Hikoi to lift tapu off Kaikohe following child death - Shane Jones calls out Ngāpuhi's silence
The Kaikohe community is in a stunned silence following the violent death of three-year-old Catalya Remana Tangimetua Pepene.
The violent death of Catalya Remana Tangimetua Pepene has sparked a call for Kaikohe locals and Māori to stand up and take control of their community.
A 45-year-old man has been charged with three-year-old Catalya's murder and appeared in the Kaikohe District Court last week.
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NZ Herald
a day ago
- NZ Herald
Privacy commissioner inquiry finds supermarket facial recognition tech's use is justified
'These issues become particularly critical when people need to access essential services such as supermarkets. FRT [facial recognition technology] will only be acceptable if the use is necessary and the privacy risks are successfully managed,' Webster said. The Foodstuffs trial ended last September and ran in 25 supermarkets. The commissioner found the live technology model used in the trial was compliant with the Privacy Act. About 226 million faces were scanned during the trial, including multiple scans of the same person, and 99.999% of those were deleted within one minute. The trial raised 1742 alerts, 1208 were confirmed matches to store watchlists – databases made from images of people of interest to a store. In December 2024, a woman took her case to the Human Rights Review Tribunal after she was wrongly kicked out of a Rotorua supermarket, claiming the technology was discriminatory. There were nine instances of someone being approached by staff, but misidentified as the wrong person during the trial. In two cases, the shopper was asked to leave. All nine instances were attributable to human error, and were outweighed by the benefits of using facial recognition, justifying its use. The inquiry found while the level of intrusion to customers' privacy was high because every visitor's face was collected, the safeguards used in the trial reduced the intrusion to an acceptable level. Webster said there was still work needed to improve the safety and efficiency of facial recognition software for New Zealand, as it had been developed overseas and not trained on a local population. He said the commission could not be completely confident the technology had addressed issues on technical bias, and that it had the potential to negatively impact Māori and Pacific people. 'This means the technology must only be used with the right processes in place, including human checks that an alert is accurate before acting on it. 'I also expect that Foodstuffs North Island will put in place monitoring and review to allow it to evaluate the impact of skin tone on identification accuracy and store response, and to provide confidence to the regulator and customers that key privacy safeguards remain in place,' Webster said. The safeguards included immediately deleting images that did not match with a store's watchlist, setting up the system to only identify those whose behaviour was seriously harmful, like violent offending, not allowing staff to add images of people under 18 or those thought to be vulnerable to the watchlist and not sharing watchlist information between stores. Match alerts were verified by two trained staff members to make sure a human decision was part of the process, the inquiry report said, and access to the facial recognition system and its information was restricted to authorised staff. Images collected were not permitted to be used for training data purposes, the report said. Foodstuffs responds General counsel for Foodstuffs North Island Julian Benefield said the goal behind the FRT trial was to understand whether it could reduce harm while respecting people's privacy, saying it had succeeded in doing so. 'Retail crime remains a serious and complex problem across New Zealand,' he said. 'Our people continue to be assaulted, threatened and verbally abused, and we're committed to doing all we can to create safer retail environments.' Benefield said privacy was at the heart of the trial. He said an independent evaluator found the trial prevented more than 100 cases of serious harm, including assaults. 'We have worked closely with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and listened to their feedback. 'We welcome the OPC's feedback on areas for improvement and will carefully consider their recommendations, including the need to monitor accuracy, before we make any decisions about future permanent use.' Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young said the trial showed the technology had made a measurable impact in reducing harm and improving safety in stores. She said retailers across the country had been watching the trial with interest and a number were investigating FRT for their own operations in the near future. 'Retailers are crying out for proactive solutions that prevent crime and enhance the safety of their staff and customers. Our members continue to face high rates of violence and crime, putting both their employees and the public at risk, as well as threatening the financial sustainability of retail businesses.' - RNZ
RNZ News
3 days ago
- RNZ News
Hundreds hīkoi to honour three-year-old killed in Northland
Kaikohe's Piriwiritua Rātana brass band led the hīkoi, giving it an almost festive atmosphere. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf More than 400 people have marched down Kaikohe's main street to honour the tragically short life of Catalya Remana Tangimetua-Pepene . The 3-year-old died at her home last month, and a 45-year-old man has since been charged with her murder. Her death has rocked the small Northland town, which on Monday sought to remember her with a hīkoi starting at the top of Broadway, near the housing complex where she lived. Community leaders front the hīkoi as it makes its way down Broadway. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf The hīkoi was led by Kaikohe's Piriwiritua Rātana Brass Band and dominated by families with young children carrying balloons and blowing bubbles. Many of those taking part wore vivid colours in memory of a girl whose smile was so bright neighbours said it "lit up the whole world". Tohu Cassidy, of Ōmanaia, wore the brightest things he could find. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf By the time the hīkoi reached the green, at the former Kaikohe Hotel site halfway down Broadway, the crowd had swelled to about 500. There community leaders exchanged speeches and children played on bouncy castles or took part in activities such as colouring contests. Many marchers turned up with balloons or brightly coloured clothing. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf It was an emotional day for many, including Sharon Harris, who said she was one of Catalya's two godmothers. Harris, who was holding a bunch of balloons, each with a message for her godchild, said her smile was so wide it reached "from one eyebrow to the other". Fighting back tears, Harris said she was heartened by the number of people taking part. "I'm really glad everybody's turned out here to tautoko this hīkoi ... but it makes me miss her heaps when I look at all these other little kids. She was a beautiful child. I have a child of my own, she was very close to Catalya." Kaumatua Wikitoria Te Whata addresses the crowd. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf One of the organisers, Mutunga Rameka, of the hapū Te Matarahurahu, said the aim of the hīkoi was to show unity and celebrate Catalya. "The kaupapa is 'He tapu te mokopuna', which translates as 'All children are sacred'. It doesn't matter whether you know them or not. We have a duty as adults to look after all tamariki." Rameka was pleased with the turnout but said there was much more work to be done. "I'm hoping we can be part of that so we can show aroha to all mokopuna." Organiser Mutunga Rameka said the hīkoi aimed to show unity and honour Catalya's short life. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf Mike Shaw, a community leader and pastor at Kaikohe's Celebration Church, said the tragedy had been keenly felt. "We're quite a small community, so when something like this happens it has a big impact … This literally happened in my street, and there's a sense of sadness and despair to know that such a young a beautiful life was ended so needlessly." Shaw he was concerned by what he said was the practice of bringing high-needs families into a town that was already struggling, and whether they had enough support. He believed social housing complexes needed not just external support, but also pastoral care from qualified people living on the premises and available whenever needed, to check up on residents who were struggling and de-escalate problems. "So I'm here to support the hīkoi and the community's grieving process, but also to get into discussions about where to from here, and how can we prevent these kinds of things from happening again." Shaw said Catalya's death was not a sign of a wider pattern in Kaikohe. "On the back of recent publicity about methamphetamine it could give you the impression that we're in a downward spiral, but this was an anomaly. Most families in Kaikohe are loving families that support their young people, so we're optimistic about the future while also being realistic about the high needs around us." Shaw said he was heartened by the number of young families taking part, "supporting each other through the grief into a better future". Many young families took part in the hīkoi. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf Former Māori Affairs Minister Dover Samuels, fresh from being named in King's Birthday Honours, said the speeches after the hīkoi gave him cause for hope. "A number of our leaders and kaumātua and wahine toa said the cure for this does not lie with the government, it lies with ourselves, our whānau. It can't be fixed by government pouring money into more ambulances at the bottom of the cliff. We have to accept our responsibilities ourselves." Samuels said drugs and alcohol were usually the cause when families became dysfunctional. Te Matewai Skipworth hands out cake after the hīkoi. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf Government Minister Shane Jones, who was among the speakers, made a similar point. He said what had happened to Catalya was not a specifically Māori issue, but the result of people absorbing drug culture and losing all sense of responsibility. "The death of the baby is an inevitable culmination of moral decay, drugs and violence. The event today is positive because it's put the acid back on families themselves to intervene and not let situations escalate to a point where they're beyond salvation," Jones said. The 45-year-old man charged with assaulting and murdering Catalya is due in the High Court at Whangārei on 11 June. He has interim name suppression. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
4 days ago
- RNZ News
Hīkoi to honour toddler killed in her Northland home
Catalya Remana Tangimetua-Pepene died at her Kaikohe home last Wednesday. Photo: Supplied A hīkoi is taking place in Kaikohe this morning to honour the life of three-year-old Northland girl Catalya Remana Tangimetua-Pepene The toddler, known to close family as Remana, was farewelled last week at Te Paea Marae, just north of Whangārei, and buried at St James Church cemetery in Ngāraratunua last week. Neighbours told RNZ they were heartbroken to lose a child whose smile was so bright it "lit up the whole world". Emergency services were called to a home on Tawanui Road, in Kaikohe, about 6.15pm last Wednesday, where they found the girl unresponsive. Police said she could not be saved, despite medical treatment at the scene. A 45-year-old man, who has been granted interim name suppression, is charged with assaulting a child sometime between 1 and 30 April, and with murdering the same child on 21 May. He is due to appear in the High Court at Whangārei on 11 June. Now, Te Rūnanga-Ā-Iwi O Ngāpuhi has posted on social media , signed off by chairman Mane Tahere: "The hīkoi has been called by local hapū Te Matarahurahu supported by Ngāpuhi Group to honour the life of Catalya, a three-year-old mokopuna whose passing has deeply affected our community." It would start at Len's Pies on Broadway at 10am on Monday, and finish at the green at the centre of town. There would be karakia, karanga, takutaku and waiata, led by the hapū, and people were encouraged to wear bright, colourful clothing. "This tragedy has deeply shaken us all," the post reads. "The pain is still raw, not just because we have lost a precious life, but because this is not an isolated incident. We also remember our whānau who were most recently taken in Horeke and Pakotai but also the many others this year. Our aroha extends to all the families affected by these traumatic events." "We recognise that vulnerability exists on all sides of these tragedies, in the lives of those harmed, and those who have harmed. As whānau, hapū and a broader iwi, we must find a way forward that upholds both justice and healing."
