitoring shifts in police culture.

The most recent was a report published in 2023 titled “Fifteen Years of Change 2007-2022”, with a foreword by Coster.

It trumpeted how much the institution had changed since its failings were laid bare by Margaret Bazley’s Commission of Inquiry, an inquiry prompted by the appalling treatment of Louise Nicholas over complaints of rape by police officers.

It has taken years to shift public perception about cops being more concerned with protecting their own than with believing women.

The unpleasant reality is despite the genuine progress made by officers in the field, and despite the deflection of politicians, this case will have people believing they are rotten to the core.

scathing of predecessor Coster’s handling of allegations

He couldn’t comment because the Public Service Commission process was under way, Mitchell said, prompting Hosking to ask the minister if it would look bad should this occur.

“Well, I think most members of the public that would be their view on it the enormity and the size and the atrocious behaviour of our most senior police officers in the country is a complete and utter breaking [of] the trust that they have with the public.”

Former Police Minister Ginny Anderson, who appeared on the political panel with Mitchell, told Hosking she wasn’t told about McSkimming or related issues while she was in the role. Anderson was the minister in 2023 under the previous Labour Government.

“But having read that report in the small hours of this morning, we understand there’s been multiple emails sent to multiple ministers’ offices, and so that search is now

going on to see if there were emails sent that weren’t raised.”

Sexual violence survivor and ad-

vocate Louise Nicholas says she’s “disgusted and saddened”, but not surprised over the actions of some police bosses including the country’s then-top cop Coster after sex complaints were made about one of their own.

“I’d like to say ‘yes [I’m surprised]’, but you get dumb and dumber in every organisation. It was only a matter of time before it happened again,” she told Newstalk ZB’s Early Edition with Ryan Bridge yesterday.

Nicholas gained a public profile after she alleged police officers raped her when she was in her teens, and while four men were later acquitted, her case sparked an inquiry into how police treat victims of sexual violence.

She told Ryan Bridge on Herald NOW she was “gutted we’re going through this again”.

“And that the woman at the centre of it all was let down in such a way

that it just defies comprehension, to be fair.”

An inquiry by the IPCA published on Tuesday night strongly criticised some of the most senior police officers in New Zealand, including former Police Commissioner Coster, for failing to properly investigate a young woman’s complaints that McSkimming was a sexual predator.

The woman, who McSkimming later told Coster he’d been having an extramarital affair with, was charged under the Harmful Digital Communications Act over dozens of vitriolic emails sent to politicians, senior police officers, Government officials and journalists, accusing McSkimming of being a predator who groomed women for sex.

That charge has since been withdrawn by the Crown.

Meanwhile, McSkimming resigned after a belated police investigation into the woman’s claims found he’d used his work devices to search for porn, including bestiality and child sex exploitation material and for

which he last week pleaded guilty in court to possession of objectionable material

Nicholas told Bridge the woman at the centre of Tuesday night’s revelations had done “all the right things” only to be let down by police.

“She put complaints in and nothing was done. Why? Because it was complaints against a senior officer. And so that team just went right around him, protected him, and didn’t even bother to actually investigate her allegations.”

She hoped Coster would front on the report, Nicholas said.

“He’s got a lot to answer for I hope he does.”

Bridge also asked Nicholas about Judith Collins’ response on Tuesday night when the Public Service Minister was asked if the police actions were corruption and she answered: “If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it’s really important.”

“I quite like how she said that,” Nicholas said yesterday.

Collins also said in her answer the IPCA hadn’t said the police actions were corruption, and it could.

“However, when you look at the facts, it’s an extraordinary set of events and extraordinary facts, and it must never happen again.”

Nicholas has worked closely with police officers supporting survivors of sexual and family violence, and they did a “damn hard job with integrity and empathy”, she told Bridge.

She told the Rotorua Daily Post the New Zealand public could be assured the police weren’t like they were in the 1980s during her ordeal, and there had been a culture change.

“We have seen a massive improvement with police and how they deal with survivors of sexual violence once disclosure is made.

“McSkimming is a very sick man and needs a hell of a lot of help and for those police officers to put that woman through the torture they put her through is unforgiv able.”

JonathanAyli

OPINION Jonathan

Ayling is a strategy consultant, former chief executive of the Free Speech Union and has worked as an adviser in both Government and Opposition.

When Education Minister Erica Stanford released the draft of New Zealand s refreshed school curriculum, she was quick to insist it was not political and was “about knowledge, not ideology”

She s wrong The curriculum is political It always has been And that is exactly as it should be

Every curriculum is political

Deciding what we teach how we teach it, and why, is a profoundly political act It reflects the values a society holds about truth, fairness and human potential The question is not whether a curriculum is political, but what kind of politics it expresses That question is just as relevant to the Education and Training Act Amendment Bill, which passed its third reading on Tuesday The bill removes the Treaty of Waitangi obligations that school boards of trustees previously carried Critics see this as regressive It s not It reflects the same principle at the heart of the curriculum refresh: an Enlightenment approach to education grounded in universal reason, not racial or cultural ideology

Liberal democracy rests on a revolutionary politics of knowledge

The Enlightenment s radical claim was that reason belongs to every human being, not to a priesthood a tribe or a ruling class That idea transformed the world The peace, prosperity and stability many enjoy today are the fruits of a simple belief that truth can be discovered, debated and shared by all

Education curriculum is political — as it should be

That s why the new curriculum isn’t neutral Some now argue that knowledge should be divided by race and culture, as if truth belonged to one group and not another However well-intentioned that undermines the liberal principles that made universal education possible

HWhat do you think?

Email letters@ nzherald.co.nz

As Harvard Professor Steven Pinker wrote in EnlightenmentNow, “The Enlightenment is working For all its imperfections, the world is better fed, better governed, healthier, freer safer, and more literate, and people are happier, too ”

Much of the debate has focused on indigenous knowledge” The phrase can mean many things, some valuable others less so No one denies that Maori perspectives enrich our understanding of the world But when we imply there are separate kinds of knowledge for different kinds of people, we step away from the humanist project that liberal democracy depends on

To preserve the benefits of the Enlightenment, a worldview where all are invited into knowing, education must expand identity, not affirm it It should free students from

the limits of background and draw them into the shared human enterprise of reason and discovery

Dividing knowledge by race reverses that aspiration It is not inclusion; it is intellectual segregation

The liberal tradition insists on something more ambitious: that the laws of mathematics the principles of science and the lessons of history are the common inheritance of all humanity These aren t Western ideas” They are human ideas, refined wherever people have been free to question, test and reason

That is why claims that “maths is racist” or that objectivity reflects “white” ways of knowing are so corrosive Numbers are not ideological Two plus two equals four no matter who is counting

In an age of polarisation, why wouldn t we want this refrain at the heart of our education system?

As Pinker also observes, The moral worldview of any scientifically literate person, one who appreciates the vastness of the universe and the infinitesimal place of humanity in space and time, requires a sense of

humility before the facts and a respect for the universality of human experience ”

Humility before truth is the essence of education Its purpose is not to confirm what we already believe but to challenge how we think Gravity works the same in Gisborne as it does in Guangzhou The periodic table does not change depending on who reads it When we treat knowledge as a cultural possession rather than a universal pursuit, we risk replacing education with affirmation and curiosity with conformity

Some argue there s a contradiction between the Government’s support for charter schools and its curriculum refresh A recent Herald editorial even called it “mixed signals” I disagree The two policies exist for different reasons but share a single principle: every student deserves, as a universal right, an education not defined by culture or identity

Charter schools embody that idea by putting students, not institutions, at the centre Opposition comes from those threatened by the funding

model But the money does not belong to the teachers, the unions or the schools It belongs to the students and the parents Education is a public trust not a professional entitlement

Whether we are debating funding, a curriculum or the duties of boards of trustees, the question should always be the same: what best serves the minds of young New Zealanders, to create equal opportunities (though not outcomes) for the next generation?

Education in a liberal democracy should cultivate citizens, individuals eager to exercise their rights and duties to preserve the freedom they inherit It should equip every child to reason to disagree and to engage with universal truths regardless of background or identity

The claim that knowledge is for everyone is both the most political and the most liberating idea humanity has had Our curriculum should not retreat from that it should embody it Forget that and we will not only impoverish our classrooms but weaken the democracy that makes them possible

Comedian pays tribute to dad after beach tragedy

Rachel Maher

Guy Williams has paid tribute to his father following his death, calling him a beautiful, incredibly kind and friendly man”.

The comedian’s father, Gary Williams, 72, died following a water incident on Kohimarama Beach on Saturday after he was removed from the water unconscious.

He was the former president of Table Tennis New Zealand and is survived by his wife, Roseanne Williams, and two other children, Maria and Paul Williams.

Williams said his father’s main goal in life was to have fun with anyone and everyone.

“I think it’s high praise to say he always was friendly and happy and seemed to live to just want to make everyone around him feel good,” he said.

“He gave his kids every opportunity to do whatever we wanted in life. I think he wanted us to be athletes but we didn’t have the talent for that so he ended up with three comedians!”

Williams said he got his sense of humour from his father.

“Sometimes his comedy was so meta some would argue it was anticomedy, but hey, he taught us that

Guy Williams says his father taught him humour, kindness and joy in life.

a laugh was a laugh.

“He was always a highlight on Jono and Ben or whatever random project he’d cameo on. Whenever I asked for audience suggestions for bits, they would always mainly just want ‘more Gazza’.”

He told the Herald his father was passionate about all sports, playing rugby, cricket and table tennis, followed by coaching spells.

“I learned a lot from my dad as a coach, he was a patient and thoughtful leader who didn’t have time for dickheads,” he said.

“Dad will be sorely missed and [was] an incredibly patient and gentle father who gave life his all and was kind and generous to everyone around him.

“He taught us how to appreciate life and celebrate the small things, and not worry too much about the stuff we can’t change.

“He was always there for every awards ceremony or party, win, lose or draw, and I have cried a lot thinking happy thoughts about how lucky I was to have him as my father,” Williams said.

Tributes have come from all over for Gary Williams, including several from Canada.

“Great memories working with Gary in Dunedin at Arthur Young, and

then later shared some great times in Bermuda when I was working there,” one man wrote.

“Table Tennis Canada sends its condolences to Gary’s family. May his soul rest in peace,” another said.

One tribute spoke of Williams’ passion for life and the utmost respect they had for him.

“He had the incredible ability of lifting people up after having spoken with him.

“His generosity, compassion and sense of humour were infectious.

“If there were ever a ‘Team Gary’, I’d want to join because he had such enthusiasm for people and life.”

Another wrote: “Gary was a man who lived life to the fullest and was so well-loved around the world.

“He leaves a wonderful legacy in his family, friends, businesses, employees, sports teams and the horse racing community.”

Life survivor now a councillor

Victoria Short shares her journey alongside four other new officials

Bernard Orsman

If someone told Victoria Short when she was 18 and pregnant that she would one day become an Auckland councillor, she wouldn’t have believed them

“It’s shaped me into who I am today, and I wouldn t change a thing,” Short said Short, 34, shared her life story and the road to being the “fricken councillor for Albany” alongside four other newly-elected Auckland officials on Tuesday

Bo Burns’ journey to become a councillor was about hard work, not university; Dr Sarah Paterson-Hamlin is possibly the first councillor to hold a PhD (in literature); John Gillon brought a long to-do list to the table, and Matt Winiata noted the new faces make up 25% of the governing body each with their own worldview to benefit the city of Auckland

But it was Short’s story that stole the show and one she said she’d never shared publicly before It began with her family a father from the UK and a mother from the tiny Pacific island of Kiribati, one of eight children and later marked by her being asked to leave Long Bay College after her grades and attendance flat-lined It was a story she’d never shared publicly before

This was followed by getting pregnant at 18 and “a relationship steeped in fear, manipulation, domestic violence and isolation” dipping in and out of university and jobs and raising a daughter

During this time a job came up to work for local MP Murray McCully “he gave me a chance and I found myself consumed in the world of central politics

In early 2019, Short found she was losing the passion for the role, and with a deep love for helping the community, she ran and won a seat on the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board

While on the board and raising two girls, Short returned to university to upskill and invest in her education and ended up loving accountancy, finance and governance

“If you were to tell me when I was 18, pregnant, no job and had no money that I would become a fricken councillor for Albany, an accountant, the first person of Kiribati descent elected to a government position in New Zealand history, I wouldn t have believed you

I ve survived the hardest parts life could throw at me this is the fun part This is where I get to use all of my life experience and academic studies to shape the future of our amazing city

“I am so optimistic for the future of Auckland, a city, a community that has entrusted a once naive Kiribati girl from little old Torbay with a seat around this table ”

BoBurns(Howickward)

Burns said her journey started from the ground up no university, no handouts, but working hard, holding on to core values and beliefs, caring deeply about her community and its people

“I m a business owner a wife a mum, a sports coach, a business mentor and a community connector I ve spent my life giving back volunteering, fundraising, sitting on PTAs, industry boards, supporting sports clubs, mentoring youth, and advocating for local business owners

“My vision is simple: A city people not only want to live in, but love and feel proud of Too often I hear people say, I don t want to live here anymore’ That breaks my heart ”

I’ve

Kauri Point Centennial Park, and Chatsworth Reserve ”

A community concern across Auckland right now, said Gillon, is Plan Change 120 and the “radical changes proposed for our neighbourhoods to accommodate the Government foisting unrealistic capacity on Auckland”

DrSarahPaterson-Hamlin(Whau ward)

Paterson-Hamlin said it was an honour and a duty to represent the needs and aspirations of Auckland’s tangata whaikaha disabled people

“As an autistic/ADHD councillor, I may do things a little differently make a bit less eye contact, miss some social cues need a little more structure, and take things a bit more literally But there will be strengths I will bring to this table as a result of neurodiversity, too

“We will all experience disability at some point in our lives From a temporary sprained ankle to a lifelimiting illness, no one moves through this life entirely unimpaired

“There are simple things we can do along the way as well as the big and bold ones to make Auckland a global leader in accessibility for our visitors and our residents,” she said

The daughter of immigrants from Zimbabwe a Presbyterian minister and a maths teacher themselves the children of immigrants from the UK, she recalled her time at the University of Otago with an apprenticeship at the Otago Museum, learning mummification rituals and how best to feed a tarantula in front of a crowd I ended up at the University of Glasgow, doing a PhD in literature it was at the conclusion of this PhD that I moved to Auckland It was Christmas 2016 which means the only version of Auckland I have ever lived in has been the Super City ”

Top of Paterson-Hamlin’s “local shopping list” is the new Whau pool, and retaining the Avondale Racecourse for the mental and physical health of residents and beyond, not to mention the beloved Sunday markets

MattWiniata(ManurewaPapakuraward)

The former Manurewa Local Board chairman said the council should be fiscally responsible, but noted: “We aren’t in the money business we are in the smiles business ”

“Bike hubs community events concerts, skate parks, playgrounds, sports fields, activations and pop-ups visit any of these and you’ll see smiles on faces and the light in the hearts of our communities burning bright ” If the council is looking to get out of these, Winiata said the creative spark of communities will wane and potentially disappear

survived the hardest parts life could throw at me . . . this is the fun part. This is where I get to use all of my life experience and academic studies to shape the future of our amazing city

Albany councillor Victoria Short

Burns called for a city where local decisions were made locally saying blanket approaches and initiatives such as Plan Change 120 (providing housing capacity for 2 million homes over several decades) will never work for different communities

“For some it suits, and for some it will decimate not only places people long to live, but put even more pressure on our ageing infrastructure and our environment ” Among her priorities were reviewing the structure and framework of rates community

facilities for Flat Bush and Ormiston, supporting sports clubs parking solutions for places like Half Moon Bay delivering events and tourism initiatives in East Auckland, and a focus on core services and value for money

JohnGillon (NorthShoreward) Gillon comes from a family steeped in local and national politics, having been first elected to the Glenfield community board in 2007 and serving as a longtime member and chair of the Kaipatiki Local Board

The Beach Haven father of two daughters set out a long list of issues he wants to “sink my teeth into this term” ranging from fairer funding for local boards to chip seal that “the public hate”, and rolling out shade sails over all of the city’s playgrounds

“Shade sails are extremely important as they protect children from the sun, but also prevent the equipment from getting scorching hot ” On the hustings, Gillon said the top priority for many people was to fix Lake Rd which was not surprising because options had been consulted on almost 10 years ago

With the 2023 storms still vivid in people s minds Gillon said the Milford area and wider Wairau catchment were a high priority, and called for increased preventative maintenance of stormwater infrastructure, including keeping channels and streams clear of rubbish

This term I will be promoting the opportunity to create a fantastic new inner harbour, headland regional park, by combining three Birkenhead parks Chelsea Estate Heritage Park

Winiata was another new councillor to question Plan Change 120

“Can we accommodate this? Do we have enough parks and sports fields? Do we have the space for more schools with the impending population growth that PC120 insists that we provide for?

Are we seeding clouds for a storm or are we seeding the forest of a better tomorrow?

Winiata said dog attacks are destroying communities and keeping kids in fear just from walking to school

There’s illegal dumping from those without a care or consideration for the environment and community, he said saying rubbish collections should not become fortnightly and remain weekly

Kids are huffing on laughing gas in quantities that are bringing tears to the hearts of the families it is destroying,” he said I ask that we listen more than we speak, we come prepared, and we trust in ourselves and each other to be who the community need us to be ”

‘I

want to stay in jail’

Prisoner asks for annual parole hearings to end

Jeremy Wilkinson

Aman who strangled his expartner to death before dumping her body inside a wooden chest and nailing it shut says he doesn’t want to be released from jail

“A life for a life,” Lewis Blackburn told the New Zealand Parole Board on Tuesday as he asked them to stand him down from being considered for early release from prison for another five years

“I want to stay in jail I killed someone ”

Blackburn murdered his expartner Christine Hindson, after she ended their three-year relationship in September 2005

Two days after she ended the relationship, he turned up at the 45-year-old s Christchurch home in the early hours of the morning, made his way into her bedroom and

grabbed her by the throat, before strangling her to death

Blackburn then put her body in a wooden chest and nailed it shut before trying unsuccessfully to bury it in his backyard He then put the chest in his car and drove around the city for two days looking for a suitable place to bury it

Three days after the murder Blackburn drove the car to a suburban Ferrymead walking track dragged the chest into an area of long grass and left it there

A week later Blackburn confessed his crime to another former partner and was arrested by police the following day admitting the killing and helping them find the body

He was 48 years old when he was sentenced in 2006 to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years

Nearly 20 years on, and a decade after he became eligible for early release from prison, Blackburn said he still thinks about his victim every day

It s non-stop, he said I m in no hurry to get out, put it that way ” Blackburn said his primary reason for wanting to remain in prison was the strain his yearly parole hearings

would likely be having on Hindson s family and they should be given a break

“I’m trying to have compassion for Christine’s family ” he said “Year after year, it just seems too much for them ” Ironically it was his lack of compassion at the time that was one of the hardest parts of Hindson’s murder

I’m trying to have compassion for Christine’s family Year after year, it just seems too much for them.

Lewis Blackburn

for her family to come to terms with Her daughter, Marla McKenzie, told the court at Blackburn s sentencing in 2006 that she recalled him asking during the search for her mother how she was faring She realised now her mother s body must at that stage have been in his car just metres from where they were talking

Education boss finally appointed

After more than a year, the Ministry of Education has finally filled its top position permanently.

It comes after a lengthy recruitment process, since October 2024, making it one of the longest vacancies in the public service in recent history.

At present, Ellen MacGregor-Reid is the acting Ministry of Education

Christine Hindson's daughter, Marla Thompson (now McKenzie, left), and her sister, Megannan, with a photo of Hindson after she went missing in 2005.

Grid emergency

Transpower has issued a grid emergency because of a severe geomagnetic storm affecting South Island transmission lines.

Transpower said it issued the emergency notice yesterday afternoon after taking some South Island electricity transmission lines out of service. The decision was made because of the onset of a “severe (G4) geomagnetic storm” The move is set to prevent damage to critical equipment should the solar storm become more severe. “Removing the circuits from service does not have any impact on consumers’ electricity supply,” Transpower said.

Transpower said it will issue further operational notices when the storm passes and either remove the grid emergency or provide additional information if the severity of the situation worsens.

Asbestos risk recall

For one week Lewis led us to believe she had just gone away somewhere and not to worry ” McKenzie said

“I don’t ever want him released ” If Blackburn had confessed earlier, McKenzie said it could have saved the family s “torment and heartbreak” in being unable to view Hindson’s body after it was recovered because of its state of decomposition

Now, their welfare is at the forefront of his mind, he told the board

“I’ve said it right through a life for a life, he said

“There s just reports on reports, it’s just a waste of time

“It’s not like I’ve been out shoplifting I killed someone ” Blackburn asked to be stood down from parole hearings for five years which the board didn t have the power to approve The maximum stand-down period it can order is two years

The board asked Blackburn to work with a psychogeriatrician, begin to work on a risk management plan and to start thinking about where he might be able to live if he was released He will be seen again in July next year

Two coloured sand products have been recalled over potential asbestos contamination. The affected products are EC Rainbow Sand and Creatistics Coloured Sand, with both being sold at retailers including Paper Plus, Hobby Land, NZ School Shop, Office Products Depot, Discount Office, Acquire and Qizzle. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) said the products could have also been sold online. “We are taking immediate precautionary action, while we establish the extent and risk of the potentially contaminated product,” said MBIE product safety spokesman Ian Caplin. “We urge anyone who has bought these products, either for personal use or potential use in a school or other setting, to act immediately. Stop using the sand, contain it, secure it in a safe place and arrange for safe disposal through licensed professionals, a list of these is available on the Worksafe website.” Consumers have been encouraged to contact the supplier of the sands to organise a refund once the product has been secured. Testing of the New Zealand product is ongoing, but independent testing in Australia confirmed asbestos contamination in similar products. The company behind the sands, Educational Colours, has issued a recall notice as a result of this. Exposure to asbestos fibres can pose significant health risks and could lead to a range of serious lung diseases including asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer.

secretary and chief executive.

The Public Service Commission has now announced that her tenure in both roles will become permanent.

MacGregor-Reid has held senior leadership roles at the Ministry of Education since 2015, including deputy secretary positions responsible for curriculum, early learning and policy.

Deputy Public Service Commissioner Heather Baggott said MacGregor-Reid had shown she was a leader who could deliver on the Government’s priorities and lead significant change across the education system Julia Gabel

PROPERTY In partnership with

Mansion global interest luxury listings surge in

Catherine Smith

In Queenstown-Lakes, homes are trading hands for as much as $18 million, and in Auckland, one waterfront stunner is on the lookout for a buyer with more than $40m to spend

But in Christchurch where trophy sales tend to fly under the radar, a riverside mansion at 5 Saint Barnabas Lane, in Fendalton, is aiming to make real estate history by selling for more than $10m

Such a sale would be a big deal for the city, where the highest settled sale price is $8 1m, achieved last year for a landmark house dubbed The Rocks

However, top Christchurch agents have told OneRoof that there are plenty of high-end homes that could join 5 Saint Barnabas Lane in the $10m-plus club, and that there are wealthy buyers present if they ever come to market

Harcourts listing agent Alison Aitken said there was nothing like 5 Saint Barnabas Lane known locally as Brenchley, for sale in Christchurch

The owner prominent Christchurch property developer Richard Peebles, was passionate about heritage homes and brought this one back to life

at 5 Saint Barnabas Lane in Christchurch, is up for grabs for the first time in 10 years.

Peebles spent millions of dollars on the property, and Aitken said he and wife Suzanne had spent a wonderful 10 years there “It certainly worked well as a family home, and a very social house,” she said

The agents were qualifying buyers with viewings by appointment only

The house which sits on 3740sq m, was positioned perfectly for privacy she said “It’s so light and bright Every room is light All the living rooms face northwest You ve got no dark parts of a house, where you have in some old traditional homes

In her listing on OneRoof, Aitken said the six-bedroom house was “meticulously designed and constructed by the illustrious England Brothers in 1915”

“Boasting over 1000sq m of luxuriously appointed accommodation across three separate buildings, [Brenchley] is a beautifully restored two-storey heritage home, [with] a guest house an indoor pool, and a charming summer house overlooking the tennis court ”

Christchurch home eyes $10m record

room with a 150-inch screen and Theophany speakers

Aitken said she already had international interest in the property, and noted that the city in general had attracted the attention of Australian buyers and expats coming home from the United Kingdom

Prices had moved significantly in Christchurch, she said A few years ago the big talk was around $3m sales and Aitken said when she made her first sale in 1992 it was for almost $1m and made the front page of the newspaper

For more property news and listings go to: OneRoof.co.nz

Other highlights include a grand reception, a plush library, formal living and dining rooms and a media

Christchurch was still great value compared to Auckland but had moved up a lot in the last 10 years with all the post-earthquake rebuilding, she said “So many new homes have been built since the earthquake, which have cost huge amounts of money in prime locations ”

Peebles told OneRoof that prior to the Christchurch earthquakes Brenchley’s previous owners, the Smith family, had spent around $11m restoring the property “They had bought the neighbouring property and knocked it down turned it into a tennis court ”

They refurbished the house and built the pool house, moving in in 2010, but then the earthquake struck that year “I can attest to how squeaky those big old houses were in that quake They never came back, so it was boarded up ”

Peebles bought the house in 2015 and was interviewed by the vendors about his plans for it “They wanted to make sure that whoever was going to buy it was going to restore it rather than knock it down, because they could have got more money just on the land ”

Initially, Peebles lived in the pool house and partitioned off rooms in the garage for his four young children The refurbishment of the main house was undertaken with a friend from

high school, Peter Wright, a “real oldschool builder” who moved into the old house

A lot of the walls were damaged and all the chimneys had fallen down “The front entrance was crushed and really, really damaged, he said, adding that they had to cut the floors out of several rooms because they had sunk Peebles said the family spent millions of dollars on the project but the refurbishment was still cost-effective and his wife Suzanne, did the garden design Some years ago the house was featured in a gardening magazine, and a 93-year-old woman who used to live there wrote them a letter, he said “She sent a picture of her and a wee letter and a booklet about her memories of Brenchley in the 1920s ”

The house was also known as the Christchurch “party house” in the 2000s Whenever I went out, there wasn’t a person I met that hadn’t been there jumped out of the window into the swimming pool,” Peebles said He said the restoration meant a lot

to him and his family “After we finished it, we thought we could hear her thanking us for saving her ” Other top agents in Christchurch believe Brenchley will easily smash the city’s house price record “With what that home [5 Saint Barnabas Lane] offers I don’t see why it can’t crack 10 It was only a matter of time ” Bayleys agent Adam Heazlewood told OneRoof “A while ago, you’d do a cartwheel every time something sold over $5m, and now we do them quite regularly It’s much more normalised There s clearly been a market change in the last five years ” Heazlewood said the reason there were not more $8m or $10m sales in Christchurch was that owners were not putting them on the market “People underestimate the local strength, but all the high-end sales in Christchurch have been to locals ” he said

Harcourts agent Cameron Bailey said he had plenty of clients who had spent well over $10m on building their homes, and those properties could sell for big money if they ever went on the market The buyers are there,” he said “The whole market has moved We ve seen land value bounce up in the last year, so when people are paying that much for land, it makes sense that houses are worth that much ”

Rosa Carter, owner of New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty s Christchurch office, agreed that there was “100%” an appetite for $10m-plus sales in the city “I do think Brenchley will break $10m It’s not my listing, but I’m familiar with the property and everything about it ” Carter said a good number of “amazing” properties would sit in the same price bracket, based on land value and the quality of the build There s definitely the demand from buyers at that level, both in New Zealand and overseas ”

Most of the city s $10m-plus homes were built post-earthquake she said but not all “Brenchley is a good example but there are others that have benefited from incredible restorations no expense spared ”

While most of the city’s top-end properties were on big sections, compared to the average home, they were not sprawling estates, she said

To be honest, many of these owners don’t want the upkeep of massive land They want something that they can fly in or be at home

They’re usually busy executives or have other homes around the world ”

There was definite wealth in Christchurch at that level, she said: “Once one sells then it s a domino effect ”

Sotheby’s was working with Auckland buyers who had come from the Remuera office, who were looking at homes in the $20m to $30m market in Auckland, so for them $10m to $20m in Christchurch was “easy” Buyers at the top end typically did not provide a budget as the issue was the home, not the price, she said

World

Energy kickback scandal deepens

Corruption claims come at critical moment in war-torn Ukraine

Investigators from Ukraine’s two independent anti-graft bodies have searched the home of the country’s Justice Minister as part of a sprawling corruption investigation into an alleged scheme involving millions of dollars in the country’s energy sector

The investigation could possibly extend into the highest reaches of the Ukrainian Government and comes just months after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attempted to curb the independence of the two anti-corruption bodies the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor s Office or Nabu and Sapo

On Tuesday, Nabu and Sapo said they had uncovered a kickback scheme that netted about US$100 million ($170m) from contracts signed with Ukraine’s state nuclear energy company, Energoatom

The kickback scandal has erupted at a highly sensitive and critical moment for Ukraine’s energy sector The war-torn country’s electrical supply has been greatly depleted since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 Russian missiles and drones have targeted Ukraine’s energy plants and grid, resulting in extensive power outages

Corruption has also been a perennial issue for Ukraine and combating it has been a long-standing demand of the country s foreign supporters Zelenskyy s move to curtail the independence of the anti-corruption agencies over the summer sparked massive protests and outcry from the European Union

The announcement of the scheme sent shock waves through Ukraine s political establishment Among those named as suspects was Zelenskyy’s confidant and onetime business partner Tymur Mindich

A Ukrainian law enforcement official confirmed that Nabu and Sapo agents searched the home of Justice Minister German Galushchenko on Tuesday but said that he had not been indicted The official spoke on the condition of anonymity

because of the sensitivity of the issue

Yesterday, Nabu said it had “detained five individuals and notified seven members of the organisation of their status as suspects ” These included a businessman who is the head of the criminal organisation” and a former adviser to the Minister of Energy”

Nabu did not initially identify the individuals But yesterday, Sapo prosecutors gave the names of seven people, including Mindich, at an arraignment hearing for one of the suspects, Ihor Myronyuk, a former adviser to Galushchenko Myronyuk denied the charges “Throughout 2025 Mindich’s criminal activities in the energy sector were established through his influence on Energy Minister Galushchenko and in the defence sector through his influence on Defence Minister [Rustem] Umerov,” the prosecutor said Umerov was Defence Minister before assuming his current post as head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council Galushchenko was Energy Minister until July, when he was appointed Justice Minister Nabu detectives searched Mindich’s home on Tuesday, but he had fled the country the head of Nabu’s department of detectives Oleksandr Abakumov, said on a broadcast of the Ukrainian Truth news website yesterday Yesterday, Nabu and Sapo also said they had opened a criminal case against “a former Deputy Prime Minister” on “suspicion of illegal enrich-

ment ” Nabu did not name the former minister but said that he was “already suspected by Nabu and Sapo” of abusing his official position

The investigation given the code name “Midas,” was the result of “15 months of work and 1000 hours of audio recordings”, Nabu said The probe involved a high-level criminal organisation” that systematically received “illicit benefits from Energoatom s contractors in the amount of 10% to 15% of the contract value”

The contractors were forced to pay the kickbacks “to avoid blocking payments for services rendered or to avoid losing their status as suppliers”, Nabu said

On Tuesday, the Justice Ministry said in a tersely worded statement that investigative actions had taken place that involved Galushchenko The minister is providing full assistance to law enforcement agencies to ensure a comprehensive objective and impartial investigation,” it said Energoatom’s supervisory board said that it took “the recent allegations of corruption involving Energoatom employees with the utmost seriousness” and would commission “an independent review of relevant transactions”

The kickback investigation also indicates that Nabu and Sapo are continuing to pursue their anti-graft remit, despite the aborted move against the two organisations by the President over the summer However it remains to be seen whether those whom Nabu and Sapo are investigating will be charged and whether those who have been charged will be tried and convicted

On Tuesday, in his nightly video address, Zelenskyy said “integrity” within Energoatom was “a priority”

“Everyone who has built corrupt schemes must face a clear procedural response,” he said “There must be convictions And government officials must work together with Nabu and law enforcement bodies and do it in a way that delivers real results ” Washington Post

Teen migrant rescued days after shipwreck

Rescued after days stranded on a Malaysian island, weak and shaken Iman Shorif this week recounted how he watched a child drown when their boat carrying migrants from Myanmar capsized.

Iman, who is 18 and from Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya minority, survived last week’s shipwreck off the Thai-Malaysian coast that killed at least 26 people.

He was picked up by a Malaysian rescue boat in a bay on Langkawi island, five days after the boat carrying some 70 undocumented migrants sank close to the maritime border between Southeast Asian neighbours Thailand and Malaysia.

Speaking to journalists after his rescue, Iman said the boat journey “started from Buthidaung”, a small township in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, and had gone on “for five to six days” before it went down.

When the boat sank, “I saw one death it was a child, I saw him drowning,” said the visibly weak teenager

Rescuer Mohd Zamri Abdul Ghani said Iman was spotted when he waved with a polystyrene board.

“We were really moved when we found him Because it’s already the fourth day” of the search mission, Zamri told journalists. “He was excited to see us Physically, he looked exhausted.”

Iman was stranded near a waterfall, meaning he had a source of fresh water, the rescuer said.

Officials say the migrants on the capsized boat were members of the Rohingya community trying to reach Malaysia. They were likely part of a larger group of some 300 people who had left Myanmar two weeks ago, and were split between at least two boats.

Police reported the second vessel as missing and its fate was unknown.

As search operations continued, Malaysian authorities said another eight bodies had been recovered by Tuesday afternoon, taking the total to 20.

On the Thai side, an official told AFP on condition of anonymity that six bodies had been found, including at least two who carried identification cards issued by the United Nations’ refugee agency UNHCR.

Fourteen survivors, mainly Rohingya and Bangladeshi citizens,

‘Trump is temporary’: Newsom seizes spotlight at

With US President Donald Trump skipping the UN’s climate summit in the Amazon, California Governor Gavin Newsom grabbed the spotlight yesterday and unleashed a barrage of attacks on the fossil-fuel agenda of his political nemesis.

The well-coiffed Democrat seen as a potential 2028 US presidential candidate blasted Trump for twice leaving the Paris climate accord and for “doubling down on stupid” through his support of Big Oil.

Newsom said a future Democratic administration would rejoin the Paris Agreement “without hesitation”.

“It’s a moral commitment, it’s an economic imperative,” Newsom said in response to a question by AFP in Belem, the Brazilian Amazon city in northern Para state hosting the climate summit known as COP30. It is “an abomination that he has

twice, not once, pulled away from the accords”.

After returning to office in January, Trump withdrew the United States

Gavin Newsom delivers a speech at Germany’s pavilion during the COP30 conference.

Photo / Mauro Pimentel, AFP

from the landmark Paris deal for a second time the first was during his first term and he has sneered at the idea of human-caused planetary

warming, calling it a “con job”.

Newsom’s first appearance of the day came alongside Helder Barbalho, governor of Para, where he touted California’s green credentials between bites of tropical fruit and sips of acai juice noting that the Golden State, the world’s fourth-largest economy, is now two-thirds powered by renewables.

He then launched into a whirlwind of meetings and press events with officials from Germany’s BadenWurttemberg state, Brazil’s minister for Indigenous Peoples and the Brazilian president of COP30 all the while trailed by large media scrums normally reserved for national leaders.

Still there are limits. Regional leaders have no part of official negotiations at COP30, which opened this week with urgent calls to stay the

course on climate action.

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, who also attended events yesterday, acknowledged these constraints.

“Certainly our meetings with leaders at the UN and others was to demonstrate that we’re interested in any possibility that does more about that direct negotiation and representation,” she said.

Her aim in coming, she added, was to show that “when the federal government leans in, we do more, and when they lean out, we do more. It’s both.”

But Christiana Figueres, an architect of the Paris agreement, said the summit was better off without Trump’s Government showing up.

“I actually think it is a good thing,” Figueres said, suggesting that while the United States may work behind

have been rescued in Malaysian waters since rescue operations started on Sunday.

Relatively affluent Malaysia is home to millions of migrants from poorer parts of Asia, many of them undocumented, working in industries

including construction and agriculture. But sea crossings, facilitated by human trafficking syndicates, are hazardous and often lead to overloaded boats capsizing.

The Rohingya have been persecuted in Myanmar for decades,

UN climate summit

the scenes with petrostates including Saudi Arabia, “they can not take the floor” and directly bully other nations.

Even without a seat at the table, US states and cities have concrete power.

A recent analysis by the University of Maryland found that if these governments ramp up their efforts and a climate-friendly President is elected in 2028 US emissions could fall by well over 50% by 2035, approaching the 61-66% reduction targeted by Biden’s administration.

“The President can’t throw a switch and turn everything off that’s not how our system works,” Nate Hultman, who led the report, told AFP.

The market-driven green shift remains a strong factor including in US states with climate-hostile leadership, like Texas, the country’s renewable

energy generation leader last year, added Hultman, who previously worked for Democratic Presidents.

Even so there are questions over how far state-level action can go without federal support.

Trump’s Republicans recently passed a law bringing an early end to clean energy tax credits, seen as a potentially crippling blow to the renewable sector.

Beyond pushing for more drilling at home and declaring war on green energy, Trump’s administration recently torpedoed international efforts to impose a carbon tax on shipping by vowing reprisals against countries that backed the plan.

Newsom urged nations to hold firm against further intimidation efforts, saying it was vital to remember “Trump is temporary” and that “you stand up to a bully”. AFP

and thousands risk their lives every year to flee repression and civil war, often aboard makeshift boats.

In 2024, some 657 Rohingya died in the region’s waters, according to UNHCR figures. Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said

that the latest shipwreck “raises urgent humanitarian concerns”.

“No one leaves Myanmar or Bangladesh by choice these are dangerous boat journeys undertaken by people out of fear for their lives,” MSF said. AFP

Warning over air-con demand

Global demand for air conditioning could more than triple by 2050, the United Nations has warned.

The UN Environment Programme yesterday said demand could surge due to increases in population and wealth around the world, combined with more extreme heat.

Rising demand for more polluting and inefficient cooling systems “would almost double coolingrelated greenhouse gas emissions over 2022 levels”, said UNEP.

UNEP launched its Global Cooling Watch 2025 report on the sidelines of the COP30 UN climate summit in Brazil. “Installed cooling capacity is on a trajectory to triple by 2050 Yet billions will still lack adequate protection from heat.

“We must reimagine cooling not as a source of emissions, but as a cornerstone of heat resilience and

sustainable development,” it said.

The most rapid growth in cooling demand is projected in Africa and South Asia.

“As deadly heat waves become more regular and extreme, access to cooling must be treated as essential infrastructure alongside water energy and sanitation,” UNEP chief Inger Andersen said.

“But we cannot air condition our way out of the heat crisis, which would drive greenhouse gas emissions higher and raise costs.”

UNEP highlighted so-called “passive cooling” options, including better wall and roof designs, shading, solar off-grid solutions and ventilation. The cooling report suggested adopting such measures could reduce emissions to 64% below the levels otherwise expected in 2050. AFP

bombing

ack country’s the side out un-Islamic Muslim-majority and here bodies

Modi the to historical at were hrough everyone ate her an mocked ed claims be to bemusement

speeding pedestrians. Pavement users who exceed the limit could be fined up to €100 ($176), although it is not yet clear how police will implement the law when it comes into effect on January 1. Dan Kollar, president of the Cyklokoalicia group that advocates walking and cycling, criticised the law as “nonsensical”, and said the changes late last month were not justified. “At such a low speed, it’s hard to maintain balance and even 3- to 4-year-old children (on bikes) routinely exceed it,” he said.

Seal of office

Catherine Connolly was inaugurated as Ireland’s new President in Dublin this week after a landslide election win last month. The 68-year-old barrister, whose term lasts seven years, becomes the 10th President since the Irish state was founded in 1922 after independence from Britain. After receiving a seal of office at a ceremony in Dublin Castle, she formally replaced 84-year-old Michael Higgins who held the largely ceremonial post since 2011. An independent candidate, Connolly cruised to victory in the October 24 vote. She won 63% of valid first preference votes, well ahead of centrist rival Heather Humphreys of the governing Fine Gael party.

You say We say Navy vows to change after failures

The horrifying minutes during which a New Zealand naval vessel headed uncontrollably towards land grinding to a halt on a reef off the coast of Samoa in October last year, must have been a terrifying experience for those on board

Having to abandon ship when the HMNZS Manawanui began to pound herself to death, eventually catching fire capsizing and sinking would have added to that fear

All 75 on board made it to shore safely but it was not a straightforward escape, made difficult by the darkness and rough seas It took five hours helped by Samoan locals

At the time onlookers were quick to unfairly attack UK-born Commander Yvonne Gray, who came with 19 years’ experience in the Royal Navy

The sexist remarks prompted Defence Minister Judith Collins to admonish those she called armchair admirals for their deeply concerning, misogynistic” remarks directed at Gray

The one thing we know did not cause [the sinking] was the gender of the ship’s captain,” she said at the time

A New Zealand Defence Force disciplinary investigation is nearly complete and as a result individuals may well be court-martialled

But the Royal New Zealand Navy is to be commended for admitting systematic faults and failures in its organisation early on in the inquiry process But as was evident from the Erebus disaster, when Air New Zealand’s flight 901 flew into Mt Erebus in 1979, killing 257 people on board early finger-pointing is unfair There is rarely one lone reason behind a disaster

In response to the sinking, the Chief of the Royal New Zealand Navy, Rear Admiral Garin Golding promised the navy would “own it, fix it and learn from it”

By comparison, after Erebus Air New Zealand ducked for cover and the crash blamed on pilot error Much later, an inquiry placed the blame on the airline as a result of issues with its systems management and changed navigation co-ordinates of which the pilots were unaware

With the Manawanui, there has been no such ducking and diving Work on reviewing training procedures and safety protocols across all the ships started almost immediately, Golding said

We need to do things differently

And indeed the Navy does, if it is to keep future generations of Kiwi personnel safe

A Court of Inquiry investigation released earlier this year found human error to be the root cause behind the sinking but behind that were nine major failures including the Manawanui not being operationally ready for the task ahead, navigational mistakes a lack of qualified staff to fill key roles and training gaps in both crew and commanders for that specific ship

As the vessel steamed towards land, those on the bridge mistakenly thought the ship would not alter course because of a previously troublesome thruster control In reality, the vessel was steering a course on auto-pilot but the crew on the bridge at the time didn t know how to turn it off

Owning the management and training issues that caused those human errors to occur and for taking prompt steps to change the way it operates in the future, is a commendable step

No harm in selling poor assets

The selling of under-performing public assets should be no big deal Firms, individuals and sound and sane business practices lead to the selling of these surplus assets in the normal course of business.

NZ First’s obdurate opposition to Government asset sales is motivated by purely political grandstanding. The fact that Winston Peters has held this view for more than 25 years does not validate this policy position.

The banning of asset sales is still entirely without merit, leading to suboptimal business outcomes while constraining liquidity and limiting sources of working capital And we, the taxpayers, are the losers.

LarryN Mitchell,RothesayBay.

Big, bold talks

A bold headline in the Herald (Nov 11) reads: “Luxon wants big, bold talk about recycling our assets”.

talks about New Zealand spending $12 billion over four years on military hardware”.

Much of our infrastructure is broken or else just about ready to break. Many people want billions to be spent on the basic things like hospitals and schools, affordable housing and much better power generation. We do not need overpriced weapons that we cannot afford to to pay for.

JohannNordberg,Paeroa.

One used government

The Prime Minister has suggested selling poorly performing assets. I think we should start by selling his poorly performing Government.

AllanBell,Torbay.

Rough-sleepers’ impact

those affected by their presence.

MikeBrooke,NewPlymouth.

Rough-sleeping solution

Huw Dann suggested in a letter to the editor (Nov 11) that the solution to roughsleeping is to build more social housing.

I’m getting my sleeping bag ready and excited about the idea of a new, rent-free house (central city is fine or Ponsonby so I can be near the food bank).

Maybe we should look at alternative solutions. Maybe secure accommodation away from drugs, alcohol and unhelpful influences. Somewhere social services can have offices “on site”. RandelCase,BucklandBeach.

Well done, Daron

I wish to compliment the Herald and Daron Parton on the cartoon depicting the fossil fuels strangling the Cop30 parrot (Nov 11), as it accurately portrays the political situation at the climate conference in Brazil.

The leaders of the world send their environmental ministers to the conference to brag about how much they are doing or make excuses for what they are not doing to combat anthropogenic climate change.

I say the public first of all needs “big, bold

Several correspondents make the valid point that the homeless and roughsleepers often suffer from mental illness, trauma and poverty and that they shouldn’t be “moved on” to tidy up Queen St. Obviously, they don’t appreciate the detrimental effect these people are having on business owners and employees, the very people who work, pay tax and council rates that provide financial and other benefits. They also help pay for, through their taxes, the building and operating costs of social housing. We need to be humane in dealing with rough-sleepers but also shouldn’t forget

The fossil fuel industries spend millions to make sure that the minimum action is taken to move away from a fossil fuelfunctioning global economy, towards a sustainable, electric, low-carbon future that excludes no small society.

A worker pours water over himself to cool down from the heat as he boils green mussels at a processing site in Cilincing, Indonesia.

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Rod Emmerson’s view

Yes, we live in hope! Many activists say that unless we change, we can’t tackle climate change, and that requires a spiritual as well as a political change in values.

The devastating fire in Tongariro National Park could be a glimpse of our future and emphasises the urgency of the situation. It requires us to take action at a local as well as an international level.

Kia Kaha, everyone!

DennisWorley,Birkenhead.

Bootcamp success?

Seven out of 10 participants in the Government’s bootcamp pilot reoffended on release. During the pilot programme, two participants ran away, one was kicked out of the programme and another was killed in a crash. And members of the Government call that a success? One wonders what planet they’re on.

GaryHollis,MellonsBay.

Department store’s demise

Generation Z has not killed the department store as Deborah Pead writes (Nov 11), the internet has done all of that.

Who needs to go to a department store when web-searching can provide everything you need. In a matter of seconds, anyone can search multiple shops, source the best deal and then not even leave the house and have it delivered. This premise is exactly what has killed the shopping experience as we once knew it. JohnFord,Taradale.

Our warming world is leaving children hungry

OPINION Dr Olivia Yates is the advocacy policy and research advisor for World Vision NZ

‘Im sad and afraid because we will no longer have coconuts for the future These words from a Papua New Guinea school capture a growing fear across the Pacific: the fear of an empty table

Climate change is not only reshaping coastlines and weather patterns it’s reshaping how we eat how we live and childhood itself When floods drown crops when droughts turn soil to dust when saltwater poisons gardens, children are the ones who eat less, learn less, and dream less The climate crisis is fast becoming a hunger crisis, and the world is not ready

Globally, more than 295 million people face acute food insecurity, including 18 million infants born deprived of essential nutrition Nearly half of all deaths among children under 5 are linked to malnutrition

World Vision’s recent analysis of the climate strategies for 84 countries and the European Union found 80% of climate policies make no reference to child hunger or malnutrition Most governments recognise hunger in general, but fewer than one in five recognise its specific and devastating impact on children And a climate policy that leaves children out is, quite frankly, a failed policy New Zealand s own climate plans reflect this oversight Our Nationally Determined Contribution, our climate action plan submitted under the Paris

Climate change is fuelling child hunger, with millions facing food insecurity worldwide. Photo / World Vision

HWhat do you think? Email letters@ nzherald.co.nz

Agreement, acknowledges that nearly half of our emissions come from agriculture, but does not once mention hunger food security or malnutrition It treats food production as an economic issue rather than a human one While our climate adaptation plan discusses innovation in food production and industry resilience they skim over efforts to ensure every child in Aotearoa New Zealand has enough to eat in a changing climate Nowhere do these plans confront the disproportionate toll of food insecurity on children And hunger is already a daily reality here The Salvation Army’s latest report found one in four New Zealand households with children experience food insecurity Among Maori and Pacific

whanau, it s one in two This is the highest rate in a decade, a doubling in just two years Aotearoa New Zealand exports enough food to feed 40 million people yet far too many of our own children go to school without breakfast It’s a cruel paradox which highlights the fact that food insecurity is not about supply but fairness Unsurprisingly in World Vision s analysis of climate plans and their response to hunger ranks New Zealand third-worst of all countries assessed, a startling result for a nation with both the resources and responsibility to act And especially for one already facing serious food security challenges The Government recently weakened methane reduction targets to “protect

food production” Yet, real protection means safeguarding the future of food itself Food security depends not only on maintaining current supply but on ensuring that everyone, especially children, can access affordable, nutritious food no matter what lies ahead If we fail to make our food systems climate-resilient and child-centred, a warming world will threaten both farmers’ livelihoods and the family dinner Having enough food is a human right

Our Pacific neighbours are already adapting food systems by rebuilding gardens reviving traditional crops and restoring reefs Our analysis shows they treat hunger and malnutrition as a more serious issues than New Zealand’s approach What they need now are partners, not bystanders When New Zealand ensures every child within our shores is well nourished we strengthen our credibility to act alongside Pacific nations and meet the same standards we expect of others, thereby demonstrating that climate and food justice begin at home

At Cop30 this month, New Zealand has the opportunity to show this leadership with heart We can start by embedding child hunger and nutrition into our climate policies using child-specific indicators such as stunting and wasting to measure progress We also can commit to increasing our overseas climate change aid and directing more funding toward nutrition-sensitive, climate-resilient programmes in the Pacific Every child deserves the food they need to grow and learn Every Government has a duty to protect that right By placing children at the centre of our climate response, we invest in resilience equity, and peace, giving us a future in which no child is left hungry

Gqeberha, Cape Town (overnight in port) Hotel Stays

Four-star hotel stays in Singapore, Cape Town and Livingstone with breakfast

Peermont D’oreale Grande Hotel with breakfast

Escorted Tours

Pilanesberg National Park game drives*

Royal Livingstone Express

Lady Livingstone river safari

Walking tour of Victoria Falls

3 night four-star hotel stay in Pilanesberg at the Kwa Maritane Bush Lodge with breakfast, lunch and dinner

1 night five-star stay in Johannesburg at the

Auckland departure –regional flights available Overnight flight Your Holiday Includes

Complimentary Flights, Taxes & Transfers

Luxury Cunard Mediterranean Voyage with Trio of Italian Lakes & Scenic Swiss Rail Journey

Full-Board Cruise

14 night full-board cruise on board Queen Victoria

Visiting*: Trieste, Zadar, Dubrovnik, Valletta, Naples, Civitavecchia, Marseille, Villefranchesur-Mer, Genoa, La Spezia, Civitavecchia

Hotel Stays

3 night four-star stay in Lake Maggiore at the Grand Hotel Dino

2 night four-star stay in Lake Garda at the Aqualux Hotel Spa Suite & Bardolino

Escorted Tour

Lake Como tour

Rail Journey

Scenic rail journey on board the Centovalli Railway

All Flights, Taxes & Transfers

Auckland departure

APunjabi artist living in the rural outskirts of Auckland

has quietly captured the attention of more than a million people

“It’s gone way beyond what I thought,” Yogesh Rai, or Yogi as he is known to fans told the Herald

On October 17, the singersongwriter from Phagwara in Punjab India, released BilliyanAkhiyan, meaning “cat-like eyes” in Punjabi He chose to sing the catchy, romantic tune entirely in his mother tongue

Within two weeks it had more than a million views on YouTube

The four-and-a-half-minute music video was filmed in downtown Auckland Rai and his friend Jay (Gurjit Singh) compete for the attention of a beautiful woman (Mubashra Maqbool) around the urban oceanside of Britomart and Wynyard Quarter

But the 30-year-old isn’t just a growing internet sensation; he is a proven talent to local industry experts

Rai is the first Punjabi artist in Aotearoa to receive financial backing from NZ on Air, after being selected as one of 20 recipients of the 2025 New Music Pan-Asian focus round in May

The $11,000 grant, created to address the under-representation of

From Franklin TO FAME

How a Kiwi Punjabi artist found his voice

Pan-Asian artists in Aotearoa, pays for the recording, video content and promotional costs of BilliyanAkhiyan

“I belong to Punjab and I started writing [songs] from a very early age, Rai said

He moved to New Zealand alone in 2013 at age 18, “in search of a better future” leaving behind his parents and two older brothers

It was a struggle at first He wanted to move somewhere “where nobody is” But he ended up finding his uncle and aunt in One Tree Hill and lived with them for a year

Rai found he couldn t easily talk about his emotions But writing helped

“Writing was the best way for me to express my feelings rather than sharing them with anyone,” he said

It wasn’t until two or three or four

years ago Rai can t quite remember when he started performing, and was noticed by New Zealand music label Big Shot Vibes at a house party

Finally, he thinks it s paying out now”

Rai eventually started writing lyrics in English In 2024, through Big Shot Vibes he released Black a hiphop track featuring fast cars, skulland-crossbones and some English rap

“That worked well ” he thought

Rai plans to add English lyrics to his music, hinting he’s experimenting with a couple of songs But nothing is quite like singing in his first language

“The majority of my writing is in Punjabi because that s how I ve been brought up,” he said

“That’s the only reason for writing in Punjabi ”

JESSE MULLIGAN’S RESTAURANT REVIEWS

Back in Phagwara, a city of just over 100,000 in northern India, music was a way of life

“Once you wake up in the morning and you go to school, there is music playing It’s religious music that’s playing When you come back your mum is cooking and cleaning, and even at that time there is music playing At night, [when watching] movies the music is always playing Even outside on the streets,”

Rai said

Rai’s soundscape is pulsating energy with Punjabi-honey melodies It has heat and confidence The inspiration, however, is found in quiet: When I stay close to nature and I’m alone, that’s when I write the best,” he said

The best place for Rai to write is where he lives now in rural Franklin

“I live on a farm,” he said “It [helps] connect me to the old roots back in India there are cattle and sheep and everything Birds chirping every day in the morning I can just sit and write the best that I can

If it’s not nature, it’s family

“They really motivate me to keep doing the music It doesn’t matter what the result is just keep going ” Rai said

Rai is one of several artists in a growing Punjabi music scene in New Zealand Auckland-based bhangra sensation Lovepreet Brar (who in 2016 made national headlines for involvement in fraud) garners more than 217,000 monthly listeners on Spotify This week, global megastar Diljit Dosanjh perhaps the most famous contemporary Punjabi artist is performing for the second time at Auckland s Spark Arena

Rai thinks he knows why Punjabi music easily crosses borders “I would say [Punjabi music] has adapted to Western style pretty quickly

“It s booming drastically,” he said, adding the music evolves every six months and adapts to the changing industry I think that s what is taking it further ”

Rai said he already has a few new songs ready and they won t be anything like BilliyanAkhiyan

“It s going to be sad-romantic,” he said of one “I haven t named it yet ”

6am Breakfast 0 The Breakfast team presents news, entertainment, sports and weather

9am Riddiculous 3 0 Contestants take on the Riddlemaster, hosted by Ranvir Singh

10am Tipping Point 3 0

11am The Chase 3 0 Quiz show where contestants must stay one step ahead of The Chaser

Noon Tenable 3 0 Contestants must answer questions to win a big cash prize

1pm L Cricket: Blackcaps v West Indies 0 Fifth T20 From University of Otago Oval, Dunedin

5pm Te Karere News and current affairs from a Maori perspective

5.30 Tipping Point: Best Ever Finals 3 0 Some of the most dramatic end games, agonising trades and jackpot counters teetering on the edge

6pm 1News at Six 0 The latest news sport, and weather

7pm Seven Sharp 0 Stories of the day from around New Zealand

7 30 N Can’t Sell Must Sell 0 Stuart and Scarlette are on the England/North Wales border taking on two houses that cannot sell

8.30 F Malpractice ML 0 The investigation into Dr Ford comes to a head, as the MIU works with unlikely sources to uncover shocking truths and a wider conspiracy

9 30 Coronation Street

10 30 Border Patrol 3 A look inside one of New Zealand’s biggest drug busts, an actress has an audition with Customs and Immigration and there is a drug concealment with a difference

10.55 Dream Home PGL 3 The final renovations are underway as tensions at Punchbowl lead to a showdown, and at Belrose, a heater nearly sets the house on fire

12.15 Cooks on Fire PG 3

1 05 Te Karere 3

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8 55 Infomercials

9 25 Les Mills Adult Classes 3

9.55 Big Brother Australia PG

11am Home and Away PG 3 0

11.30 Shortland Street PGC 3 0

Noon Tipping Point Australia 3 0

1pm Come Dine with Me 0

1 30 Brooklyn Nine-Nine 3 0

Captain Holt and Amy manage an understaffed precinct; Jake and Charles investigate

2pm TheRookie M 3 0 Documentary makers interview the LAPD on a complicated missing persons case connected to John

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3 30 Neighbours PG 0

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5pm The Big Bang Theory PG 3 0

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7pm Home and Away PG 0 Levi hits rock bottom; Marilyn goes too far; Tane tries to win back the girl

7 30 Taskmaster ML 0 Alex Horne shows off his jockey silks Ana Magliano risks calamity with a tower of bricks, and Maisie Adam forgets the rules again

8 30 The Fortune Hotel M 0 Stephen goes missing and a surprise letter leads the guests on a tropical treasure hunt

9.35 Unbelievable Moments

Caught on Camera PG A Miami real-estate agent rescues a woman from alligators, and British tourists almost drown in Egypt when their luxury yacht capsizes

10.35 CSI 16VSC 3

11.30 Killer Siblings 16VC

12.25 New Amsterdam MC

1.10 Infomercials

2 10 Britannia 16VLC

4 35 Neighbours 3 5am Infomercials

6am Beachfront Bargain Hunt: Renovation 3 0

6.55 Homestead Rescue PG 0

8 55 Infomercials

10.40 Gossip Girl M 11.30 Pretty Little Liars M 0 12 30 The Good Doctor M 3 0

1.30 Flip or Flop 3 0

2pm Bravo’s Love Hotel M 0 As the waves crash, so does Shannons patience with Earl’s behaviour on their yacht date

3pm Crikey! It’s the Irwins PG 3 0

4pm Beachfront Bargain Hunt 3 0

4 30 Island Life 0

5pm House Hunters International 0 A couple give up their demanding tech jobs to focus on family in Cahors, and they plan to start a holiday rental business

5 30 House Hunters International 0 After starting remote hospitality companies new parents yearn for city resources near family, when they relocate to Mexico City

6pm Three News 0

7pm The Middle PG 0 After Sue wins a family trip to New York, the Hecks board a plane for a rough flight to the Big Apple

7 30 The Inspired Unemployed: The List M 0 Two best friends take on travel experiences most people would avoid: and they cannot leave the country until they complete them

8 30 The Inspired Unemployed (Impractical) Jokers M 0 The friends tool around a hardware shop, pitch weird inventions, and interrupt an Amy Shark show

9 05 In Limbo M Charlie and Freya blur the lines of their friendship; a mysterious package arrives at Freyas doorstep that raises further questions about the final days of Nate’s life

9 40 Shameless 16 As Franks health gets worse, he tries to contrive an accident with an over-eager Carl, to get the insurance that would cover the cost of a transplant

10 50 Bravo’s Love Hotel M 3

11.50 Alert:MissingPersonsUnit M 3

12 50 Infomercials

8am The Drawing Show 3 0

8.10 Moe and Friends 3 0

8.25 Kiri and Lou 3 0

8.35 Extreme Cake Sports 3 0

9am The 100K Drop 3 0 10am Infomercials

Noon The Tube: Keep London Moving 3 0

1pm Rural Delivery 3 0 The Timata Method offers farmers a low-cost alternative to native regeneration, and see how nonchemical methods can control weeds in crops

1 30 The Great Home Transformation PG 3 0 Emma and Nick head to Edinburgh to help a couple get used to living in a small flat

2.30 The 100K Drop 3 0

3.30 Fight for the Wild PGC 3 0

4 30 Golf: PGA Tour (HLS) 0 World Wide Technology Championship From El Cardonal, Cabo San Lucas Mexico

5.30 Suddenly Susan PGC 0 Oliver becomes nervous and paranoid when Susan refers to him as her boyfriend to rebuff a flirtatious deliveryman

6pm The 100K Drop 3 0

7pm Crowd Goes Wild PG

7.30 F George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces 0 A man is turning the front half of a plane into the ultimate crash pad, and George reveals his own amazing space: an arts and crafts caravan

8 30 World’s Most Secret Hotels 0 At the summit of Mount Pilatus in Switzerland a mountain retreat is carved into the rock and visit one of the UK’s oldest coach inns

9 30 I Escaped to the Country 0 One couple wants to get away from London’s hustle and bustle, while another seeks a community to embrace 10.25 I Hate Suzie 16LSC 3 0

Crowd Goes Wild PG 3

15 UFC on Sky PGC

45 Sky Speed 1am Infomercials

6am Mornings With Andrew Clark 10am Days With Nick Tipping. 3pm Three to Seven With Bryan Crump

7pm Evenings With David Morriss 8pm Music Alive With Clarissa Dunn Visit rnz co nz/musicalive for more information.

10pm Evenings Continued. 12am Music Through the Night Details available on rnz

6am Les Mills Born to Move 3

6.25 Children’s Programmes

MV 3 0

3pm Seinfeld PG 3 0

3.30 Neighbours 0

4pm Tipping Point Australia 3 0

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6.30 Ghosts PGC 3 0

7pm Home and Away PG 0 Tane navigates new dynamics; Marilyn buckles under pressure; Leah lashes out at Lacey

7.30 The Graham Norton Show M 0 Graham Norton welcomes the biggest stars of film,TV and music on to his sofa

8.35 F Michael McIntyre s Big Show

Stacey Dooley hands over her phone in Send to All Olly Murs performs and comedian Alexander Armstrong has a rude awakening

9.50 Taskmaster NZ 16LC 3 Paul Williams jumps behind the camera, Kura Forrester becomes a superhero, and the comedians’ superstitions are tested

10.45 F Hullraisers ML 0

11.15 2 Broke Girls PG 3 0

11.40 Hell’s Kitchen 16L 3 0

12.40 Dracula 16VSC

1.25 Emmerdale PG 3 0

1.50 Infomercials

2.50 Come Dine with Me:The Professionals 3 0

4.25 The Voice USA 3

6am Children’s Programmes Care Bears – Unlock the Magic;Tikaro Tribe; Kiri and Lou; Gus the Itsy Bitsy Knight; The Tom and Jerry Show;Teen Titans Go; Lego Ninjago – Masters of Spinjitzu; Beyblade X;Transformers –Earthspark; Bad Jelly

9.10 Malory Towers 3 0

9.35 The Gamers 2037 PG 3 0

10am Big Brother Australia PG 0

11.05 Shortland Street Omnibus PG 3

12.40 The Graham Norton Show PG 3 Glen Powell, Colman Domingo, Rosamund Pike and Jack Whitehall join Graham on his sofa

1.45 Australian Survivor:Australia vs the World PGL 3 Seven of Australia’s best compete against fierce international rivals on the beaches of Samoa.

3.30 The Fortune Hotel PGL 3

4.35 Confessions of Octomom PG For years speculation has swirled about who fathered Natalie Suleman’s 14 children.

5.30 Two and a Half Men PG 3 0

6pm The Big Bang Theory PGC 3 0

7pm M Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban PGC 3 0 2004 Fantasy A convicted murderer escapes wizards’ prison and pursues Harry

9.35 M Fast and Furious MVL 3 2009 Action When a crime takes them back to LA, a fugitive ex-con and an agent must overcome their distrust to confront a common enemy Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez

11.45 M Ambulance 16VLC 2022 Action.

2.05

3.50

4.35

6am Beachfront Bargain Hunt: Renovation 3 0

6.55 Homestead Rescue PG 0

8.55 Infomercials

10.40 Gossip Girl M Damien stirs up more drama

11.35 Pretty Little Liars M

12.30 The Good Doctor M 3 0

1.30 Flip or Flop 3 0

2pm Buried in the Backyard M 0 When a 21-year-old goes missing during the Covid-19 pandemic detectives unravel a mystery hidden in deleted security video

3pm Dog Detectives PG 3 0

4pm Beachfront Bargain Hunt 3 0

4.30 Island Life 0

5pm House Hunters International 0 A young family leaves Canada for a job opportunity in Frankfurt, Germany, and looks for a home with plenty of space

5.30 House Hunters International 0 A couple search for a home in their favourite holiday destination of Roero Italy

6pm Three News 0 7pm The 1% Club Australia PG 0 8pm Love it or List it Australia 3 0 A man loves his 1940s brick home, but his wife is embarrassed by it.As Neale works to open up the space Andrew hopes to win them over with a new home

9.05 9-1-1 M 3 Maddie and Chimney’s long-awaited wedding day arrives but when the groom vanishes, the 118 scrambles to save the day

10.05 NCIS PG 3

11pm Buried in the Backyard M 3 0 12am Infomercials

6am Charles Stanley PG 6.30 Infomercials

9.30 Supermarket Stakeout 3 0

10.30 The Zoo PG 0 Three abandoned puma cubs arrive and the staff grows concerned about their eldest rhino

11.30 Animal Embassy 3 0 The aquarium team is hoping to breed more Nemos in their striped clownfish breeding programme Noon Cupcake Wars 3 0 1pm Unsellable Houses 0 2pm Celebrity IOU 3 0

3pm Lakefront Bargain Hunt 3 0

3.30 Chopped 3 0

4.25 The 1% Club Australia PG 3

5.30 Ocean Bounty 0 Find out about the impact of poaching and sustainable outcomes for the paua fishery

6pm Three News 0 6.30 The Best of the Middle PG 0 Mike risks his friendship when he steals his neighbour’s plumber, and Brick spends the weekend with Axl at college to have fun and party

7pm M Tom and Jerry 3 0 2021 Animation A chaotic battle ensues between Jerry Mouse who has taken refuge in the Royal Gate Hotel and Tom Cat, who is hired to drive him away

9.05 M Jack the Giant Slayer M 3 2013 Adventure When a farmhand unwittingly opens a gateway between the human world and a race of giants, an ancient war is reignited Nicholas Hoult, Ewan McGregor

11.20 M Mortal Kombat 16 3 2021 Action.

1.35 Infomercials

5am Leading the Way PG 5.30 Charles Stanley PG

8am The Drawing Show 3 0 8.10 Moe and Friends 3 0 8.25 Kiri and Lou 3 0

8.35 Michal and Moe 3 0 9am Crowd Goes Wild PG 3 9.30 UFC on Sky PGC 3

10am Infomercials Noon George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces 3 0 1pm World’s Most Secret Hotels 3 0 2pm Man v Food PG 3 0 2.30 Sky Speed 3 3pm The 100K Drop 3 0 4pm Crowd Goes Wild PG 3

4.30 UFC on Sky PGC 3 5pm Sky Speed 3

5.30 Suddenly Susan PGC 0 A parody Susan writes about Nate’s negativity towards gay people is published and causes bad publicity for the magazine 6pm The New Adventures of Old Christine PGC 0

6.30 The 100K Drop 3 0

7.30 M Bandits MV 0 2001 Comedy Two bank robbers fall in love with the young woman they have kidnapped Bruce Willis Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett. 10pm Mud Mountain Haulers PGL 3 0

10.50 Raised by Refugees PGS 3 0 11.20 Rutherford Falls ML 0 11.50 Chucky 16VLC 0 12.45 Infomercials

and Newts 3 7.10 Island of Mystery 3 7.20 Te Nutube 3 7.30 Tamaiti tu Spring 3

7.40 Tamariki Haka 3 7.50 Haka Life Wharekura 3 8am Te Nutube Haka 3 8.30 Tautohetohe 3 9.30 Digital Drum Studio Sessions 3 10am Waka to Worlds 3 10.30 The People’s Game 3 11am The Walkers M 3 11.30 Ahikaroa M 3 12.30 Only in Aotearoa M 3 1pm Rage Against the Rangatahi PG 3 1.30 Waka Huia 3 2pm Tautohetohe 3 3pm Nga Toa Taua o te Reo 3.10 Te NGz 3 3.30 Uka 3 4pm Ngati Kohanga Reo Ki Tauranga Moana 3

4.30 Mauri Reo Mauri Ora Wharekura 3 5pm Nga Kapa Haka Kura Tuarua 3

5.30 Mauri Reo Mauri Ora 3 6pm Te Matatini o te Kahui Maunga Festival 3

6.30 Hakapedia 3 7pm Ngau Tuara PG 3 7.30 M Ratchet and Clank 3 2016 Animation When the galaxy is threatened by an alien villain, a mechanic and a robot join an elite squad to save the universe 9.10 M Moja Vesna M 3 2022 Drama. 10.40 Closedown

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15

8am Secrets at Red Rocks PG 0 8.30

Kiri and Lou 3 0 8.35 Extreme Cake Sports 3 0 9am My Favourite Dead Person 3 0 9.10 Michal and Moe 3 0

9.35 Kea Kids News PGV 3 0 10am Infomercials Noon MasterChef USA PGL 0 1pm Pawn Stars PG 3 4pm Triple Threat PG 3 0 4.30 Rugby:All Blacks v England Preview Show 5pm Golf: LPGA Tour 0 Toto Japan Classic

6pm Pointless Australia 0 7pm A Girl’s Guide to Hunting, Fishing and Wild Cooking PGC 0 7.30 Limitless Win UK 0

8.30 Outrageous MVLS 0 Mini-series Nancy Mitford lives in hope that her boyfriend will propose while her younger sister Diana has it all 9.30 M Sicario: Day of the Soldado 16VLSC 0 2018 Action. When cartels begin trafficking terrorists across the US border a federal agent reunites with his Mexican former ally to fight the drug war Benicio Del Toro Josh Brolin 12am Ambulance 16VLC 3 0 1am Rosie Molloy Gives Up Everything 16LC 3 0 1.30 Infomercials

6.30 Kori Club 3 6.40 Mahi Pai 3 6.50 Binnabannas 7am Darwin and Newts 3 7.10 Island of Mystery 3 7.20 Te Nutube 3 7.30 Kia Mau 3 7.40 Te Pamu Kumara 3 7.50 Fly My Pepeha 3 8am Pukana 3 8.30 Nga Kapa Haka Kura Tuarua 3 9.30 M Ratchet and Clank 3 2016 Animation. 11.05 Bamay 3 11.30 Native Ride 3 Noon Basketball: NZSS 3x3 Nationals 3 1pm Ki-o-Rahi: NZSS Nationals 3 2pm Piri’s Tiki Tour PG 3 2.30 The People’s Game 3 3pm Tamariki Haka 3 3.25 Mauri Reo Mauri Ora 3 3.50 Toku Reo Kokara 3 4pm Nga Toa Taua o te Reo 4.30 Mauri Reo Mauri Ora 3 5pm Whiua te Paatai PG 3 5.30 Mauri Reo Mauri Ora 3 6pm Edge of the World 3 7pm Red Earth Uncovered 7.30 M Spy Cat 3 2018 Animation. A pampered cat is forced to make her own way in the world and realizes who she really is – a lonely cat in need of friends Alexandra Neldel Axel Prahl Sylvain Urban 9pm M Cliffhanger 16 3 1993 Thriller A Rocky Mountain Rescue professional and his former partner on a regular rescue mission are held hostage by a gang of criminals 11pm Closedown

6am Children’s Programmes Darwin and Newts;The Adventures of Little Penguin; Bluey; Night Eyes; Royals Next Door; Scooby Doo and Guess Who?; Island of Mystery

8.20 Young Riders 3 0

8.30 What Now? 0

9.30 The Voice USA 0 The coaches enlist the help of superstar advisors as their remaining artists hold nothing back during the playoffs

11.15 Home and Away Omnibus PG 3

1.50 MKR 3 At Kitchen HQ Rob and Liam wield their judges power and three teams battle to avoid elimination

3.30 M The Emoji Movie PG 3 2017 Animated. A multi-expressional emoji sets out to become a normal emoji.

5.05 Two and a Half Men PGS 3 Lyndsey discovers that Alan is sleeping with Larry s sister; Walden struggles with telling Barry to find his own place

6pm The Big Bang Theory PGS 3

7pm M Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire PGC 3 0 2005 Adventure Fantasy In Harry’s fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry he is selected to compete in a multi-wizardry school competition.

9.50 Escaping Utopia MSC 3 0 A journalist is determined to expose the Gloriavale Christian Community, but its charismatic leader might be too powerful for the laws of the land

11.05 The Graham Norton Show M 3

12.10 M Saw 3 18VLC 3 2006 Horror

2.05 Inside Prison: Britain Behind Bars 16LC

2.55 Dahmer on Dahmer:A Serial Killer Speaks MVSC 3

3.40 Infomercials 5.40 Closedown

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17

6am Les Mills Born to Move 3 0

6.30 Children’s Programmes

8.55 Infomercials

9.25 Les Mills Adult Classes 3

9.55 Big Brother Australia PG

11am Home and Away PG 3

11.30 Home Economics PG

Noon Tipping Point Australia 3 0

1pm Come Dine with Me 0

1.30 Brooklyn Nine-Nine 3 0

2pm The Rookie MV 3 0

3pm Seinfeld PG 3 0

4pm Tipping Point Australia 0

5pm The Big Bang Theory PG 3 0

6pm The Simpsons PGV 3 0

6.30 Home and Away PG 0 Mackenzie comes home to a mess; Lacey covers for her sister; David backs off from Tane

7pm Shortland Street PG 0 Nazar is torn

7.30 MKR PG 0

9pm RFDS: Royal Flying Doctor Service M 0 It is Christmas in the outback, while Wayne Mira and Matty hit the beach after a jet ski crash, Chaya’s fundraiser spirals and Pete finally reveals his feelings to Eliza

10pm Fire Country M 0 The crew responds to a ski resort accident after a chair lift malfunctions

10.55 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation MVC 3 0

11.50 Killer Siblings 16VC 0

12.40 Wentworth 16VL 3 0

1.30 Emmerdale PG 3 0

2.20 Infomercials

3.20 Poker Face 16VL 3 0

4.25 Neighbours PG 3 0

4.50 Closedown

5am Infomercials

6am Beachfront Bargain Hunt 3 0

6.30 Leading the Way PG

7am Charles Stanley PG

8am Key of David PG

8.30 Turning Point PG 9am Guy’s Ranch Kitchen PG 0

9.25 The Hui

9.55 You Live in What? 3

10.45 Island Life 3

11.10 The Great Food Truck Race

Noon Motorsport: FIM Speedway GP (HLS)

1pm Motorsport: Kiwis: Born to Fly 3

2pm Motorsport:World GT Endurance (HLS)

3pm Motorsport: DTM (HLS)

4pm Motorsport: MotoGP (HLS)

5pm Gold Rush: Dave Turin’s Lost Mine PG 0 Dave’s risky move with the wash plant proves disastrous

6pm Three News 0

6.30 Gold Coast Cops PG 3 0

7pm N The Block Australia 0 Scott welcomes the 2025 Blockheads to the Heartland, Daylesford Victoria, and reveals the first twist of the season – all new builds with identical floorplans

8.45 Married at First Sight UK 16 For experts week the newlyweds face challenges specifically designed to strengthen and develop their marriages

9.50 Playing Gracie Darling M Joni’s suspicion falls on an outcast from her past; Mina sees a game take a dark twist.

10.50 Roadies 16 Bill, Reg and Phil go on a quest to retrieve Christopher’s stolen iPad

12am Spent M 12.40 Infomercials

6am Beachfront Bargain Hunt: Renovation 3 0

6.55 Homestead Rescue PG 0

8.55 Infomercials

10.30 Gossip Girl M 0

11.30 Pretty Little Liars M 0

12.25 The Good Doctor M 3

1.25 Flip or Flop 3

1.55 The Real Housewives of Orange County M Tamra gives herself some space from Gretchen, Jenn is concerned as Dawson prepares to leave for the Marines and Tamra s spring fling devolves into chaos

2.50 The Block Australia 3

4.30 Island Life 0 A family wants to escape cold New England winters to spend more time in the sun and plentiful water of Merritt Island, Florida

5pm House Hunters International 0 5.30 House Hunters International 0 A Seattle couple are moving sightunseen to Wellington New Zealand in search of a better work-life balance

6pm Three News 0 7pm The Block Australia 0 8.05 Married at First Sight UK M The second dinner party serves up romantic confessions for some but one bride struggles to find the support and validation she is looking for from her husband

9.15 The Assassin 16 Julie and Edward must maintain a cover and keep Julie’s past hidden from their new hosts, but a surprise arrival only complicates things further

10.20 Con Girl M 3

11.25 The Real Housewives of Orange County M 3

12.25 Hotel Cocaine 16 3 1.30 Infomercials

6am Kiri and Lou 3 0 6.10 Extreme Cake

Sports 3 0 6.40 Kea Kids News 3 0 7am

Religious Programmes 9am Our Other

Islands PGL 3 0 9.30 Rural Delivery 3 0

10am Netball: England v Silver Ferns (DLY) 0 Third Test. Noon Rugby: England v All Blacks (DLY) 0 2pm UFC: PPV Prelims

4pm Football:A-League Women (DLY) 6.30

Rugby Nation

7pm Home, Land and Sea 0

7.30 Gary Barlow’s Food and Wine Tour

Australia PGC 0 Gary and fellow boy band superstar Ronan Keating explore Australia’s Red Centre visiting an Alice Springs brewery and taking a helicopter flight to the sacred site of Uluru.

8.30 The 2010s MLS 0 1/2 The 2010s became known as the second golden age of television and at the same time innovations in streaming led to new opportunities

9.30 N Survival Mode PG 0 When a monstrous tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri people are thrown into a fight for survival.

10.30 High Speed Chase MVLC 3 0

11.30 F All American: Homecoming MLS 0 12.30 Infomercials

Kia Mau 3 7.40 Te Pamu Kumara 3 7.50 Fly My Pepeha 3 8am Molly of Denali 8.30 Nga Kapa Haka Kura Tuarua 3 9.30 M Spy Cat 3 2018 Animation 11am Te ao with Moana 3 11.30 Nurturing Hope 3 Noon Kids Don’t Come with a Manual PG 3 12.30 Mauri Reo Mauri Ora Wharekura 3 1pm Edge of the World 3 2pm Heritage Rescue 3 3pm Takaro Tribe 3 3.30 Mauri Reo Mauri Ora 3 3.40 Mauri Reo Mauri Ora Kura Tuatahi 3 4.10 Nga Kotiro o Taranaki 3 4.30 Mauri Reo Mauri Ora 3 5.30 Mauri Reo Mauri Ora Wharekura 3 6pm Homesteads 3 6.30 Haka Regionals 7pm

Te Hokinga Mai:The Return 3 7.30 Inside the Statue Wars PG Statues were beheaded and toppled in 2021, igniting a reckoning and re-evaluation of the past. 8.30 Tukanga Nikau Hindin has spent 12 years committed to the regeneration of the Maori cultural practice of aute 8.46 M My Neighbour Adolf M 3 2022 Comedy 10.25 Closedown

8am The Drawing Show 3 0 8.10 Moe and Friends 3 0 8.25 Kiri and Lou 3 0

8.35 Michal and Moe 3 0 9am The Breakdown 10am Infomercials Noon Netball: England v Silver Ferns 0 Fourth Test. 2pm Gary Barlow’s Food and Wine Tour Australia PGC 3 0 3pm Rugby Nation 3 3.30 The Breakdown 4.30 Motorsport: Supercars Sandown 500 Weekend Recap 5.30 Suddenly Susan PGC 0 6pm The 100K Drop 3 0 7pm Crowd Goes Wild PG 7.30 The Hunters Club MVLC 0 A big bull tahr is spotted in the craggy tops, and it will take all of Anto’s skill and luck to get the jump on the cunning beast. 8.30 FBI MV 0 When a retired FBI agent is tortured and killed, Scola and Nina go undercover as a married couple, in the diamond game, to find out who is responsible 9.30 FBI: Most Wanted MV 0 The team races to catch the thieves who killed two guards transporting valuable artefacts; Ray speaks to his father about his relationship with Cora 10.30 The Irrational MVC 0 11.30 Crowd Goes Wild PG 12am Infomercials

6.30 Kori Club 3 6.40 Tuhura 3 6.45 Takaro Tribe 3 7am Darwin and Newts 3 7.10 Island of Mystery 3 7.20 Te Nutube 3 7.30 Tamaiti tu Spring 3 7.40 Tamariki Haka 3 7.50 Mataora Digital 3 8am Te Nutube Haka 3 8.30 Opaki 3 9am Toku Reo 3 9.30 Te Hokinga Mai:The Return 3 10am Te ao with Moana 10.30 Inside the Statue Wars PG 3 11.30 M My Neighbour Adolf M 3 2022 Comedy 1.15 Day One Shorts PG 3 1.30 Sachie’s Kitchen 3 2pm Opaki 3 2.30 Toku Reo 3

3pm Brain Busters 3 3.30 Mauri Reo

Mauri Ora Kura Tuatahi 3 4pm Polyfest

4.30 Te Pamu Kumara 3 5pm Mauri Reo

Mauri Ora 3 6pm Nurturing Hope 3 6.30

The Hui 7pm Once Were Gardeners 7.30

Top of the South From Golden Bay to the Marlborough Sounds, a Maori community is fighting to keep their way of life 8pm Te ao with Moana 3 8.30 M Flee M 3 2021 Animation The true story of Amin a man on the verge of marriage which compels him to reveal his past for the first time 10pm Rewind PG 3 10.30 Tapuwae: Leave Only Footprints 3 11pm Waka Huia 3 11.30 Closedown

6am Les Mills Born to Move 3 0

6.30 Children’s Programmes

8.55 Infomercials (

9.25 Les Mills Adult Classes 3

9.55 Big Brother Australia PG

11.05 Home and Away PG 3 0

11.35 Shortland Street PG 3 0

12.05 Tipping Point Australia 3 0

1.05 Come Dine with Me 0

1.35 Brooklyn Nine-Nine PGL 3 0

2pm The Rookie MVC 3 0

3pm Seinfeld PG 3 0

3.30 Neighbours 0

4pm Tipping Point Australia 0

5pm The Big Bang Theory PG 3 0

6pm The Simpsons 3 0

6.30 Home and Away PG 0 Mackenzie leans on a friend; Leah’s agony turns to outrage; Levi pours out his heart.

7pm Shortland Street PG 0 Monique panics

7.30 MKR PG 0

9pm Kitchen Nightmares 16L 0 In New Orleans, Gordon helps a vegan restaurant grappling with delusion disorganisation, a hoarder owner and the cook from hell.

9.55 Gordon, Gino and Fred’s Road Trip 16L 3 0 Gino and Fred are excited to be heading to San Francisco for their own Summer of Love, and Fred reminisces about the YMCA song

10.55 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation 16VC 3 0

11.50 Killer Siblings MC 0

12.40 Wentworth 16VL 3 0

1.30 Emmerdale PG 3 0

1.55 Infomercials

2.55 Britannia 16VLC 0

4.35 Neighbours 3 0 5am Infomercials

6am Les Mills Born to Move 3 0

6.30 Children’s Programmes

8.55 Infomercials

9.25 Les Mills Adult Classes 3

9.55 Big Brother Australia PG

11.05 Home and Away PG 3 0

11.35 Shortland Street PG 3 0

12.05 Tipping Point Australia 3 0

1.05 Come Dine with Me 0

1.35 Brooklyn Nine-Nine PG 3 0

2.05 Superstore PGC 3 0

3pm Seinfeld PG 3 0

3.30 Neighbours PG 0

4pm Tipping Point Australia 0

5pm The Big Bang Theory PG 3 0

6pm The Simpsons 3 0

6.30 Home and Away PG 0 David issues Justin a warning; Remi has a big announcement; Sonny s kindness causes trouble

7pm Shortland Street PG 0 Selina makes a call.

7.30 The Voice Australia PG 0 The artists show they are not afraid to take risks to chase their dreams and secure a spot on one of the superstar coaches’ teams

9pm Taskmaster Australia M 0 The contestants debut ideas for new characters that will be the most marketable to children and their dads and Tommy gets too deep into character

10.05 Mel Giedroyc: Unforgiveable 16LC 0

11pm CSI: Crime Scene Investigation MC 3 0

11.55 Killer Siblings 16VC 0

12.45 New Amsterdam M 0

1.30 Emmerdale PG 3 0

1.55 Infomercials

2.55 Britannia 16VLC 0

4.35 Neighbours PG 3 0

5am Infomercials

6am Alaska:The Last Frontier PG 0

6.55 The Last Alaskans PG 0

7.55 Bering Sea Gold PG 3

8.55 Infomercials

10.30 Gossip Girl M 0 Serena must choose between her family and Ben

11.25 Pretty Little Liars M

12.25 The Good Doctor M 3

1.25 Flip or Flop 3

1.55 Below Deck Mediterranean M A group of young entitled guests cause chaos, the chef pulls together an over-the-top eight-course tasting menu, and the primary demands a late-night swim

3pm The Block Australia 3 0

4pm Beachfront Bargain Hunt 3 0

4.30 Island Life 0

5pm House Hunters International 0 After accepting a relocation as part of her promotion a woman struggles to balance practicality with opportunity

5.30 House Hunters International 0

6pm Three News 0

7pm The Block Australia 0 The tension is palpable as the Blockheads hurry to get their bathrooms ready for inspection.

8.10 Married at First Sight UK M At the second commitment ceremony, some relationships blossom but for others there is a communication calamity and a dilemma over leaving

9.45 Longmire M When a wild horse is found dragging a dead body,Walt discovers evidence of an illegal rodeo at a local farm

10.40 Top Guns: Inside the RAF M 3

11.40 Below Deck Mediterranean M 3

12.40 Paper Dolls 16 1.40 Infomercials

6am Alaska:The Last Frontier PG 0

6.55 The Last Alaskans PG 0

7.55 Bering Sea Gold PG 3

8.55 Infomercials

10.30 Gossip Girl M 0

11.25 Pretty Little Liars M

12.25 The Good Doctor M 3

1.25 Flip or Flop 3

1.55 Southern Hospitality M Brad cannot help falling in love Austin confronts Will, Joe is rattled that Grace put herself before Maddi and a couple decides if it is now or never at a Vegas wedding chapel

2.50 The Block Australia 3 4pm Beachfront Bargain Hunt 3 0

4.30 Island Life 0 A couple living in South Florida dream of returning to Amelia Island for its small-town feel 5pm House Hunters International 0 5.30 House Hunters International 0 A Canadian woman with a modest budget looks to leave her hectic city life in Toronto for tranquillity and surfing in Jaco, Costa Rica

6pm Three News 0

7pm The Block Australia 0

8.05 Married at First Sight UK M Friends and family visit the couples for in-laws week providing a breakthrough for one couple in need of intervention

9.20 The Graham Norton Show PG 3 With Hollywood stars Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez, comedy great Miranda Hart, the Doctor Ncuti Gatwa, and Hollywood great Kevin Kline

10.25 Big Mood M

10.55 Southern Hospitality M 3

11.55 Timeless M 3

12.55 Infomercials

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18

8am The Drawing Show 3 0 8.10 Moe and Friends 3 0 8.25 Kiri and Lou 3 0

8.35 Michal and Moe 3 0 9am Crowd Goes Wild PG 3 9.30 Rugby Nation 3 10am Infomercials Noon Crowd Goes Wild PG 3 12.30 Bondi Vet 3 1.30 A New Life in the Sun PGL 3 0 3.30 The 100K Drop 3 0 4.30 The Breakdown 3 5.30 Suddenly Susan PGC 0 6pm The New Adventures of Old Christine PGC 0 6.30 The 100K Drop 3 0 7.30 The Motorway PGL 0 Sharon and Tony pick up the pieces when a young man runs into expensive trouble on the M60 and Gavin and Ryan deal with a boy-racer crash in Rochdale 8.30 The Ridge 16VLSC 0 With Sadie’s help, Mia digs into an earlier death that has surprising similarities to Cassy’s; Annot recalls some disturbing information. 9.30 Black Widow 16VC 3 0 The police continue to investigate Julian Webb’s death; after four years on the run, Lee Wyatt works out that he has been a victim of Dena’s manipulative scheme 10.30 Outback Farm PGL 3 0 11.30 Billions 16VLSC 0 12.30 Infomercials

6.30 Kori Club 3 6.40 Tuhura 3

6.45 Takaro Tribe 3 7am

3 7.10 Island of

and

3 7.20 Te Nutube 3 7.30 Tamaiti tu Spring 3

7.40 Tamariki Haka 3 7.50 Mataora Digital 3 8am Pukana 3 8.30 Opaki 3 9am Toku Reo 3 9.30 Tapuwae: Leave Only Footprints 3 10am The Hui 3 10.30 Top of the South 3 11am Te ao with Moana 3 11.30 Hikina te Manuka 3 11.45 Hui Hoppers PG 3 Noon M Flee M 3 2021 An mation. 1.30 Something for the People 3 2.30 Opaki 3 3pm Huhu 3 3.10 Cocomelon 3 3.15 Huhu 3 3.25 Cocomelon 3 3.30 Pukana 3 4pm Mauri Reo Mauri Ora 3 4.10 Huhu:Te Tunga Rakau 3 4.20 Huhu:Te Tunga Rakau 3 4.30 Autaia Haka Theatre 3 5pm Mauri Reo Mauri Ora 3 6pm Aro PG 3

6.30 Marae 7pm Toa Hunter Gatherer PG 3 7.30 Tui Teka’s Trail 3 8pm Hua Parakore 3 8.30 Hunting Aotearoa PG 9pm Haututu Hunters 3 9.30 Feral PG Via Vang chases, kills, cooks, and eats all the creatures that have outstayed their welcome 10pm Only in Aotearoa M 3 10.30 Hunting Aotearoa PG 3 11pm Closedown

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19

8am The Drawing Show 3 0 8.10 Moe and Friends 3 0 8.25 Kiri and Lou 3 0 8.35 Michal and Moe 3 0 9am Aotearoa Rugby Pod 10.05 Infomercials 12.05 The Motorway PGL 3 0 1pm The Hui 1.35 Outback Farm PGL 3 0 2.30 Rugby Nation 3 2.55 Aotearoa Rugby Pod 4pm Basketball:Tauihi Round Eight. 4.30 Football:A-League Women Week Three

5.30 Suddenly Susan PGC 0 6pm The New Adventures of Old Christine PGC 0 6.30 The 100K Drop 3 0 7.30 The Tube: Keep London Moving 0 A rail strike, on the day of the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium, means Parvez s team at Wembley Park Station must get tens of thousands of football fans to and from the game safely 8.30 Earth Oven with Temuera Morrison PG 0 In Hawai’i,Tem explores the Pacific tradition of the imu, discovering the mana behind the expression of identity 9.30 The World’s Most Expensive Cruise PG 3 0 10.30 Yellowjackets 16VLSC 0 11.30 Your Honor 16VLSC 3 0 12.30 Infomercials

6.30 Kori Club 3 6.40 Tuhura 3 6.45 Takaro Tribe 3 7am Darwin and Newts 3 7.10 Island of Mystery 3 7.20 Te Nutube 3 7.30 Tamaiti tu Spring 3 7.40 Tamariki Haka 3 7.50 Mataora Digital 3 8am Pukana 3 8.30 Opaki 3 9am Toku Reo 3 9.30 Tui Teka’s Trail 3 10am Haka Regionals 3 11am Hunt with Me PG 3 11.30 Feral PG 3 Noon Empowered PG 3 1pm Marae 3 1.30 Tautohetohe 3 2.30 Opaki 3 3pm Mauri Reo Mauri Ora Wharekura 3 3.30 Tamariki Haka 3 3.50 Mauri Reo Mauri Ora 3 4pm Polyfest 4.30 The Last Airbender 3 5pm Mauri Reo Mauri Ora Wharekura 3 5.30 Mauri Reo Mauri Ora 3 6pm Waka Huia 3 6.30 Autaia Haka Theatre 3 7pm Poi Takitini 3 7.30 Lifted 3 Pop artist Theia is in her Auckland studio, putting the finishing touches on her album Te Kaahu o Rangi. 8pm Amplify PG 3 Vancouver-based hip-hop royalty JB The First Lady upholds the memories of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls 8.30 Hikina te Manuka 3 9pm Something for the People 10pm Matangireia 3 10.30 Rewind PG 3 11pm Closedown

has every running excite

Andrew Marszal

It is often said Hollywood doesn t produce movie stars anymore So when someone with a square jaw and loads of charisma like Glen Powell is cast in Arnold Schwarzenegger s role for a reboot of TheRunningMan, people get excited But Powell, an unfailingly courteous Texan who quit the Los Angeles life and moved home to Austin as his fame grew, is having none of it

“I don’t find myself to be exceptional ” the 37-year-old told AFP

“That era of action stars and movie stars? You can t really compare apples to oranges ” Powell s role in the new The RunningMan is certainly a far cry from the indestructible bluster of Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson s 20th-century action heroes, who were usually soldiers, cops and trained fighters

He reluctantly enters a deadly game show in which the entire world is trying to kill him because he needs to survive long enough to win prizemoney and buy life-saving medicine for his daughter

“I ve always identified myself as an underdog, Powell said

“Some of my favourite movies are ordinary people against extraordinary odds And you don’t get more ordinary than Ben

The movie sees Powell’s hero get bashed and bruised blown off a bridge and abseiling down the side of a building in only a bath towel to escape from hoodlums

“We are seeing carnage and yet we’re sort of away from it You don’t engage with it as a human anymore ” Powell said he is regularly sent deepfake videos by people who have not questioned the veracity or source of the content

That s a really fun thing that we get to play with in this movie Where do you get the news from and who is controlling information?”

Though he has been acting for years, Powell only shot to prominence as cocky fighter pilot Hangman in 2022’s TopGun: Maverick

In a remarkable streak since, Powell appeared opposite Sydney Sweeney in rom-com Anyonebut You, chased deadly storms in Twisters and both co-wrote and starred in Hit Man

Up next, he will lead a new fantasy film from Lost creator J J Abrams

Powell s production company has a deal with Universal Pictures

Powell s protagonist Ben Richards is an everyman with no special skills beyond a rugged toughness and a very short fuse

The night before his AFP interview Powell and director Edgar Wright screened the movie for Schwarzenegger Schwarzenegger’s response? “Oh, I feel so bad for you It must have hurt!” Powell recalled Arnold knows the pain that it takes to do an action movie properly It was pretty bad-ass to get his blessing ”

The film hews more closely to the original Stephen King novel than its 1987 big-screen predecessor

Powell’s hero is pursued from city to city by professional killers with the contest s producers rigging each moment for maximum TV ratings

Eerily King set his novel in the United States of 2025 a then-futuristic vision of divisive autocrats, deepfake videos and a healthcare crisis that

drives everyday people to extremes

Was it a stretch for Powell to imagine today s public enjoying mayhem and slaughter, some of it fake and artificial intelligencegenerated on their screens?

“We do live in this TikTok universe ” Powell said

Those ventures into writing and producing are reminiscent of another classic action star Stallone who famously penned Rocky and insisted on being cast as the lead

“I really didn’t ever want to wait for the phone to ring Because I realised it never will, at least not with the calls you want,” Powell said That s sort of how I ve moved through this town, trying to do it with a sense of initiative

“Hollywood it’s the Wild West right now, he added I can t really look backwards ” AFP

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Puzzlesandhoroscopes

of

in the valley (5) 13. Make a strong protest and name rotters for a change (11)

The best way to stuff energy in it (5) 18. The direct way Bumble might take (7)

Seaweed may have iron in it (3) 21.

Your Stars

ARIES (Mar 21-Apr 19): You've been managing, fixing and explaining for what feels like a season, so today's opportunity to step back is a welcome reprieve. How refreshing it will be to see things fall into place without your constant tending

TAURUS (Apr 20-May 20): Fresh faces and ideas are part of the landscape. Pace yourself. Everything new is thrilling at first, but what goes beyond the rush of novelty? That's where the truth about what's worth pursuing comes together

GEMINI (May 21-Jun 21): You're curious about others You ask good questions and hold yourself to a near-divine standard of understanding. Meanwhile, you often forgive others their incuriousness Seek reciprocity and mutuality.

CANCER (Jun 22-Jul 22): Many of your ancestors didn't live to see their dreams come true, but if they could see you now, they would toast your freedoms Does it make you want to celebrate these things, too?

LEO (Jul 23-Aug 22): Like the tide returning to the shore, you show up for your people. Whether they notice, appreciate or return your devotion has no bearing on your consistency. That's love.

VIRGO (Aug 23-Sep 22): Often, you can make things happen with emotions like determination and enthusiasm. Today, you will get what you want rather casually, even lazily It's as though what you want is attracted to your nonchalance.

LIBRA (Sep 23-Oct 23): It's the paradox of abundance: to keep something flowing, it must be contained. Rivers need banks Light needs a lamp. Without a vessel, energy disperses. Boundaries are the vessel that keeps love alive.

SCORPIO (Oct 24-Nov 21): You know what you're doing, from the big picture to the detailed minutiae. There was a time you didn't know enough to bring a project together, but now you'll accomplish all the things you couldn't before.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22-Dec 21): You've reached a stage where you're no longer reacting to people who used to push your buttons. Instead of letting them dictate how you feel, you're staying conscious, centered and on-purpose.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22-Jan 19): You'll have the honour of a special request. It feels good to be chosen, even though what you're chosen for will be a substantial amount of work. The people involved will make the challenge a pleasure.

AQUARIUS (Jan 20-Feb 18): You don't have to earn the right to rest. Fatigue isn't a moral failure; it's a sign you've been working. I Let yourself recover Step away for a few hours and watch the world manage fine without you.

PISCES (Feb 19-Mar 20): You lead with attractiveness, but that doesn't mean you have to make big efforts every time. Today, you get optimal results showing up however you really feel. Those close to you will love you more for it.

W E M N E R Y N S M T T E S N X B T N F Y A E G F A D A K I I P G S D I M O B D R O I V A Z I J B M Y Q M K

X J D T D C T G E A N Z A T E K I T

D I T I R C O C R H D I K U I H S O

T J A N O Z P P D S L X P M N F O K

L F H D P M S Z O F E R E B I V H P

F A C E B O O K O L X L V L R R Z M

S R P R O Z E X G I O I E R E O N G

E Z A W X T I K N C I N R G Y N Y A

P F N W O L O S Q K M K N Y O E F V

A Z S N F O T C T R E E O I U D L Y

N J E T L A V W O N S D T B T R C P

D N E T G V I C G S S I E O U I H L

O N U R H T Y S E Y A N Q O B V R V

R O A B T O R M S T G R H K E E O I

A M V E E F P I N T E R E S T X M N

Z L R D K R W H A T S A P P W U E E

CHROME DROPBOX EVERNOTE FACEBOOK FITBIT FLICKR GMAIL GOODREADS IBOOKS IMDB IMESSAGE

INSTAGRAM KINDLE LINKEDIN MARCO POLO MESSENGER MOBDRO NETFLIX ONE NOTE ONEDRIVE OUTLOOK PANDORA

PINTEREST REDDIT SHAZAM SKYPE SNAPCHAT SPOTIFY TIKTOK TIMEHOP TINDER TUMBLR TWITTER

BLACKOUT

UBER VIBER VINE WAZE WHATSAPP YELP YOUTUBE

I B I S

Fit the words into the grid to create a finished crossword

3 LETTERS ADO

4 LETTERS ALLY APSE AXLE CLAY DAIS EARS FLAN HISS IBIS JARS JUTS MASS OPAL ZINC

5 LETTERS ALICE ANTIC APART APRIL ASSET AXELS CHIDE CHUMS

TRIO

Find the threeletter sequence which will complete all these words

13/11

DATES DRIER EAGER EASEL EIDER ELATE ELEGY ELITE ETHIC ETHOS FLORA HOTEL IDEAL IDOLS IRATE KNELL LAVES LURKS MATTE NEWEL NEWSY PEELS

PENAL REELS RELAX RHINE SEERS SEINE SENNA SHEER SHEET SLEDS SLURS SLYLY STYLE TIARA TINEA TRILL UVULA VESTA VESTS ZONES

6 LETTERS ASTHMA EPOCHS SCRIMP UPKEEP

7 LETTERS CARAMEL INNARDS OVERRUN PARSLEY UPGRADE VOLTAGE

8 LETTERS CANNIEST DOCUMENT RELEASED TUTORIAL

Across 1. School subject (7)

5. Military division (5)

8. Excess (7)

12. Spacious and light (4)

13. Put down (5)

15. Repeated design (7)

17. Dewy (5)

19. In favour (3)

20. Mischievous child (3)

21. One who fails frequently (inf) (5)

22. Exercises (8)

23. Pacify (7)

25. Like for like (3,3,3)

28. Kindly (6)

31. Apple drink (5)

35. Military force (4)

36. Ahead of time (5)

37. National song (6)

39. Card game (5)

40. Poem (5)

43. Bystander (7)

45. Partake in snow sport (3)

46. Armed conflict (3)

47. Steadfast (7)

49. Pitch forward (5)

52. Wheel wire (5)

53. Complete (6)

54. Picture (5)

55. Sense (4)

57. Swiss mountain call (5)

60. Dictator (6)

64. Keep trying (9)

66 An affair (7)

Sudoku

68. Famous (8)

69. Sailboat (5)

72. Prohibit (3)

73. Excavate (3)

75. Artery (5)

76. Type of rock (7)

78. Relative by marriage (2-3)

79. Quote (4)

80. Clump of grass (7)

81. Long for (5)

82. Budding (7)

Down

1. Music/dance style (3-3)

2. Exchange (4)

3. US cookie (4)

4. Exclamation of delight (6)

5. Negative electrode (7)

6. Golf score (3)

7. Ominous (8)

8. Compassion (8)

9. Bar (4)

10. Auction items (4)

11. Surreptitiously (8)

14. Nursery (6)

16. Be (5)

18. Become unpleasant (4)

22. Consumed (3)

24. Garland (3)

26. Undisguised (5)

27. Triple (9)

29. Tag (4)

30. Girl (4)

31. Playing deck (5)

32 Bearing (9)

33 Beam (3)

34 Secret store (5)

38 Malevolent (4)

41 Flee (3)

42 Pitcher (4)

43. Cause damage or harm (5)

44. Puff up (5)

48. Rope trap (5)

50. Unsightly (4)

51. Festive performance (4)

52. Home for a swine (3)

54. Childhood chubbiness (5,3)

55. Return information (8)

56. Time without end (8)

58. Source (6)

59. Self-esteem (3)

61. Disagreement (inf) (3-2)

62. Infant (7)

63. Cap (3)

65. Area of central London (4)

66. Period of instruction (6)

67. Silly person (inf) (6)

70. Tops (4)

71. Trinity (4)

73. Lodgings (4)

74. Delight (4)

77. Expression of mild surprise (3)

Fill the grid so that every column, every row and 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9.

oss:crA 1. ,yortisH 5. ,psorC 8. ,suplrSu 12. ,yirA 13. ,elacP 15 n,erttaP 17. ,oistM 19 ,orP 20 ,mpI 21. ,roseL 22. ,sobicerA 23. ,etaclaP 25. itT orf ,tta 28. ,tleenG 31. ,eridC 5.3 ,ymrA 36. ,lyEar 37. ,mthenA 39. ,ymmRu 40. ,erseV .34 ,itnessW 45. i,Sk 46. ,arW .47 nch,autS 49. ,enguL 52. ,Spoke 3.5 ,tnarrA 54. ,ohotP 55. ,leeF 57. ,odelY 60. ,tnayrT 64. ,eerveserP 66. son,Liai 8.6 ,wnedenoR 69. ,thacY 72 n,Ba 73. ,Dig 75. ta,orA 67 ,sounegI 78. ,wn-laI 79 ,etiC 80. ,ssockuT 81. n,reaY 82 tenscNa wn:oD 1. ,-hopipH 2. ,apwS 3. ,eoOr 4 ,ippeeY 5. ,thodeaC 6 ,arP 7 ,erSinist 8. ,ythympaS 9 ,ilaR 10. ,sotL 11. ,tlyeecrS 14 ,ècherC 16. ,stExi 18 ,rouS 22. ,etA 4.2 ei,L 26. ,tervO 27. ,oldfeehrT 29. ,eNam 30. ,Lass 31. ,dsarC 32 ,oureanemD 33. ,yaR 34 tash,S 38 ,ilvE 41. n,uR 42 ,erwE 43. ,kaerW 44. ,llewS 48. ,seNoo 50. ,lyUg 51. ,laaG 52. ,ytS 54. yuppP ,tfa 55. ,dbackeeF 56. ,ynitertE 58. ,inigOr 59. ,goE 61. n-in,Ru 62 n,rNewbo 63. ,Lid 65 ,ohoS 66. esson,L 67. ,tiwitN 70. ,psaC 71. ,iorT 73. ,sDig 74. ,leeG 77. eeG

Mighty Maze

Want to fill in a bit of time but don’t want to think too hard? The Mighty Maze is made for you. Get our a pencil (or pen if you’re really confident about navigational ability) and start to wander

We’re not giving the solution because all that’s needed to solve this is time ►

Puzzle Extra

Jiggered

HOW TO PLAY

It’s part crossword, part jigsaw

The challenge is to rearrange a crossword which has been broken into 25 sections One letter has been given to get you started

Work out which 3x3 square fits in with that letter and write in the letters

You can also shade the black squares if you find it helpful

After completing the first 3x3 area, work out which square joins on to it, and continue until you have made a complete crossword

General Knowledge

Across

7 Brutal Roman Emperor who was assassinated in AD41 (8)

9 City which is the setting of Graham Greene’s anti-war novel The Quiet American (6)

10 Showgirl who featured in Barry Manilow’s 1978 hit Copacabana (4)

11 1950s film star who retired at the age of 26 (5,5)

12 2007 film starring Will Smith, set in post apocalyptic New York, I Am (6)

14 Traditional Roman Catholic prayer which incorporates two passages from St Luke’s Gospel (3,5)

15 Billy Joel album and single, released August 1983 (2,8,3)

17 Couesius Plumbeus, freshwater fish found in Canada and the United States (4,4)

19 In a TV series, Tracy brother who is the pilot of Thunderbird 2 (6)

21 Second largest city in Sweden, founded in 1621 by King Gustavus Adolphus (10)

22 Small spotted deer of Japan with slightly forked antlers (4)

23 Leg bone located on the lateral side of the tibia (6)

24 Colourless, odourless and tasteless gas, atomic number 7 (8)

Down

1 Daughter of Herodias, instrumental in the execution of John the Baptist (6)

2 South American capital city, founded 1535, with a population of 10m (4)

3 1892 poem by Rudyard Kipling which starts: You may talk o’ gin and beer, when you’re quartered safe out ‘ere (5,3)

4 Daughter and half-sister of Oedipus (6)

5 Fictional private detective created by author Mickey Spillane (4,6)

6 Research library of the University of Oxford, established 1602 (8)

8 English playwright, born 1939, who has written more than 70 plays, 10 of them becoming Broadway shows (4,9)

13 In Greek mythology the brother of Prometheus, who accepted Pandora as his bride (10)

15 Southwestern peninsula that forms the Asian part of Turkey (8)

16 “Celebrity is a very tricky area to ”: Minnie Driver (8)

18 Protagonist and narrator of John Buchan’s 1915 novel The ThirtyNine Steps (6)

20 Moor which features in a traditional Yorkshire song (6)

22. Dark purple sour fruit of the blackthorn plant which is added to gin to make a liqueur (4)

Killer Sudoku

The rules of Killer Sudoku present a wicked twist on those of sudoku, since you must not only place each of the numbers 1 to 9 into each of the rows, columns and bold-lined 3x3 boxes, you must also place the numbers in each dashed-line cage so that they add up to the given total

You also cannot repeat a number within a cage, so this means for example that the solution to a cage with a total of 4 must always be 1 and 3, never 2 and 2

There is only ever one possible solution, and it can always be reached via reasonable logical deduction

Guessing is never required

Solving Killer Sudoku can require a range of tactics, not only those from Sudoku and Kakuro, but also some

unique to Killer Sudoku itself

It looks like sudoku, but it’s a test of arithmetic rather than a pattern puzzle

Each vertical and horizontal line has to contain the numbers 1-6

The numbers in each heavily outlined set of squares, called cages, must produce the number in the top corner For example, 9x means the numbers multiply to equal 9

TIP: Numbers can be repeated in a cage, as long as they are not in the same line or row

thunderstorms

Manukau Harbour

Wind: NW 25kt G35kt easing to 15kt mid morning and to 10kt in the afternoon Sea: Rough eas ng in the morning Swell: For the west coast: SW 1 5m easing to 1m Visibility: Fair; poor from afternoon

Lake Rotorua

Wind: NE 20kt, easing to N 10kt in the morning, to variable 5kt in the evening Waves: Up to 0 5m Weather: Poor v sibility in morning rain, then afternoon showers Possible squally thunderstorms

Lake Taupo Wind: NE 25kt G35kt Changing NW 15kt

Bay of Islands

showers 24 14

rain 14 11

thunder 28 25

f ne 20 9

thunder 29 23

f ne 14 3

cloudy 16 7

ne 27 17

Aires f ne 26 15

showers 32 24

f

f ne 26 15

Wind: NW 25kt G40kt, easing to 15kt in the morning

Sea: Rough, easing in the morning Swell: NE 1 5m dying out Visibility: Fair; poor in possible afternoon/ evening thunderstorms

Hauraki Gulf

Wind: NW 25kt G35kt, easing to 15kt late morning, and to 10kt n the afternoon Sea: Very rough easing in the morning Swell: N 1m dying out Visibility: Fair; poor in possible afternoon/

and

w

and

Fine apart from isolated showers Southwesterlies, turning northwesterly at night

Mostly cloudy with isolated showers clearing to fine in the morning W developing in the morning

Mainly fine but isolated showers in the afternoon Westerlies developing in the morning

Mainly fine, isolated showers clearing in the morning Westerlies, turning northerly at night

Mostly cloudy with isolated showers clearing to fine in the morning Northwesterlies

Isolated showers, possible thundery/hail afternoon/evening Strong W eases to light; afternoon sea breezes

Chance early thunder, easing to a few showers by mid morning Thunder/hail possible west of Rotorua from afternoon NW

Mainly fine, but a few showers in the morning Westerlies, turning southerly for a time in the morning

Mainly fine, but isolated showers in the afternoon Westerlies developing in the morning

A few showers NE, strong in exposed places turning lighter NW in the morning

Mainly fine, isolated showers at night Westerlies developing in the morning

Morning rain clears Isolated afternoon showers south of Napier, possible thunder/hail Strong N; lighter afternoon W

Fine, then showers in the afternoon, possibly heavy and thundery Light winds NW developing evening

Mainly fine, isolated showers developing in the evening Northerlies, becoming strong in the afternoon

Fine Northwesterlies, becoming strong in the afternoon

turning lighter NW in the afternoon

Kiwi Property Group sells Costco land for new store

South Auckland outlet will be able to offer alcohol

Anne Gibson

NZX-listed Kiwi Property Group has already sold Sylvia Park land for Ikea to establish itself here and is now selling land for Costco Wholesale s second New Zealand store

The company yesterday struck a deal to sell land to the US retailer at Drury, south Auckland

Unlike Costco Wholesale Westgate, the new South Auckland Costco will be able to offer alcohol a key part of its appeal globally

Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday said the current Costco Wholesale at Westgate in Auckland s west had 250,000 members and employed hundreds of staff

She described news of the second planned Costco outlet as “great news for Kiwi shoppers

Costco s West Auckland store had already improved competitive dynamics in the area and created a new export pathway for several New Zealand food suppliers

Kiwi’s land pitches have great appeal Land at Sylvia Park and Drury are ideal for Ikea and Costco: flat close to motorways ample parking and in Auckland

And Drury is like Westgate a greenfields site, never built on, exfarmland, little chance of land contamination from previous uses and no demolition of existing buildings needed

Naylor Love built Ikea at Sylvia Park, while Haydn & Rollett built Costco Wholesale Westgate Ikea s Sylvia Park store is set to open on December 4

Who wins the contract to build what could be a 1 4ha store and neighbouring fuel station at Drury will be of great interest to the construction sector Westgate was somewhat unusual for Costco as the fuel station is across the road not beside the store Car parking isn’t on the flat but above the shop

Overseas, Costco sells alcohol from its huge stores but the Trusts license alcohol sales in West Auckland Costco Wholesale will be able to sell alcohol at Drury, which is outside the trust area

An opening date for the Drury store has yet to be announced

Christchurch was tipped to get New Zealand s second Costco, potentially at Rolleston

Patrick Noone former Costco Wholesale Australia and New Zealand country manager said before leaving the business that the company would not stop with one New Zealand store

Christchurch was possibly next on the list for a Costco “but it depends on how it works out here”, he said in April 2022

Selwyn District Council granted resource consent to an associate of Philip and Tim Carter’s business on 6 3ha for a Costco on a Rolleston site

Tim Harris, the council’s environmental services group manager said the consent was granted to Rolleston Industrial Holdings to allow the construction and operation of a Costco

“For clarity the consent was sought by and granted to the landowner and not Costco,” Harris told the Herald three years ago

Little has been said lately about Christchurch getting a Costco

Costco s latest accounts showed it has come close to breaking even in its second full financial year in New Zealand after boosting revenue by $20 million

For the 52 weeks ended Septem-

ber 1, 2024, Costco made total sales revenue of $361 5m, up 6% compared to 2023 s $341m in revenue It had a gross profit margin of 9 06% Net profit before tax was $833,000, a turnaround from its net loss before tax in 2023 of $20 5m

Income tax expenses of $1 76m meant it reported a total comprehensive loss of $929,000

It paid salary and benefit costs of $20 6m in 2023 but that fell to $16 5m in 2024

The site Costco plans to buy will be beside the Auckland motorway and is in an area expected to get a new train station

This area is due to get about 60,000 people, a new town centre, possibly three schools and a hospital

Snaring Costco is Kiwi s second big announcement this week On Monday, it said it had struck a $90m deal to sell its Sylvia Park Lifestyle to a new large-format retail fund to be established by Mackersy Property

Kiwi has already bought half of Mackersy last November

The company has further sold 1 2ha of Drury land to Foodstuffs, which a spokeswoman said reflects growing momentum there”

The commitment of two major brands underscores the strategic value of Auckland s newest metropolitan town centre, she said

Additional land designated for sale for large-format retail is also at an advanced state with future announcements to come

“While key sites have been allocated for large-format retail sales, Kiwi Property intends to retain much of its 53ha landholding to deliver a vibrant mixed-use precinct featuring retail, entertainment, hospitality, residential, office medical, and community spaces, she said

And in yet further good news, stage one and stage two of Kiwi Property s Drury development won fast-track approval on Friday

Auckland hotels filling fast as Metallica and education summit head to town

Hotels are expected to reach capacity next week with two major events coming to the city, Auckland Council’s cultural agency says.

Hotels in the city reached 96% occupancy in November 2024 with concerts by Pearl Jam and Coldplay, and 90% earlier this year in January thanks to the Luke Combs concert and SailGP.

Tataki Auckland Unlimited said supported major and business events contributed to an $89 million boost in GDP in the last financial year.

Rock band Metallica were set to draw crowds next week, alongside the World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Education

The conference is expected to be the largest academic conference the country has held, with about 3800

We’ve got about 18,000 rooms to fill across the city every night

Tataki Auckland Unlimited’s director of destination Annie Dundas

attendees, while Metallica were set to play a sold-out crowd at Eden Park.

Tataki Auckland Unlimited’s director of destination Annie Dundas said it was hoping to reach 100% occupancy by next Wednesday.

“We are almost at 100% occupancy,” she said.

“It doesn’t happen often but our plan is, with our major event and business event programme of work, that we want this to happen more often to support our amazing accom-

Allbirds faces tough future as sales slide

Chris Keall

Allbirds’ Nasdaq-listed shares have taken another drubbing after it reported a third-quarter net loss of US$20.3 million ($36m) on revenue that fell 23.3% from the year-ago quarter to US$33m.

The maker of shoes made from New Zealand merino wool and various recycled materials also downgraded its full-year revenue guidance from US$165m-$180m to US$161 to US$166m, implying a smaller-than-previously-expected Christmas season bounce.

In an investor presentation, chief executive Joe Vernachio who replaced founding chief executive Tim Brown in mid-2023 said a restructure, which began with his appointment, continued.

“Our teams are focused on accelerating progress under our turnaround in the quarters ahead,” Vernachio said.

“At the same time, we are taking definitive steps to further reduce costs, enhance liquidity, and pursue value-creating opportunities.”

“Allbirds’ latest financials indicate it hasn’t been able to address underlying financial issues with quarterly sales down 55% compared to September 2022,” Clare Capital partner Alex Gordon told the Herald

“Allbirds typically sees a bump in sales in the December quarter, but losses have continued since it listed, with losses significantly higher than pre-Covid,” Gordon said.

A high-profile brand with a depressed stock price: is that a recipe for a private-equity buyout or a trade sale to a larger shoemaker or apparel firm?

“A potential acquirer would be taking on a company whose revenues are falling and which continues to lose money,” Gordon told the Herald

hard, but other options don’t look easier either.

“While a strategic acquirer might be able to leverage the Allbirds brand and bring its own infrastructure and support with it, the current financials make this a challenge.”

Clare Capital managing partner Mark Clare added: “A trade sale looks

modation and hospitality sectors.”

Dundas said a successful summer season was needed for the city’s hotel sector.

She said summer was when hotels and most tourism operators made their money for the whole year.

“We need summers to be good,” Dundas said, “we’ve got a lot of increased capacity in Auckland in terms of accommodation so a lot of great new hotels have opened over the last sort of 12 to 18 months, which was, of course, all planned prior to Covid.

“We’ve got about 18,000 rooms to fill across the city every night, and so having a really great roster of major events as well as business events really helps to fill that volume into those properties.” RNZ

“Management has been doing what you would expect, trying to improve sales or reduce sales declines and reducing costs.

“Unfortunately, that doesn’t appear to be turning things around fast enough and there isn’t an unlimited runway.”

Allbirds finished the quarter with net cash of US$23.7m (or $11.3m net of debt) from the year-ago US$66m (debt-free).

“So, they will face some hard decisions,” Clare said.

“Options broadly look like selling part or all the business but at what price? or raising more capital if they can, and at what price? Raising more

capital requires having a credible long-term story to tell investors.”

In an investor presentation, Allbirds said its year-on-year fall in third-quarter revenue was “primarily attributable to structural changes, including impacts from international distributor transitions and planned retail store closures”.

Allbirds now has 23 stores, down

from 60 in September 2023, near the start of its restructure.

The firm suffered supply chain challenges during the pandemic.

More recently, US President Donald Trump’s tariffs have been a challenge.

Nearly all of Allbirds’ factories are in Vietnam, which was initially hit by a 48% tariff, moderated to 20% after an October trade deal

More broadly, there’s been the more intangible problem of the brand once appearing on the feet of everyone from Barack Obama to Leonardo DiCaprio losing its cool.

A January 2023 Wall Street Journal feature was headlined, “Allbirds Were the Tech Bro ‘It Shoe. Then the Tech Bros Moved On”.

The influential paper quoted a

Allbirds co-founder Tim Brown stepped down as co-chief executive in mid-2023 but remains on the sustainable shoemaker’s board.

stylist who said hipster Silicon Valley clients had moved on to other brands adding that her clients think Allbirds’ flagship Wool Runners don’t offer enough support if you’re on your feet for long periods, and that the Wool Runners and Tree Runners “flounder in wet weather”. Allbirds disputed those claims.

The Journal quoted social media posts that called Allbirds’ shoes “passe”, “Crocs for tech bros” and “sweatpants for your feet”.

There was an earlier headache when Amazon, which sold Allbirds, started offering a cheaper dupe under a house brand.

And Brown also acknowledged the challenges of an “anti-woke” backlash among some investors, but also said he welcomed the opportunity it provided to argue the case for his firm’s ESG approach.

There was more brand grief this week when US retail analyst Neil Saunders, who has more than 70,000 followers on LinkedIn, took to the platform to mock Allbirds after its third-quarter numbers (delivered on November 7), with a satirical post on “Allbirdus deflatus”.

“The species is also known to shed vast amounts of cash when stressed, and its attempts to migrate into new habitats have mostly failed.”

In a separate, more conventional post, Saunders said: “Back in 2022, Allbirds was having its moment in the sun. Annual revenue was approaching US$300m and, while the brand was somewhat niche, it had strong novelty appeal with its core audience.”

But the firm’s range was too narrow to build momentum, the analyst said. An attempt to diversify into wool-blend leggings fell flat (a 2023 Wall Street Journal report called them “see-through”.)

Its decline to a forecast US$166166m revenue this year, “underlines the fact that Allbirds has fallen out of favour with consumers and suggests that its early success was more of a passing fad than the foundation for a sizeable business” Saunders said.

am currently wearing a pair of Allbirds.”

Mainfreight profit drops 18.5% as higher costs hit first half

Jamie Gray

Shares in transport and logistics company Mainfreight rallied despite it reporting an 18.5% fall in its net profit to $93.4 million over the first half to September.

By mid-morning yesterday, the stock was up $1.45 (2.45%) at $60.44 based on market views that the result and future outlook were better than expected. Its share price last night had risen $4.01 to close on $63

The previous first-half result included $98.8m in revenue and $12.4m in profit before tax from project activity now discontinued.

Mainfreight said it was well positioned to take advantage of improving economic conditions across its international network. Salt Funds managing director Matt Goodson said the market was a little

nervous going into the result, but the company’s outlook statement may be enough to settle investor nerves.

Much will depend on the response to the moderately positive outlook comments and how they square with what people were thinking,” Goodson said.

Harbour Asset Management portfolio manager Shane Solly said the result was soft, “but not as bad as the market had expected”.

Shares in Mainfreight had sunk as low as $58.60 before the release. By division, New Zealand’s profit before tax was down 7.4% at $44.1m while Australia’s pre-tax profit was down 3.8% at A$58.2m ($67m). Europe’s pre-tax profit fell by 31.9% to €9.3m ($19m) while Asia’s pre-tax earnings fell by 5% to US$5.6m ($9.9m).

The Americas’ pre-tax earnings

slumped 128% to US$2.3m.

In its commentary, Mainfreight said its trading performance across the Kiwi divisions had improved as the half year had progressed.

“Property cost increases for our Transport and Warehousing divisions contributed to the disappointing profit reduction,” the company said.

Mainfreight reported profit has been soft, but “not as bad as the market had expected”, according to one expert.

Looking ahead, Mainfreight said it expected the Australian and New Zealand businesses would continue to see improvement over the second half.

“Sales activities in both regions are increasing market share, and we are seeing improving freight volume increases

current levels, it said. Improvements would be dependent on the ocean freight rate and freight tonnage. Mainfreight’s European operations had reduced labour costs as new customers were settled into its warehouses. This should improve efficiencies and profitability, it said.

“In the Americas we have had a number of sales gains across all divisions, which will improve our performance.”

Looking ahead, Mainfreight said:

“We remain well positioned to continue to find market share opportunities and to take advantage of improving economic conditions as they occur across our international network.” The company New Zealand’s biggest logistics firm declared an 85c a share dividend, unchanged from the previous comparable period.

Ombudsman complaint prompts Reserve

New CBD digs come with $3m base rent but are unlikely to be fully staffed

Kate MacNamara

The Reserve Bank is paying $56 million over 10 years for its new Auckland offices and is under pressure from the Finance Minister to sublease the space as recent redundancies mean staff will only part fill it

The costs, excluding the fit-out, are quadruple what the Reserve Bank (RBNZ) pays for its current Auckland offices on Queen St

The bank pays $1m a year for its Queen St premises, including base rent and operating costs It is set to vacate these offices at the end of the year

In August the central bank began paying rent on its new lease at 16 Takutai Square in the stylish waterfront area of Britomart; the base rent is $3 1m a year and the bank’s share of operating costs is estimated at a further $1 1m yearly (none of the figures include GST)

In addition, the new lease provides for a 3% annual fixed rent review and the bank has a $14 5m budget to fit out the space

Finance Minister Nicola Willis described the lease and costs as unreasonable and confirmed she had pressed acting chairman Rodger Finlay to sublease redundant space

The board has commissioned work to explore the option and expects to receive the advice at its next meeting

The bank has statutory independence from the Government on operational matters and reports to Parliament; however, Willis can issue the entity with formal direction in line with the Reserve Bank Act

A bank spokesman said its board had requested management consider sub-leasing options for its new Auckland premises

“The lease for Auckland premises allows us to sublease under certain conditions and we are open to subleasing to the right tenant on the right terms and conditions

“Such an arrangement would offset our lease cost in the short to medium term ”

The spokesman said the Britomart site was selected for a number of reasons, including business continuity and the need to balance the Reserve Bank s presence between Auckland and Wellington longer term

The details of the extraordinary additional leasing expenses have dribbled out as a result of the bank’s initial refusal to release the information, requested by the Herald under the Official Information Act in July

The bank originally claimed that making the information available “would likely unreasonably prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied it or who is subject

I don’t think this level of spending on office space for fewer than 200 people is reasonable

Finance Minister Nicola Willis

to the information”

The Herald complained to the Ombudsman, arguing the bank had relied on the mere possibility that commercial prejudice could arise and that the public interest in transparency around the husbandry of public funds was a countervailing consideration not properly weighed by the bank

In the meantime, the bank published its 2025 annual report, which disclosed a minimum base rent for the Britomart space of $32m but did not include the bank s estimated share of operating expenses

The bank has now reconsidered its original refusal and made a fulsome release of the requested lease details

The new offices cover over 4800sq m across three floors of premium commercial space

The scale and location is significantly more grand than the bank’s current 1734sq m at 205 Queen St, which houses 125 workstations

A fit-out of the space has been under way for several months and staff are expected to begin the move to the new premises this month

The new lease was signed last November when the bank’s board and previous governor Adrian Orr anticipated a fattened five-year budget of over $1 billion

However, the funding had not been agreed by the Government, which ultimately rejected the plan

The budget was reduced to operating expenses of $750m and capital expenditure of $25 6m for the period It came into effect on July 1

The reduction forced the bank to restructure and cut staff between March and October it pared its employee headcount from 688 to 554

Auckland-based staff were cut from 173 to 142 A Reserve Bank spokesman said as of October 31 it employed 136 fulltime equivalent staff in Auckland

The process of paring the RBNZ s funding agreement sparked a drawnout period of inadequate public disclosure by the bank, including a refusal to make sufficiently detailed release of information about Orr s behaviour and related resignation

The former governor received a $416,000 payout after leaving, tied to both non-disclosure terms and gag provisions

With the Ombudsman s intervention, it was ultimately revealed Orr s resignation followed his issuance with a “statement of concern” from the bank’s board related to his conduct Once his resignation was agreed the letter was withdrawn Orr was unhappy with the reduced funding that Treasury officials and Willis were proposing and related meetings included at least one indecorous outburst by Orr who has a history of heatedly confronting some of his critics

RBNZ board chairman Neil Quigley made a series of misleading public statements about the reasons for Orr s departure and presided over the bank’s initial and deficient public release of related information and

documents

Quigley resigned in August, under pressure from Willis

A new permanent chair has yet to be appointed

New RBNZ Governor Anna Breman, previously first deputy governor of the central bank of Sweden will take up the job on December 1

Willis described the Britomart lease as “a legacy of the previous Government” and noted that it was signed before the new funding agreement, negotiated with the current Government, took effect

She declined to say when she was first advised of the extraordinary lease costs, and noted that “it’s not the job of the Finance Minister to approve the bank’s expenditure on individual items”

However she noted “I have spoken to the deputy chairman of the Reserve Bank board, Rodger Finlay, and he has confirmed that the board has commissioned work to explore sub-leasing options for the Auckland office space”

“I don’t think this level of spending on office space for fewer than 200 people is reasonable ”

A bank spokeswoman previously said the new Auckland offices helped future-proof the organisation and described Britomart as a “key location” close to financial stakeholders

Mainfreight lift drives market higher

Tom Raynel

The New Zealand sharemarket closed up yesterday after a better-than-expected result from Mainfreight as well as buoyed expectations ahead of Infratil’s result due today

The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed up

0 49% or 67 182 points to 13,671 73 after 30 5 million shares worth $131 2 million were traded

The S&P/NZX 20 index was up 0 55%, closing at 7830 15 points, while the S&P/NZX 10 index ended the day at 13,101 35 after rising 0 76%

There were 66 gainers on the main board and 60 decliners

Mainfreight released its half-year result for the six months to September Its share price rallied 6 80% or $4 01 to $63 00, despite reporting an 18 5% fall in its net profit to $93 4m Mainfreight said it was wellpositioned to take advantage of improving economic conditions across its international network, with the trading performance across the Kiwi divisions improving as the half year had progressed Salt Funds Management managing director Matt Goodson said the result had slightly missed consensus, but thought it perhaps could have been worse

“The outlook comments particularly on strength in New Zealand and Australia, seem to be what investors are latching on to and in fact have come back a long way,” Goodson said The US in particular and Europe are still pretty weak for them, I think investors are looking at the continued strength in Australia and one of a number of companies now pointing to better days ahead in New Zealand ”

Kiwi Property Group drew attention from investors lifting 0 47% to $1 07 on high volume of 2 4m shares after announcing it had signed a conditional land deal for a second

Costco Wholesale shop to be built at South Auckland s Drury

“It is a positive that it’s happened something that was always likely to happen I think at some stage They’ve (Kiwi Property) probably got a couple more commercial ones to go at Drury

but it s good that they’ve been able to get it away ”

Infratil also rose ahead of its halfyear result due out today, with its share price lifting 0 56% or 7c to $12 67 on turnover worth $14 59m

Goodson said the lift was interesting ahead of the result, given data centre companies in the US and Australia were down overnight

Elsewhere, Freightways share price fell 2 73% or 39c to $13 91, while

Property Trust fell 0 97% or 2c to $2 05 Wall Street stocks mostly rose yesterday as optimism over a likely end to the US government shutdown offset weakness in some leading technology equities After Tuesday s rally, US stocks opened mostly lower on lingering unease about the stratospheric valuation growth of major players in artificial intelligence

>> Metals & Oils

Those worries ebbed a bit as the session progressed with some large tech equities finishing in positive territory But the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was down 0 3%, the only one of the three main US indices to retreat

Shares in Nvidia, whose processors are

Family notices H

Death notices index

BORLASE, Shirley Susan (née Barton)

CHURCHWARD, Eileen Jeanette (nee Mills)

CLARK, Allen Trevor

COSTELLO, Annette Susan (nee Hargrave)

DALZIEL, Susan Leoni (née Board)

ELLIOTT, Donalda Elenor Frances (Dona) (nee Tibbits)

FRAZER, Dene William Barry

HIGHT, Robert Kelvin Dale (Bob)

HOLLINGS, Dr Charles John Perry

KYDD, Jennifer Jane (Jeni) (nee Horton)

MCCLAY, Roger Neville

MCDONNELL, Raewyn Norma

MORGAN, Bernadette Anne

NIUPOPO, Patea Ulusele

PUAHA, Percy

REA, Laurence James

TRBUHOVIC, Petar

WILSON, Denise Vivienne (nee Fraser)

WYNESS, Bruce Rupert

Anniversaries

BANNAN

Robert and Gillian Bannan (nee Bawden) were married at St Peters Church, Takapuna on 13th November 1965. Congratulations on your 60th wedding anniversary from Ian and Ginny, Ross and Maxine. Grandchildren: Rachel, Caitlin, Jasmine, Troy and Blake. Great grandchildren: Jessica and Alys. One by one each year flew by since you said "I do" 60 years of memories, shared by the two of you. Happy diamond anniversary from us all.

Deaths

BORLASE, Shirley Susan (née Barton) Peacefully on 8th November 2025 Devoted wife of the late Vincent A loved Nana Shir ey of Rachel, Julia, Anneliese, Brad, Thomas, Olivia, Jo, Nad a, Kyle and Chelsea, who's childhoods were enriched by her warmth Dearly missed by her grandchildren, their families, and her greatgrandchildren whom she cherished

COSTELLO, Annette Susan (nee Hargrave). On November 8th 2025, aged 79, Annette passed away peacefully in Brisbane. Loved sister and sister in law of Rob and Rosemary. Loved aunt of Andy, John, Katie and families. A service will be held on Tuesday 18th November at Mount Thompson Memorial Gardens, Holland Park, Brisbane, at 11am.

DALZIEL, Susan Leoni (nee Board). 15April1932to 11November2025

Dearly loved wife of the late Terry. Devoted mother and mother-in-law of Karen and Athol, Anne and Russe l, Robyn and Lewis, John and Lisa, and Louise and Ross. Much-loved grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother. Sue passed away peacefully, surrounded by her loving family.

A service to celebrate Sue’s life will be held at Bethlehem Baptist Church, 90 Bethlehem Road, Tauranga, on Thursday, 20 November at 2.00 pm. Tributes may be left at legacyfunerals.co.nz. Communications to the Dalziel family, c/- PO Box 3136, Tauranga 3142.

ELLIOTT, Dona

In Loving Memory

Our gorgeous and beloved Mum and Grandma has been gently called home after a brief illness Mum, we have cherished every moment with you Your love, strength, and kindness has been the heart of our family, and your presence has shaped our lives in ways words can hardly express. You’ve been a treasured part of our journey a guiding light, a warm hug, and a source of endless wisdom and laughter

Thank you for being such a wonderful Mum, mother-inlaw, and Grandma to our girls. Your stories, your smile, and your unwavering love will live on in them always. Now go catch up with Dad, Mum, and rest in eternal peace. You are forever in our hearts.

With all our love, Mike, Sharon, Ciara and Maddi

ELLIOTT, Dona

In Loving Memory

HIGHT, Robert Kelvin Dale (Bob). Passed away on 6th November 2025, aged 91 years. Now at peace. Dearly loved husband of Judy (married 65 years), Brother to Heather and Dawne, Brotherin-Law Trish and Barbara. Father and Father-in-Law of Mike and Paula, Michelle and Dave, Leanne and Andrew. Loved Grandad and Grandadin-Law of Sarah and Alex, Melissa, Georgia, Caitlin and Cam, Estelle and Jacob and Sabrina. Dearly loved GreatGrandfather of Finley, Jasper and Silas. A private cremation has been held – fulfilling Bob's wishes. A big thanks to Carter House for their love and care of Bob over the past four months.

HOLLINGS, Dr Charles John Perry. Died at home, on Sunday 9 November 2025.

MORGAN, Bernadette Anne.

On Thursday 6th of November 2025, passed away peacefully at Mercy Hospice in Auckland, aged 66.

Dearly loved daughter of Maureen, James and her other mother Leone. Sadly missed sister and sister-in-law of Tony and Tania, Michael and Midge, Paula and David, and their families.

After a long brave battle, Bernadette has found peace. Bernadette will be forever in our hearts.

NIUPOPO, Patea Ulusele. It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Patea Ulusele Niupopo Beloved husband to Sesilia Devoted father to Joseph and Marie Cherished grandfather and great grandfather Manuia lau malaga our Pa You are sorely missed already.

WILSON, Denise Vivienne (nee Fraser). Dear y loved daughter of Colleen and Jim. Dear big sis to Philippa, loving Aunty Nicey (Neecie) to

and

and

are a wonderful thing, rest in peace

PLACE YOUR SPECIAL MESSAGES WITH THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD TODAY!! To place your message phone the classifieds team Today on 0800 HERALD or email classads@nzherald.co.nz

CHURCHWARD, Eileen Jeanette (née Mills)

Passed away peacefully, surrounded by family on 9 November 2025, aged 72 years. Dearly loved wife of Manny Adored mother to Jeffrey, Amy, Whitney Nikki, Kelly, and Lauren Treasured Ninny to Ethan, Ra den, Aria, Ayla, and Kody. Eileen ded cated her life to her husband and children She lived with faith, grace and strength A service to celebrate the life of Eileen will be held at Centra Park Chapel, Davis Funerals, 150 Central Park Drive, Henderson on 15 November at 10:30am. A reception will follow onsite immediately after the service For catering purposes, please RSVP by email to: celebratingeileen@gmail.com. Eileen wi l be at home for viewing from Thursday to Friday between 11am and 7pm. All are welcome to come and pay their respects. Please call or text 021 1414 862 for further details. CLARK, Allen Trevor. On 11 November 2025 at Liston Heights care home in Taupo. Aged 95. Beloved husband of the late Jeanette Clark. Much loved father of twin sisters Cherry Wells (Devon UK) and the late Linden Clark (Martinborough)

ELLIOTT Donalda Elenor Frances (Dona) (née Tibbits) Passed away at Auckland Hospita on Sunday 9 November 2025, after a brief illness, aged 89 years. Much loved Wife of Peter (deceased), and Mum to Terry, Vicki and Simon, Kristin, Michael and Sharon, Jeff and John and Robyn Beloved Grandmother to Ryan and Mikayla, Tim and Sonia, Harrison, Kayla and Matt, Brianna and Brendon, Ciara, Maddi, Jesse and Suze, Taylor, and Paige and Great-Grandmother to her 8 Great-Grandchildren Sister to Garry Sister-in-Law to Marie and Sister to the late Kelvin and Mildred and Ray Aunt to her many nieces and nephews A dear friend to so many Requiem Mass will be celebrated at Our Mother of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, 510 Riddell Road, Glendowie, on Friday 14 November at 11:00am. All communications to Davis Funera Services PO Box 56013, Auckland 1446 In lieu of flowers donations to the Heart Foundation would be greatly appreciated

ELLIOTT Dona. In Loving Memory. Much loved mother to Jeff, mother-in-law to John, grandmother to Jesse, Suze, Taylor, and Paige, and great grandmother to Valerie. Though we lived far apart, you were always close in sp rit asking about our family, remembering milestones, and sharing your quiet wisdom. Your presence is still with is, in the stories we tell and the love that remains Deeply missed but no longer suffering now resting with Dad and surrounded by love.

Mum, your hard work is done and now it’s time to rest with all your loved ones in heaven. Family meant everything to you, and we will remember you with love as you remembered us all. We will miss the beans. Love Vicki and Simon, Grandchildren Ryan and Mikayla, Kayla and Matt, Brianna and Brendon and Great-Grandchildren Georgia, Chloe, Charlie, Billy, and Oscar

ELLIOTT, Dona. In Loving Memory. You were a loving and caring mum. Thank you for helping me through all our trials. Miss you but I am glad you are now at peace and gone to Dad in heaven Love Krissy

FRAZER,

Dene William Barry. Passed away peacefully at home on the 9 November 2025, aged 82 years. Dearly loved husband of Judy Frazer. Loved father and father-in-law of Mark Frazer and Bex Augustin Grandfather of Willow and Kristen Frazer, Great-grandfather of Noah Hodder Loved brother of Kerry Frazer and Barbara Roberts.

A service for Dene will be held at the Chapel of Morris and Morris Funerals (entrance 17 Western Hills Drive) Whau Valley Whangarei at 2 pm on Saturday 22nd of November 2025 followed by a private family interment at Maunu Cemetery. All Communications to: The Frazer family c/- PO Box 8043, Kensington, Whangarei 0145.

Loved father in law of Jon (Devon UK) and Matthew (Martinborough) Former radiographer during his working life in Auckland and great motor caravanner along with his wife, Jeanette. Special thanks to all the staff at Liston Heights Care Home in Taupo who cared for him in his final years with such kindness and love. A

and

will be sadly missed.

Loved eldest son of the late John and Lesley Loved brother and brother-in-law of Thomas and Siobhan, Andrew (RIP) and Juliet, James and Kate Loving partner of Deborah and Jane. Most loving and loved father to Caitlin, Zelda, William, George and Haemish and grandfather to Ziggy. Loving and generous nephew, cousin, and uncle to his wide extended family. Respected doctor, anaesthetist and carer to many in Auckland and beyond for over 40 years. Good friend to so many. Vale Charles. Thank you for you. A farewell gathering will be held at Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, 181 Westhaven Drive, Westhaven Marina, on this Sunday 16 November, from midday.

If any questions please contact tom@hrm.co.nz

KYDD, Jennifer Jane (Jeni) (née Horton).

Our beautiful Mum and Nana Jenjen aged 75, sadly passed away on Friday, 7th November 2025 surround by her beloved children.

In celebration of a life well lived, a service will be held at the Taumarunui Anglican Church this Friday, 14th November at 1pm

MCCLAY, Roger Neville. Dearly loved brother and brother-in-law of Geoff and Monnie, treasured Uncle of Sharleen and Warren, Jarrod and Natha and Great Uncle to Molly Alex and baby Ella Memories shared forever.

McDONNELL, Raewyn Norma. It is with great sadness that we announce the sudden passing of Raewyn on 5 November 2025 aged 78 years, surrounded by her family. Beloved wife of Lawrence, cherished mum and mother in law of Paul and Keren, Jane, Bridget and Ian. Treasured nana of Jack, Isabelle and Lucy, Jessica and Lockie, Mathew and Haley, Ashleigh and Hannah. Adored greatnana of Poppy. Forever oved, forever remembered.

A Private Family service has been held. Messages to the "McDonnell" family can be sent c/- 3 Hallys Lane, Cambridge 3434 or on Raewyn’s online tribute book at www.grinters.co.nz

Services to be held at: Sacred Heart Church 16 Vermont Street Ponsonby

Family Service: Sunday 16th November, 4:00pm

Funeral Service: Monday 17th November, 10:00am

PUAHA, Percy. Aged 72 years, passed away unexpectedly at home, on 12 November 2025. He leaves behind a legacy of son's and daughter. Loved by all his whanau. Service will be held at 37 Roto Street, Te Kauwhata For more info see Facebook: Missie Puaha.

REA, Laurence James. Passed away peacefully 11th November 2025, aged 95 years. Loving husband of the late Joy. Cherished father of Stephen and Jill, Debbie and Stu, Liz and Rhys, Gerald and respected friend of Eric Loved Poppa and Grandad of 11 grandchildren and Great grandad of 15. A Service for Laurence will be held at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, 80 Mutu Street, Te Awamutu on Monday, 17th November at 11am fo owed by private cremation. The service will be live streamed please email office@teawamutufunerals co.nz. All communications to the Rea family, PO Box 137, Te Awamutu 3840. Te Awamutu Funeral Services, FDANZ.

TRBUHOVIC, Petar.

Born Auckland 1980 passed away suddenly in Hvar, Croatia on Sunday 9th November 2025.

Dearly loved eldest son of Julie and Zoran, cherished father of Nikola and brother to Branko and Tonci and uncle to their families. Treasured nephew of Ada, Milan, Marie, Ina, Mirjana and their families. You will live in our hearts forever.

A final farewell will be held on Thursday 13th November at 2 pm at the Church of Sv. Jurja, Gdinj, Hvar, Croatia May the angels in heaven protect you. PocivaoumiruBozjem!

WYNESS, Bruce Rupert. Passed away peacefully on 11 November 2025, surrounded by his family, aged 79 years, after a courageous fight with cancer. Loved husband of Carole and father of Chris, Megan (deceased), Ben and Tami. Adored G-Pa of Natalie, Jade, Elliot, Ayla, Lucy and Jesse.

A service to celebrate Bruce’s life will be held on Saturday 15th November at 2.30 pm at North Harbour Chapel of Dil's Funeral Services, 185 Schnapper Rock Road, Albany. To watch a livestream of the service, please visit https:// tinyurl com/2p8xbp6u Tributes to Bruce may also be made here.

Public notices

ABANDONED VEHICLESUPER CHEAP TYRES

Abandoned vehicle that has been left on our premises at Super Cheap Tyres Manukau, 4/586 Great South Road Papatoetoe, Auckland 2104. If this car is not claimed within 30 days, we will go ahead with the process of auctioning the vehicle to recover storage and handling fees.

Vehicle Details:

Model: FORD RANGER

Colour: BLACK Registration: KKU686

Location: Super Cheap Tyres Manukau, 4/586 Great South Road, Papatoetoe Auckland 2104

NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND OTHER CLAIMANTS

All persons having claims aga nst the following estate are requested to send detai s of their claims to the Solicitor for the Administrator, Sinisa Law Limited, PO Box 22853, Otahuhu, Auckland or by email to peter@sinisalaw com within 31 days of the date of the publication of this advertisement ("the notice deadline"). Claims due and owing at the date of death should be so certified in writing. The proposed distribution of the estate may be made without regard to any c a m of which the Admin strator has not received notice before the notice deadline.

This notice has been published under section 79 of the Trusts Act 2019.

Deceased: JANICE

MARGARET TAOUMA of Auckland Date of death: 26 July 2025

So icitor for the Administrator

NPL HOLDINGS LIMITED (IN LIQUIDATION)

NGATI PAOA IWI TRUST - NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING.

10am - 1pm, Sunday 30 November 2025, at Wharekawa Marae, 1237 East Coast Road, Whakatiwai. For further information go to: www.paoa.co.nz.

ADVERTISEMENT OF APPLICATION FOR PUTTING COMPANY INTO LIQUIDATION

This document notifies you that:

1 On 15 September 2025, an application for putting NOVELTY NEW ZEALAND LIMITED into liquidation was filed in the High Court at Auckland. Its reference number is CIV-2025-404-2696. The application is to be heard by the High Court at Auck and on 21 November 2025 at 10:45am.

2. A person, other than the defendant company, who wants to appear at the hearing of the application must file an appearance not later than the second working day before that day.

3. The statement of claim and the verifying affidavit may be inspected at the registry of the Court or at the plaintiff’s address for service.

4 The p aintiff is Foodmasters.Co Limited, whose address for service is at the offices of Bruce Pamatatau Barrister, Level 6, 5 Short Street, Newmarket, Auck and Postal address: PO Box 2422, Shortland Street, Auckland 1023 Email: bpamatatau@gmail com Counsel for the Plaintiff is Bruce Pamatatau, whose address is as noted above.

Date: 12 November 2025

TE RU ¯ NANGA NUI O TE AUPO ¯ URI

Annual General Meeting

Potahi Marae, Te Kao

Saturday 6 December 2025 9.00am

AGENDA

Karakia puare

Mihimihi

Nga whakapaha - Apologies

Te Korero a te HeamanaChairperson Report

Te Korero a te Pou WhakaraeCEO Report

Te Aupouri Iwi Development Trust Report

Te Aupouri Fisheries Management and Commercial Develpoment Report

Nga Ripoata Putea - 2025 Audited Financial Report & Auditor’s Report

The Annual Report will be available to Iwi members for collection from the Te Runanga Nui o Te Aupouri Te Kao and Kaitaia offices from 9am, 7th November 2025 or via email request: info@teaupouri.iwi.nz

Audiences likenoother.

RUSSEL HOOLE LIQUIDATOR

NOTIFICATION OF CAVE GUIDING LEASE, LICENCE AND PERMIT APPLICATION

The Minister of Conservation gives notice under section 17SC of the Conservation Act 1987 of an application by Tourism Holdings Limited (trading as “Discover Waitomo”) for cave guiding activities in the Aranui Cave (Waikato region) accessed via Ruakuri Scenic Reserve, for a term of 10 years.

A lease is required for exclusive use of the cave and a license is required for facilities and structures within Ruakuri Reserve leading to Aranui Cave. A permit is required for guiding activities conducted in Aranui Cave and Ruakuri Scenic Reserve.

This application is to allow an existing activity to continue.

Further details of the proposed concession are available at wwwdoc govt nz/consultations

Any person or organisation may make comment in writing to the Director-General for or against the proposal, or make any other written submissions on the proposal Comment submission forms may be downloaded from (wwwdoc govt nz/consultations)

Objections or submissions should be posted or emailed to:

Director-General

Department of Conservation

C/- Jessica Langley Permissions Advisor

Hamilton Office

Private Bag 3072

Hamilton 3240

Email: Jessica Langley, Permissions Advisor at askpermissions@doc.govt.nz

Subject line: Submission on Application 119957-GUI

Submissions will be accepted up to and including 11:59pm on 12 December 2025

Once submitted, submitters information is subject to the Official Information Act 1982 and may be released under that Act If you wish to keep any part of your submission confidential, you need to state this in writing when making your submission

Any person or organisation wishing to be heard in support of his/her submission, must request (within that submission) an opportunity to appear before the Director-General

If a hearing is required, a date will be arranged and those wishing to be heard informed

This advertisement notifies you that:

1 On 7 November 2024, a bankruptcy proceeding against Kok Wah Lee (Judgment Debtor) of Auckland, company director, was filed in the High Court at Auckland/Tamaki Makaurau. Its reference number is CIV-2024-404-2090

2 The Court has ordered that personal service of the Creditor’s Application for Adjudication Order dated 29 September 2025 and the Summons to Debtor dated 4 November 2025 (Documents) be dispensed with, and service be deemed to have been effected on the Judgment Debtor by email and this advertisement. The Documents have been emailed to the Judgment Debtor’s last known email and are available from the Judgment Creditor or Court by request.

3 Unless by 1 pm on the last working day before the hearing day, which is 5 February 2026, the Judgment Debtor files a notice of opposition in form B6, together with an affidavit in support of the opposition and serves these on the Judgment Creditor, the Court will proceed in the Judgment Debtor’s absence.

4 Any person knowing the whereabouts of the Judgment Debtor is to bring this advertisement to their attention

5 The Judgment Creditor is Bizcap NZ Limited, whose address for service is at the offices of Lane Neave Level 8 48 Shortland Street, Auckland 1010 The Judgment Creditor’s solicitor is J R F Cochrane whose emai is james.cochrane@laneneave.co.nz and address is as noted above

Dated: 13 November 2025

Watercare Services Limited Board Meeting Notice

Watercare’s next public board meeting is as follows:

Date: Tuesday, 25 November 2025

The members of the public may address the Board on the subject matter of the meeting which is the performance under the Statement of Intent 2024-2027.

Those wishing to be heard should send their name and a summary of the information to be presented in advance via email at GovernanceTeam@water co.nz

Time:

Venue:

Agendas, board papers and guidelines for attendance: https://www watercare.co nz/About-us/Who-we-are/ Board-meetings

Questions and requests to attend: GovernanceTeam@water co.nz from 9:45am Watercare Services, 73 Remuera Road, Remuera and also via Microsoft Teams

OF SPECIAL AND ORDINARY RESOLUTIONS POLLS & NOTICE OF HUI-Ā-TAU (ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING) for NGĀTI TAMA KI TE WAIPOUNAMU TRUST

Under the Ngāti Tama ki Te Waipounamu Trust Deed of Trust notice is given that an election will be held for two (2) Rohe Trustees for the Ngāti Tama ki Te Waipounamu Trust

The election and poll will be held under the First Past the Post electoral system, by postal and online voting.

NOMINATIONS RECEIVED

Nominations for two (2) Rohe Trustees of the Ngāti Tama k Te Waipounamu Trust closed at 5pm on Wednesday 5 November 2025. The following people were duly nominated: Rohe Trustees (2 vacancies): LITTLE, Margaret Louise REI, Randal Te Ahu STEPHENS, Te Puoho Ki Te Rangi TE MIHA, Fred

As there are more candidates than there are vacancies to be filled, an election will be held between the listed candidates on Sunday 14 December 2025

SPECIAL RESOLUTIONS POLL

Ngāti Tama ki Te Waipounamu Trust as a Mandated Iwi Organisation, must comply with the Māori Fisheries Act 2004 (MFA). Changes to the MFA under the Māori Fisheries Amendment Act 2024 (MFAA) require all Mandated Iwi Organisations to update governance documents of the Trust by July 2026. Further details are in the supporting information contained in your voting pack including a draft Consolidated Deed of Trust

All Adult Members of Ngāti Tama ki Te Waipounamu Trust are eligible to vote in this poll. The special resolutions are as follows:

Resolution 1: To approve:

(a) amendments to the Deed of Trust to: i. comply with the Māori Fisheries Amendment Act 2024 and to remain compliant with the updated Māori Fisheries Act 2004; and ii. certain other amendments to update and clarify certain clauses; and iii. any further amendments to the Deed of Trust as may be required by Te Ohu Kaimoana; and (b) the amendments contemplated by the above are for the collective benefit of all Members of the Ngāti Tama Ki Te Tauihu.

Resolution 2: To authorise the Trustees to take all necessary steps to sign all necessary documents to give effect to the amendments to the Deed of Trust authorised under Resolution 1 as the new consolidated deed of trust for Ngāti Tama ki Te Waipounamu Trust from 26 July 2026 onwards being the date on which the relevant provisions of the Māori Fisheries Amendment Act 2024 come into force.

ORDINARY RESOLUTION POLL Ngāti Tama ki Te Waipounamu Trust as a Mandated Iwi Organisation, must comply with the Māori Fisheries Act 2004 (MFA). Changes to the MFA under the Māori Fisheries Amendment Act 2024 (MFAA) require all Mandated Iwi Organisations to update governance documents of the asset-holding companies which includes, Tama Asset Holding Company Limited, (TAHC) by July 2026. Further details are in the supporting information contained in your voting pack including an amended Constitution of TAHC.

Resolution 1: To approve: (a) amendments to the Constitution of Tama Asset Holding Company Limited to: i. comply with the Māori Fisheries Amendment Act 2024 and

Classified

Wanted to

GLOBAL MARKETPLACE NEW ZEALAND LIMITED (In Liquidation) (‘the Company’) Notice of Meeting of Creditors

In accordance with section 245(1)(b)(iii) of the Companies Act 1993, a meeting of creditors of the Company will be held virtually via Microsoft Teams on Thursday, 20 November 2025 at 10.00 a.m.

The purpose of the meeting is for creditors of the Company to vote for, against or abstain on the following resolutions:

a. it is resolved that Creditors’ Committee be appointed; and

b. it is resolved that the appointment of Daniel Stoneman and Neale Jackson as the Company’s liquidators is confirmed.

Dated this 12th day of November 2025

Daniel Stoneman and Neale Jackson, Joint and Several Liquidators

Enquiries to: Meeta Patel

Address: Calibre Partners, PO Box 982, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140.

Phone: 09 307 7865

Email: grabone@calibrepartners.co.nz

RUAPUHA UEKAHA HAPU TRUST (HAUTURU EAST 8)

Early Childhood Education (ECE), Primary, Intermediate & Secondary Grants 2026 School Year Education Grant Round NOW OPEN

Karanga mai - calling all descendants of Tanetinorau Opataia, Te Aroa Haami Haereiti, Te Riutoto Aihe & Whatakaraka. You are invited to apply for education grants in the following areas; ● ECE, Primary, Intermediate & Secondary Grants for 2026 School Year.

You can download an application form from the RUHT website www.ruht.co.nz or by contacting educationgrants@ruht.co.nz.

To be eligible for a grant you must be registered with the Ruapuha Uekaha Hapu Trust. Before applying if you are unsure whether your children are registered, please email register@ruht. co.nz.

Applications close Friday, 05 December 25 @ 2PM.

LATE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

For all queries phone 0800 525 626 (Option 2)or email educationgrants@ruht.co.nz.

PUBLIC NOTICE OF PETITION OF INQUIRY

Section 93 Local Electoral Act 2001

by LEHOPOAME VI HAUSIA (Petitoner)

Take notice that an application has been filed in the District Court at Manukau pursuant to section 93 of the Local Electoral Act 2001 for a petition of inquiry into the conduct of the election for the 2025 election of local board members in the Papatoetoe subdivision of the Otara- Papatoetoe Local Board. The grounds for the petition are that:

1. Statistics and turnout anomalies inconstant with historic and current voting patterns in Papatoetoe;

2. The non-delivery, misuse, or unauthorised possession of ballot papers;

3. Irregularities in the handling and verification of special and duplicate votes, and an unprecedented surge in special voting;

4. Discrepancies and inaccuracies in the list of persons from whom voting documents were received;

5. Unlawful campaign activities and interferences with the voting process;

6. Systematic weaknesses in the administration of the postal-voting system compromising election integrity; and on the further grounds within the affidavit of Lehopoame Vi Hausia dated 7 November 2025.

This application will be heard in the Manukau District Court, Courtroom 4, 30 Manukau Station Road, Manukau City Centre, Auckland 2104, on 21 November 2025 at 2.15 pm.

Graciella Valenzuela Deputy Registrar District Court Auckland Auckland_Civil_CMT@justice govt.nz

Any notice of an intention to oppose the petition maybe filed in the Manukau District Court pursuant to s 95 of the Electoral Act 2025

PUBLIC NOTICE OF ENTRY INTO POSSESSION OF MORTGAGED GOODS

In the matter of section 156 (1)(a)(ii) of the Property Law Act 2007 (‘Act’) and in the matter of mortgage over goods dated 12 February 2024 (‘Security Agreement’) over the mortgaged goods described below.

UDC Finance Limited, the mortgagee under the Security Agreement, hereby gives notices that it has entered into possession of the mortgaged goods descr bed below w th effect from 31 October 2025

Description of Mortgaged Goods 2006 Toyota Dyna Truck, Registration No. NQA708

Address of Mortgagee

This notice is given by UDC F nance Limited, whose address for service is Level 11, 50 Albert Street, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand.

The registered office of the mortgagee is Level 11 50 Albert Street Auckland, 1010, New Zealand.

The address to which communications relating to the mortgaged goods may be addressed is UDC Finance Limited, 50 Albert Street (P O Box 91145, Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142), Auckland.

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New Zealand is playing catch-up among cricket-playing nations when it comes to T20.

AlexPowell weighs the future of the shortest format in Aotearoa and breaks down the pros and cons.

One option for T20 cricket in New Zealand is to have a team in Australia’s Big Bash League alongside the

As Twenty20 continues to take over the cricketing world, the game in New Zealand is at a crossroads

Since the inception of the Indian Premier League in 2008, cricket has moved to a club-first model, similar to what s seen in football and basketball, where the international game takes a back seat

Having expanded to nearly every single cricket-playing nation and even the likes of the United States, Canada Cayman Islands the United Arab Emirates and others franchise T20 has revolutionised the sport and the earnings on the table for players

But, at present, New Zealand is the only major cricketing nation without any sort of franchise model Instead, the Super Smash is made up of the six major associations Auckland Northern Districts, Wellington, Central Districts, Canterbury and Otago

While the rest of the world uses their local competitions as a moneymaking outlet, NZ Cricket s method instead sees the Super Smash operate as a means to produce players to step into the Black Caps and White Ferns

This year though, that balance is shifting

In 2025

NZ Cricket has invested in establishing a franchise in American Major League Cricket (MLC), as well as undertaking an independent assessment into seeing at least one side join Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL), as early as 2028

However, as first reported by Stuff last week plans are also under way for a revamp of New Zealand s domestic calendar That plan known as the NZ20, would see a new competition privately owned by Indian money, and run from January at the height of the Kiwi summer

And although those plans are not officially backed by NZ Cricket, the six major associations are on board, as well as, the Herald understands, the NZ Cricket Players Association Regardless, it’s clear that there is a serious appetite for change As understood by the Herald, four options are on the table

The first effectively leaving the Super Smash untouched, would see NZ Cricket remain in the position it currently finds itself

The second and third would see private money introduced into the New Zealand game, either by investing in the Super Smash, or the creation of the NZ20

The last would see NZ Cricket push for entry into the Big Bash, as early as 2028

Whatever direction the sport ends up moving in there are positives and negatives to be taken into account

Straight away a line needs to be drawn through option one As already seen with series losses to Australia and England this summer, New Zealand’s way of playing T20 is seriously outdated

Because of the rise and rise of franchise leagues, teams are more or less able to pick T20 specialists, who are able to tailor their game to the shortest format

The England side that defeated the Black Caps 1-0 had just two all-format regulars captain Harry Brook and Brydon Carse The Australia side had three Travis Head Alex Carey and Josh Hazlewood

The Black Caps, on the other hand saw Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Kyle Jamieson and Matt Henry used Kane Williamson, Glenn Phillips and Will O Rourke would also likely have played, but were either injured or unavailable

While there is honour in being an all-format player it is quickly becoming irrelevant Leaving the Super Smash alone would see this problem exacerbated over the coming years as domestic players would still need to play the Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy to earn their keep

Options two and three, then, become much more important While admittedly different, both involve New Zealand s domestic competition moving to a privately-backed model

The major question would be where the money comes from, and who would be in control whether

through an NZ Cricket-led investment drive, or the privately run NZ20

While an NZ Cricket-controlled competition would be preferable, the Herald understands there is a serious disconnect between the national body, the major associations and the Players Association

Regardless, private investment in the Super Smash might not be the silver bullet many think

For a start a privately run competition would dramatically put T20 cricket at the front and centre of the game here, at the expense of other formats

Having expanded to nearly every single cricket-playing nation and even the likes of the United States, Canada, Cayman Islands, the United Arab Emirates and others franchise T20 has revolutionised the sport, and the earnings on the table for players.

As seen in the West Indies, where the Caribbean Premier League is privately run and licensed back to the governing body, the money available through the franchise competition makes it the only logical option for players to aim for

While the West Indies did famously defeat Australia in Brisbane to seal a 1-1 series draw at the start of 2024, their fortunes in test cricket have suffered

Players are being called up for national duty with scarce first-class experience, while the best and brightest talent trots the globe for franchise competitions

Should New Zealand follow a privately backed model, the same would likely happen here

On top of that a privately backed competition played over the peak summer months would leave New Zealand’s competition operating in the same space as not just the BBL, but South Africa s SA20, and the UAE s ILT20

The SA20 and ILT20 are both backed by private Indian money, making it a more appealing choice for players Not even Australia can compete with that As a result players start the season in the BBL, before leaving midway through for South Africa and the Emirates

If New Zealand does adopt a franchise model, overseas players become a valuable tool to get bums on seats But be it the NZ20 or a revamped Super Smash, a lot of money would be needed to see the best of the best play in Aotearoa, instead of the Indian-backed competitions

Despite its place in the Kiwi sporting summer, the Super Smash is neither well attended nor watched When Sky acquired NZ Cricket’s broadcast rights earlier this year the Super Smash was left on the table, because the returns available do not match the investment needed to run it

Would more money and potentially more star players change the fact that Kiwis are largely apathetic to T20 cricket? In all likelihood, no

The final option, then, leaves NZ Cricket looking to follow rugby league, football and basketball, and join forces with Australia with Kiwi entries into the BBL a move championed by chief executive Scott Weenink

At present Australia is also attempting to work out what to do with its franchise competition

According to reports from across the ditch, New Zealand as well as Singapore and Canberra could be ideal for expansion, as the 10-team competition aims to maximise its place in Australia s holiday period

With so much of Australian sport revolving around the war between the NRL and the AFL it’s understood

the New Zealand audience is a major driver in keeping rugby league in the contest

And while cricket doesn’t have competition for eyeballs in the same way that the NRL and AFL do with each other, a Kiwi audience might be too much for Cricket Australia to turn down, as it competes with the SA20 and ILT20

In this scenario, a Kiwi entry or entries would further open up the New Zealand market to Australia, with an earlier time zone allowing for double-headers, which could convince administrators to take the plunge

What s more, as seen with the arrival of Auckland FC into the A-League, a Kiwi derby potentially between North Island and South Island teams would be a must-see fixture on both sides of the Tasman

The big stumbling block comes through the fact that the Big Bash League is, and will likely always be, Australian-owned

NZ Cricket would need to not only convince the major associations that this was the right option, but do the same with Cricket Australia Even if that were successful, New Zealand would still be the smaller players in Australia’s tournament, where decisions could well be made for them

Australia s big issue, though, is the fact it wants to have its cake and eat it too The Big Bash League is played at the same time as Australia s test summer, leaving the best players unavailable during the height of the competition

More worryingly the Super Smash would fall further back into being a feeder tournament if it continues to exist at all

Would it be worth NZ Cricket sacrificing its own autonomy in deciding how the franchise game should be run?

Whatever way you look at it, none of the options on the table look like the perfect solution

But if NZ Cricket is to avoid being left behind, is the wrong choice better than no choice at all?

Kingman missing but most big names set for Addington return

Michael Guerin

New Zealand Cup hero

Kingman will skip tomorrow’s Pacing FreeFor-All as trainer Luke

McCarthy heads home to New South Wales to drive his stable star

Yes, you read that right, the horse who sat three wide to beat Leap To Fame and the best Kiwis in Tuesday s $1 million IRT New Zealand Cup at Addington may not be the best in McCarthy’s stable

Not officially anyway

McCarthy also trains Inter Dominion Miracle Mile and Eureka winner Don Hugo, which would at least give him the title of the “Best Performed” pacer in McCarthy’s stable, even if his peak performance wouldn t match Kingman s stunner from Tuesday

It is a very privileged position to be in,” says McCarthy

They are both wonderful horses but they have very different plans over the summer ”

While Kingman will skip the NZ Free-For-All tomorrow that doesn’t mean his New Zealand campaign is over as he will remain in Canterbury and contest the Group 1 Christian Cullen Pace at Addington on Friday week

It is for 4-year-olds, and not only might Kingman scare some rivals away from the new race which was run for the first time last year, but he will start incredibly short in the market

McCarthy will come back to drive him next week but heads to Wagga in New South Wales tonight as Don Hugo contests the first of five Carnivals of Cups races, named The Bidgee spread over the summer which carry an A$1 million ($1 15m) bonus if any horse can win all five of them

Don Hugo faces a second line draw and a hot field over the 2800m mobile tonight

Last season s New Zealand Cup

winner Swayzee won four of the races and a A$500,000 bonus but missed the A$1m pay-out when beaten into second in the other race

who should be suited by the mobile conditions

two times they have met

While Kingman will miss tomorrow s Pacing Free-For-All Leap To Fame, Republican Party, Akuta and Merlin will back up from the Cup into the sprint race which will be run at 8 07pm at the twilight meeting

The Trotting Free-For-All is the other open class race at Addington tomorrow and sees Queenslander Gus returning after Tuesday’s Dominion alongside fellow big guns

Oscar Bonavena, Muscle Mountain and Victorian mare Jilliby Ballerini

When: tomorrow Features: $500,000 Hill, Lee and Scott The Velocity (3-year-old pacers), $500,000 Majestic Horse Floats The Ascent (3-year-old trotters), $200,000 Allied Security NZ Pacing Free-For-All, $100,000 Azap Electrical NZ Trotting Free-For-All, $200 000 Dunstan Sires’ Stakes Final (2-year-old pacing fillies), $120,000 IRT Sires Stakes Trot (2-year-old trotters)

New owner snaps up top two lots at Ready to Run Sale for Team Hayes

Colts by proven New Zealand stallions Per Incanto and Satono

Aladdin provided the highlights on the first day of the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale, with the top two lots set to join the Lindsay Park operation of the Hayes family.

The father-and-son combination of David and JD Hayes oversaw proceedings at Karaka as Mainland Chinese owner Mr Sanxiong Gao signed the docket for Lot 105, a Satono Aladdin colt out of Shezdelicious for $675,000 from the draft of Riversley Park. Later, that price was surpassed by a Per Incanto colt from Aleria, from the draft of Kiltannon stables, also knocked down to Gao for $750,000.

David Hayes said the global success of New Zealand-bred and raised star Ka Ying Rising has had a positive ripple effect, attracting new owners to the stable.

He added that the two colts would follow a similar developmental path to his champion sprinter, joining his sons at Lindsay Park in Australia before an assessment is made on their career trajectory.

“I wasn’t actually coming to the sale because Ka Ying Rising is trailing on Friday,” Hayes said. “But Mr Gao asked if I could pick a few horses out that might be suitable for Hong Kong one day, so here we are.”

Hayes has only recently met Gao, who was in attendance at The Everest, won by Ka Ying Rising “Jin Tian, the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s representative who helps look

To Run

after owners from mainland China, said Mr Gao was keen to meet,” Hayes said. “I asked Mr Gao what his budget was and he said just try to find the ones you like, don’t worry too much about the budget.

But as iconic as the two free-foralls are they won t hold richest race status at tomorrow s meeting with the second running of the two $500 000 slot races, The Velocity for 3-year-old pacers and The Ascent for 3-year-old trotters

New Zealand’s best juvenile pacer of last season, and the top dog in the 3-year-old ranks in the first half of the season, Marketplace gets the perfect draw at barrier two in the Velocity as he tries to fend off arch-rival Got The Chocolates, who has beaten him fair and square the last

Got The Chocolates has drawn the outside of the front line over the 1980m tomorrow so Marketplace opened the $1 85 TAB favourite

The Ascent Trot could see the Australian domination of this Cup week continue with Victorian fillies Tracy The Jet and Gatesy’s Gem well up to the locals and having the advantage of inside front line draws as fillies draw inside males in the two slot races

Northern trotter Meant To Be, who starts on the unruly, is narrowly the favourite for The Ascent for trainers Barry Purdon and Scott Phelan

Father-son team win TAB Mile on home track

Riccarton galloper Mystic Park prevailed in a thrilling tussle between the locals in the Group 3 TAB Mile on his home track yesterday.

The Michael and Matthew Pitmantrained gelding had been on an upward trajectory this preparation without winning and had the services of Victorian-based Kiwi-expat jockey Daniel Stackhouse, closing a $6.10 hope behind northern visitors Cannon Hill and Archaic Smile.

Jumping from barrier six, Mystic Park was a stride slow from the gates and found himself three wide in the trail of another fancied runner in Sir Albert, who was doing it tough in the open on a hot tempo set by Cluedo Lane. Cannon Hill travelled strongly into contention at the top of the straight and looked likely at the 200m, before Sir Albert and Mystic Park came charging down the middle of the track to set up a big finish.

the result all the more satisfying.

“It’s a bit of a cliche I suppose, but I set him for this race 12 months ago,” he said. “It’s our third time winning the race and they’ve all been with really nice horses.

“People don’t know this, but the reason he didn’t end up running in the Telegraph [Group 1, 1200m] was because he broke his tail just after he won the Stewards.

“My wife, my son and my staff deserve so much credit, they put so much work in and we were so confident, especially after Ocean Light ran second [earlier in the meeting over 2000m]. Diane [wife] said if he could run second, this horse could win and win easily.”

Matthew Pitman had lost his voice cheering trackside and expressed how much the horse means to their stable.

“Satono Aladdin has incredible figures in the Southern Hemisphere with 12% stakes winners to runners, which is elite, and Per Incanto works everywhere,” he said.

“Dean knows what we like, and he found a group of about 30 horses to have a second look at, and they were two of our favourites and maybe there is one more tomorrow.

“No doubt Ka Ying Rising has been incredible for business, like Mr Brightside has been for the boys both good Kiwi horses.” LoverRacing.nz

“The plan is these horses will go back to Lindsay Park, as Ka Ying Rising did from New Zealand, and they will be assessed. Then the most suitable one for Hong Kong will possibly go up to Hong Kong and the other one will probably race in Australia with the boys.” Hayes credited bloodstock agent Dean Hawthorne with providing a good list of horses to see at Karaka, and he was delighted to secure the two top colts.

The pair were wide apart and hard to line up as they went to the post, but the photo favoured Mystic Park by a half-neck to a game Sir Albert ahead of Cannon Hill, who stuck on bravely for third.

The son of Ocean Park was the first South Island-trained winner of the $250,000 feature in seven years, the most recent being Son Of Maher, who was also prepared by the father-son training partnership in 2017.

Michael Pitman revealed post-race that it hadn’t been a smooth year for Mystic Park since he won last year’s Listed Stewards Stakes (1200m) at the Cup carnival, making

“He’s a stable favourite for the team, he’s a favourite of mine, he just tries super hard,” he said.

“It’s been a long-term plan to have him ready for this. We got in at a good weight and his closing sectionals leading up to it were brilliant I couldn’t believe what he was paying a week ago.

“We had to pivot with Sam [Weatherley, regular rider] getting suspended, we sent an SOS to Dan and he’s come over and rode him a treat.

“I’ve lost my voice yet again, it’s a day that means a lot to us and I’m just rapt with the win.” LoveRacing.nz

Ferns explain coaching change

Nathan Limm

The Silver Ferns have clarified why interim assistant coach Liana Leota has been left back in New Zealand for their Northern Tour.

The new Central Pulse assistant is attending to a family matter, so has missed the 2-0 sweep of Scotland in Glasgow.

The Silver Ferns beat Scotland 80-48 in the second test yesterday morning.

However, Silver Ferns interim coach Yvette McCausland-Durie said Leota could rejoin the Ferns for their three-match series against England, starting on Sunday.

“Liana’s had some whanau stuff going on, so she made quite a late call to commit to that. We’ve still got her ticket open in the hope that she may still join us.”

Netball New Zealand high performance specialist Waimarama Taumaunu has replaced Tracey Fear in camp, who was brought in by High Performance Sport New Zealand during the stand-down of Dame Noeline Taurua. Without Leota, McCausland-Durie said Taumaunu was supporting her by taking care of the defensive end.

“We’ve got people who have coached at an international level and she’s coached a number of these players through different campaigns. She’s supporting me at the moment until we get clarity about where Liana’s at.

“This group have been really amazing at being able to pivot and accept that this is the new normal and we get on with it, and so, yeah, grateful.”

McCausland-Durie experimented with combinations across all areas of the court in the Scotland series. It culminated with a junior line-up producing a 20-7 fourth-quarter wipe of the Thistles in test two.

The Silver Ferns will resort to a more conventional line-up to face heavyweights England, who won last year’s Taini Jamison series in Aotearoa.

McCausland-Durie said the team were fully aware the Roses clinched their last encounter.

“We understand the expectation and the challenge ahead, but I do think for us, it’s really just that finesse, reading the options, making sure that our movement is really clear and sharp and that we’re decisive in our movement.

“That will set up a lot more clarity for people who have got the ball in hand to make accurate decisions.”

McCausland-Durie said the experimentation against Scotland has given them more options.

“People know their roles, they know the two positions that they’ve got strength in, and they’ve run different combinations.

“So I think all of those connections continue to add value to what impact we can have and what change we can bring to the court.”

Wing attack Maddy Gordon and goal shoot Grace Nweke proved a lethal combination in the second Scotland test. Despite playing only two quarters, Gordon recorded 31 feeds and Nweke 34 goals.

McCausland-Durie acknowledged it will be different against England.

“They’ve got some defenders who are a little bit taller and a little bit more movement.

“So we’ve got to continue to be respectful about where that space is and how that looks, and also care for Grace in terms of the placement.

It’s not perfect, but it certainly has some real potential and it’s an asset that we want to continue to keep growing in terms of a connection.”

Raducanu latest offer England

Charles Richardson

Emma Raducanu received a kicking masterclass from Marcus Smith and traded lessons in leadership with Maro Itoje after being invited into the England rugby camp before this weekend’s showdown with the All Blacks.

England’s senior players sought the guidance of Raducanu, the British No 1 tennis player and 2021 US Open champion, as part of head coach Steve Borthwick’s latest effort to tap into sporting minds from outside of rugby.

Raducanu, who became the first qualifier to win a major title in New York four years ago without dropping a set, spent yesterday at England’s Pennyhill Park base.

The 22-year-old observed England’s training session before taking part in a line-out with props Fin Baxter and Will Stuart. She also received kicking tips from Smith before an in-depth leadership discussion with Itoje, who will lead out the side at Allianz Stadium on Sunday morning (NZ time).

Emma Raducanu was in training today,” Borthwick said. “It’s just great having people, elite sports people come and visit us.

“Emma was talking to the players and sharing her experiences about preparing for the elite level of competition, which is terrific

“People like her are always very welcome because we learn a lot and the players enjoy learning from others’ experience.”

Baxter, who will start at loosehead prop against New Zealand having held off the challenge of vice-captain and British and Irish Lion Ellis Genge, revealed that he and fellow prop Stuart had lifted Raducanu in a mock line-out at the end of their team session yesterday.

“She watched training today and then we did a few bits after,” said Baxter. “I think she did a bit of kicking with Marcus. Maro was chatting to her and we were all drifting off, letting two big dogs of their sports talk. Then it was: ‘Fin, Will, come on, Emma wants to do a line-out with you’.

“So, we did the line-out. She was very good, and caught the ball. And then afterwards I was like: ‘Hi Emma, I’m Fin by the way’. It was a weird way to meet her for the first time. But it was cool to have her in.

“The amount of pressure that she has to go under because of how successful she is definitely something we can all learn something from.”

England are hoping that on Sunday they break a four-match losing streak against the All Blacks that stretches back to 2019 and take a first win at Twickenham against them since 2012.

Borthwick, England’s head coach, was impressed with how Raducanu had articulated her experiences at the highest level of sport. She was not the first big-name attendee to drop in for preparations this week following the visit of Brighton and Hove Albion head coach Fabian Hurzeler.

England welcomed the Premier League football manager into camp twice this week and the presence of guests from other sports particularly football has been a recurring theme of Borthwick’s tenure as head coach. England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale and former Stoke City and Crystal Palace manager Tony Pulis have, among others, visited training since Borthwick replaced Eddie Jones in 2022. Borthwick’s backroom coaches recently met their cricketing equivalents.

“We had Fabian in on Monday and today, too, and it’s been really interesting to chat to him,” Borthwick added. “We learnt a little bit about what his views are, and the importance of the team.”

This is not the first time that Raducanu has been a talking point among the England rugby team. In 2021, towards the end of his time as head coach, Jones was forced to apologise after he told Marcus Smith to be wary of the “flood of distractions” that could come his way as the “next big thing”, referring to the attention that Raducanu received since winning the US Open.

Jones also clarified his comments and admitted that he had sent Raducanu a letter Yesterday, however the two worlds collided as Smith and Raducanu kicked a ball together at Pennyhill Park.

England face the All Blacks after victories against Australia and Fiji on the opening two weekends of their November tests. Their autumn comes to a close on the morning of Monday, November 24 (NZ time) when they take on Argentina at the Allianz Stadium. Telegraph Group Ltd

Biggest test yet for

Ryan believes forwards have confidence to get the upper hand in a tight contest

England at Twickenham presents many challenges

One non-negotiable is a relentless, combative physical battle In this regard, the comparably youthful All Blacks forward pack confront their comingof-age test this weekend

Last November at the same revered London venue, the All Blacks fielded a forward pack featuring incumbent tighthead prop Tyrel Lomax first-choice lock Tupou Vaa’i and they then welcomed influential impact off the bench from vastly experienced Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu

With those figures absent through injury, half the All Blacks starting forward pack this weekend are expected to be 25 or younger

Test forwards, generally, hit their prime in their late 20s, early 30s, when they bank the experience of locking horns against contrasting opposition and grizzled veterans throughout the rugby world

The All Blacks though are

promoting their next generation, partly through necessity because of injuries, and attempting to accelerate their development curve That maturation comes to a head against England

Dynamic loose forwards Wallace Sititi (aged 23) and Peter Lakai (22) are again favoured to start alongside Ardie Savea Sititi turned heads at Twickenham last year but the impressive, in-form Lakai will meet England for the first time

Youth extends to the second row where rookie test lock Fabian Holland (23) will pack down alongside the returning Scott Barrett, with Josh Lord (24) shifting to the bench after impressing in the All Blacks captain s absence Without Lomax, Fletcher Newell (25) will continue to anchor

Borthwick recalls Ford for test

First five-eighths George Ford has been recalled to England’s starting line-up to face the All Blacks at Twickenham as coach Steve Borthwick announced seven changes to the side that beat Fiji last weekend.

Ford, who pulled the strings in the win over Australia in the first of autumn, sat out the 38-18 victory over Fiji as Fin Smith took charge.

With Borthwick naming a 6-2 split on the bench, Fin Smith drops out of the matchday 23 while Marcus Smith drops down to the replacements to make way for Freddie Steward at fullback.

Wing Tommy Freeman and second row Ollie Chessum have failed to recover from their respective hamstring and ankle injuries so miss out.

Tom Roebuck returns to fill the No 14 jersey while Alex Coles is the beneficiary of Chessum’s absence, forming a second row partnership alongside skipper Maro Itoje who also comes back into the side after starting on the bench against the Fijians.

Sam Underhill moves into the back row with Chandler CunninghamSouth dropping to the bench.

“I’m pleased with the progress we are making,” said Borthwick.

“Without doubt, New Zealand are one of the best teams in the world and facing them is always a special challenge.”

England round off their autumn internationals when they face Argentina at Twickenham on November 23.

Englandsideto faceAllBlacks

1 Fin Baxter, 2 Jamie George, 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Maro Itoje (capt), 5 Alex Coles, 6 Guy Pepper, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Ben Earl 9 Alex Mitchell, 10 George Ford, 11 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 14 Tom Roebuck, 15 Freddie Steward. Replacements: 16 Luke CowanDickie, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Chandler Cunningham-South, 20 Tom Curry, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Ben Spencer, 23 Marcus Smith

England v All Blacks

Kick-off: 4 10am Sunday (NZT) Allianz Stadium (Twickenham), London

ABs’ young pack

a few areas,” Ryan said as the All Blacks trained at their Lensbury base. “When

you look at our three locks [Holland, Lord and Sam Darry], I’m immensely proud of them in the last couple of weeks. Josh Lord has come of age. He’s been training extremely well and made the most of his chance.

“Last week in particular, when those boys aren’t looking to Scott Barrett, Patrick and Tupou Vaa’i, it’s them in the moment. We take a lot of confidence out of that.

“In this team, sometimes you don’t get many opportunities. But when you do, you’ve got to take it.

“We’ve got some good areas of our game we’ve got a little bit of confidence in at the moment, which is pleasing. But by no means are we satisfied with where we’re at, so we’re looking forward to stepping up in a hell of a contest.”

In their quest to play with width and speed, the All Blacks have developed a penchant for using their forwards to largely dish out the backdoor to create time and space for their playmakers.

While that’s worked well at times, they may be forced to earn the right to go wide through a more varied, direct approach against England.

Losing Lions lock Ollie Chessum is a setback for the English pack but the All Blacks are well aware of the threat

Ronaldo: Career is nearing its end

Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo says next year’s World Cup would be his last, as he winds down one of the all-time great careers.

The 40-year-old forward, with more than 950 club and international goals, also said he would retire from football in “one or two years”.

“Definitely, yes,” he told a Saudi forum by video link, when asked if 2026 would be his final World Cup. “I’m gonna be 41 years old and I think it will be the moment.”

Ronaldo, who began a lucrative stint at Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr in 2023, also elaborated on comments last week when he said he would retire “soon”.

“Let’s be honest, when I mean soon, it’s probably one or two years I’ll still be at the game,” he said.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is hoping to play at a sixth World Cup next year. He came closest to lifting the trophy on debut in 2006, when Portugal lost to France in the semifinals.

Portugal have yet to qualify for the 2026 tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico, but can secure their spot if they beat Ireland tomorrow.

the world-class Itoje poses.

“He’s a great competitor and has been for so long for England and Saracens. He was immense for the Lions, too. I love the way he competes on and off the ball. He runs their lineout and he’s a big part of their strategy. It’s a great opportunity for us to come up against him with our young locks.”

Ryan bristled at suggestions the All Blacks are viewed as more vulnerable than in previous visits to Twickenham. But with England on a nine-match winning run, Ryan also believes the All Blacks’ three tight victories over Steve Borthwick’s men last year hold little relevance.

“I’m sure we’ve got a couple of weaknesses they’ve seen. Good on them if they’ve got confidence. We have, too. That’s what you want from all your players when you go out in the fiercest arena.

“They’ve evolved immensely, and we have as well. They’ve changed in how they like to break teams down. They’ve used the 6-2 split and found a bit of identity there and where that’s potentially working for them.

“England are on a bit of a roll and we’ve got a bit of confidence as well. It’s all set up for a heck of a test match.”

Cristiano Ronaldo says next year’s World Cup will be his last.

Last month, Ronaldo became the top goalscorer in World Cup qualifying history when he netted twice against Hungary to reach 41 goals, overtaking retired Guatemalan international Carlos Ruiz’s 39.

The former Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus forward is also the all-time leading international goalscorer with 143 strikes.

During an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored last week, Ronaldo opened up further about the realities of his looming retirement

“It will be difficult? Yes. Probably will cry, yes. I’m an open person. It will be very, very difficult, yes,” he said.

Ronaldo joined Al Nassr after leaving Manchester United for a second time in late 2022, a move that heralded an influx of late-career stars to the oil-rich kingdom.

Ronaldo initially signed for €200 million ($410m) a year, according to a source close to Al Nassr at the time, and inked a two-year contract extension in June.

Last month, he was named by Bloomberg as the sport’s first billionaire, and topped the Forbes list of highest-paid footballers for the sixth time in a decade.

With on-and off-field earnings of an estimated US$280m ($495m), Ronaldo will earn more than double that of second-placed rival Lionel Messi during the upcoming season, according to Forbes.

Saudi Arabia, which is spending big on sports and

part of its economic diversification plan, was named as host of the 2034 World Cup last December.

Underdogs? Really?

No matter how you try to put it,

All Blacks forwards coach Jason Ryan isn’t about to concede ground to England ahead of this weekend’s test, writes GregorPaul in London.

The English media and most bookmakers are forming a view that their national team, unbeaten in nine tests, are building towards genuine heavyweight status with the potential to be a mighty handful by the 2027 World Cup

Most bookies in the United Kingdom have England slight favourites to beat New Zealand this weekend and the scribes who turned up to quiz forwards coach Jason Ryan at the All Blacks training base in the southwestern suburb town of Teddington arrived seemingly confident of a win at Twickenham for the first time since 2012

One reporter had various, convoluted attempts to draw Ryan into some kind of affirmative response to confirm his world view that England are the better team He seemed to be asking Ryan to agree that the All Blacks, having quite regularly been to the UK in the past 20 years as firm favourites in most fixtures, have arrived this time to encounter an England team that have a justifiably heightened confidence about how things might play out Ryan played dumb, citing his confusion about what or even if he had been asked a question, because

he knew what the reporter was actually trying to ask, but not quite able to frame it with the directness required

He was really saying: “You chaps don t look that great not in the same league as some of your predecessors while our boys have won nine on the hoof and reckon they can knock you over

“You can agree or disagree, but I need a response from you to slot a few quotes into my pre-determined narrative that the All Blacks are not the team of old and England have every reason to think they can win this week ”

Ryan, who seems to have a good instinct for knowing when he is being rage-baited goaded into providing an easy story and cheap headline said that he felt the All Blacks have always carried enormous respect for all their opponents and that he welcomed facing a confident England team, because his team are in a similar state and want the enormity of the challenge of trying to win at Twickenham

This coming game he suggested, had no different context to any other between these two fierce rivals and long-standing heavyweights

The funny thing is, both views

Ryan’s confidence in the All Blacks’ readiness is by no means misplaced. The All Blacks have won four on the trot now nine out of 11 this year and while they had wobbly moments in their first two Grand Slam encounters, they found a way to win.

have large elements of truth to them and it s easy to see why the English media have sensed an underlying vulnerability within the All Blacks and built their confidence in Steve Borthwick s team now that they have not lost since Ireland beat them in February

The point about the gap having closed between New Zealand and the four Home Unions is also irrefutable

The All Blacks only lost two November tests between 2004 and 2018, and quite often most years in that period they would

comprehensively overwhelm Scotland, Ireland and Wales and quite often England, too

But in the past four years, the All Blacks have lost three November tests and drawn one, and having seen how in the last two weeks both Ireland and more definitively Scotland had New Zealand scrambling, there has been little about the men in black to provoke the usual sense of fear and trepidation among Northern Hemisphere rugby followers

On top of that, England are building familiarity with a gameplan that is founded on set-piece strength and the power of the pack, but which has considerably more elements to it

They have strength in depth in most positions, access to a handy bench that can make a serious impact and they are growing in confidence because they are winning

But equally, Ryan s confidence in the All Blacks readiness is by no means misplaced The All Blacks have won four on the trot now nine out of 11 this year and while they had wobbly moments in their first two Grand Slam encounters they found a way to win

Just as England have reason to feel confident, so too do the All Blacks as

they have the set-piece heft and efficiency to withstand whatever England throw at them At times in Chicago and Edinburgh, there was a flow and cohesion to their attack that suggested there is some affinity building with their gameplan

And this is what makes this game so pivotal Both teams are tracking mostly how they want to growing their understanding and ability to use the ball while building confidence through winning, and they both know that this game will be season-defining for them

If England are the real deal the way their media thinks they are, then they have to beat the All Blacks for that storyline to retain its credibility

And for the All Blacks, a win in London virtually assures a Grand Slam and with it, a reason to see the volatility in Edinburgh and Chicago, as well as the record loss in Wellington during the Rugby Championship, as the inevitable turbulence endured by all young teams and not as red flags signalling serious possible dysfunction