One dead following crash on Waitohu Valley Road in Manakau
Photo:
RNZ / Tim Brown
A person has died after a crash in the Horowhenua District earlier today.
Emergency services were called to the scene of a two-vehicle crash on Waitohu Valley Road in Manakau at about 4.15pm.
Police say one person had died at the scene.
They say the road is closed while the serious crash unit examines the crash site.
Motorists are advised to avoid the area and expect delays.
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RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Police commissioner Chambers 'angry' and 'let down' following allegations against former deputy
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers. Photo: Calvin Samuel / RNZ The police commissioner has emailed staff saying he is aware there are many who are "angry and feel let down" following revelations that child exploitation and bestiality material were allegedly found on the former deputy commissioner's work devices. "I feel the same," Richard Chambers told staff in an email. Jevon Skimming resigned as the country's second most powerful cop in May amid separate investigations by the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) and police. His resignation came a week after RNZ approached him, via his lawyer, with allegations about material found on his work devices. RNZ earlier revealed pornography found on McSkimming's work devices was being investigated as alleged objectionable material. On Friday, an interim injunction that prohibited publishing the nature of the allegedly objectionable material lapsed after Justice Karen Grau declined McSkimming's application to continue the order. Do you know more? Email Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said he was unable to comment at this time on Friday. He has since sent an email to staff, seen by RNZ. In the email Chambers addressed the media reports "in relation to an individual". "I am aware that there are many who are angry and feel let down. I feel the same. "It is important to let you know at this point I am unable to comment on the matter, but I do intend to do so when I am able to. "As I have said before, I have high expectations of all Police staff and will act if standards are not met, irrespective of rank or role. "These are the actions of an individual, and I will do my best not to let it distract from the job we are all here to do. "However, I am aware there may be reactions from some that do not sit easily with you." Chambers said if any staff wanted to talk they could contact him or their manager. RNZ has spoken to several police officers after the order lapsed on Friday evening, each of whom on the condition of anonymity. A senior police officer told RNZ the news was "a sad time for New Zealand police". If the allegations were found to be true the officer felt "he's betrayed us all". Former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming. Photo: Getty Images Another police officer said they were "very disappointed" to hear of the allegations. "Especially someone at that level of leadership. I hope all details of his alleged offending will be revealed as soon as possible. At police college we got a talk about how much the historic sexual abuse allegations from Rotorua tarnished our image. They would stop someone during a routine traffic stop and be told 'just don't rape me' many years after the allegation came out people were still talking about it." A former police officer told RNZ the allegations would have a "significant impact" on frontline staff. They had spoken to several serving police officers following the news, many of whom were "gutted". He said one former staffer told them McSkimming would not be welcome near a police station again, others expressed frustration at the reputational damage to police. Police Minister Mark Mitchell declined to comment on Friday. Following McSkimming's resignation, Mitchell accepted trust in the police could take a hit. But he told reporters he hoped the public realised New Zealand had a "world class police force". "The public are savvy enough to know that you are going to have isolated cases of bad behaviour, but they also recognise the fact that our police act very quickly to deal with that," Mitchell said. As an ex-cop, the police's reputation was very important to him, Mitchell said. "I hope that the public see through and realise that we have got an outstanding police force, we've got incredible police officers. "Yes, like any big large organisation, if there's bad behaviour, or you get people who don't hold to the values ... then quick action is taken. "In this case, even though it involves one of our most senior police officers, you've seen that action was taken very quickly to make sure that that public confidence can be maintained." McSkimming's lawyer Linda Clark was earlier granted a rare "superinjunction" by Justice Grau that prohibited reporting the existence of the injunction itself as well as the nature of the allegedly objectionable material. Following a teleconference held by Justice Gwyn, the order prohibiting publication of the nature of the allegedly objectionable material was continued - but the order prohibiting the existence of the injunction was not continued, meaning RNZ could report the fact of McSkimming's application and the interim result. On 3 June, a hearing was held in the High Court at Wellington before Justice Karen Grau in relation to the injunction. RNZ, NZME and Stuff were jointly represented by Robert Stewart KC. On 11 July, Justice Grau released her judgement, declining McSkimming's application, but her reasons for doing so were suppressed and the existing interim injunction was continued to allow McSkimming time to consider his appeal options, should he wish to do so. No notice of appeal was filed, and RNZ can now report the type of objectionable publication purportedly found on his work devices. In November last year McSkimming was placed on "special leave" as the IPCA and then police carried out their separate investigations. RNZ understands it was during police's investigation that the alleged objectionable material was found on his work devices. A second criminal investigation was then launched. At the injunction hearing, Clark alleged information deemed "essential" to the investigation had been leaked to the media, who were intending to publish the information. The information gathered during the police investigation was "confidential", she said. She said that every time police had provided some substantive piece of information to McSkimming, it had appeared within the media "in a day or two days without exception". Clark said there was public interest in McSkimming's situation, but that interest had been served by the reporting to date. Stewart KC said there were two sorts of harm that could be considered, one of which was harm to the police investigation. He said the police had no concern that further disclosure of the material would impact their investigation. In relation to privacy, Stewart KC said McSkimming was "quite clearly" a public figure. "There is a huge public interest in these investigations into Mr McSkimming's abrupt resignation from office, first working day after he had been provided with the material by the Public Service Commission." Stewart KC said his clients submitted that, if the interim restraint should be continued, then "matters should be left to take their course, if there is to be any restraining at all, it should be as limited as possible for as short as possible". At the time of McSkimming's resignation Police Minister Mark Mitchell said he was recently informed of allegations of a "very serious nature", separate to the investigation that led to him being suspended. "When Mr McSkimming was invited to respond to these allegations he chose to resign. Mr McSkimming's resignation has confirmed my view that his continuation in the role was untenable." The IPCA earlier announced it was investigating allegations of misconduct by McSkimming following a complaint from a member of the public . It is also conducting an investigation into if there was misconduct or neglect of duty by any other police officers or employee in responding to the allegations. The investigations were being given priority, but no timeframe for their completion date could be given. McSkimming was one of the final two candidates for New Zealand's top cop job last year, with Chambers eventually appointed police commissioner. McSkimming was promoted to statutory deputy commissioner in 2023 on the recommendation of then-prime minister Chris Hipkins. Late last year he was overseeing road policing and operational services, which include strategy, media and communications, risk and assurance, and firearms regulation and reform. During his appointment process, it was noted he had a "relatively unique career path", working at police headquarters since 2010 across a range of areas: strategy, service delivery, resolution, financial planning, arms admin, ICT and infrastructure. McSkimming joined the police in 1996 and worked on the frontline in Auckland and Southland. He had also been responsible for large restructures - as well as managing police IT systems, property portfolio, vehicles, and launching the 105 non-emergency number. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Senior police manager alleges 'boys' club' culture among Northland detectives
By By Shannon Pitman, Open Justice multimedia journalist of Detectives from the Northland CIB team have been giving evidence this week about allegations of bullying another staff member. Photo: NZME A senior police manager alleges she was met with swirling gossip, private group chats and a pervasive "boys' club" culture when she stepped into a leadership role overseeing the predominantly male detective team in Northland. The allegations now form the basis of an Employment Relations Authority (ERA) hearing in Whangārei this week. Bridget Louise Doell, a senior police officer with three decades of experience, was seconded to the crime area manager role in 2020, overseeing senior detectives in the criminal investigation branch (CIB) at Whangārei police station. The role involves operational oversight of inspectors, but Doell's evidence has been that the transition was met with resistance. Over the next three years, she claims she was sidelined by detectives, describing a toxic workplace culture marked by gossip, exclusion from key decisions, and repeated allegations of bullying. Doell said she eventually took a secondment to Auckland because she felt she could no longer run a district while detectives were speaking negatively about her behind her back. She filed a personal grievance against the Police Commissioner, seeking damages for humiliation. "I felt really duped," she said through tears at the hearing. Authority member Andrew Gane has heard evidence from several detective inspectors and former Northland district commander Superintendent Tony Hill. Former Northland district commander Superintendent Tony Hill. Photo: RNZ / Simon Rogers Doell has given a statement saying she was never formally welcomed into the role or introduced to key stakeholders, such as Mike Smith, who was the Northland Crown Solicitor at the time. In one case, she said she tried to contact Smith for six months to discuss a case, but never heard back from him. Smith told the authority it wasn't his decision to lay charges and, by the time a meeting was held about the case, other detective inspectors had been assigned. Doell alleges that, when detective inspectors Shane Pilmer and Dene Begbie met the Crown on her case, they had gone over her head. "I felt Dene interjected more than he should. He should have left it to me to meet with the Crown." Her lawyer, Maria Dew, KC, questioned Smith on whether he had intentionally avoided her phone calls, suggesting it may have been because of disparaging remarks made by Begbie. Smith denied the claim. "The only conversation I could recall was he sang her praises - said she's come from Auckland, it's a step up," Smith said. He said Begbie had suggested he meet Doell but, when pressed by Dew, Smith conceded the meeting never happened and he could not recall why. Inspector Al Symonds gave evidence around a period in 2022 while he was acting area commander and sharing an office with Doell. Doell returned from a conference in Auckland to find her desk broken and her personal belongings gathered in a box on the floor outside the office. Symonds, who was temporarily in the role for only four months, gave evidence that he had moved her desk to reach cables and it had collapsed. He said he believed he needed privacy in his role and could not share an office. Dew put to him that it was a humiliating experience for Doell, just one of many. When Superintendent Tony Hill heard about the incident, he recognised it would have been humiliating and allegedly told Symonds to apologise. But Symonds said he never received that request and had nothing to apologise for. It was around this time that a workplace survey was released on the Northland CIB, which highlighted its negative culture. "I'd heard about personality clashes. It was gossip I didn't pay attention to," Symonds said. "Had you heard anything about Bridget's behaviour?" Dew asked. "Not specifically," Symonds responded. The authority member asked Symonds about his view of the culture at the time, to which he responded that there was a lot of hurt going on. "It's not Bridget that was doing that, it wasn't directed at her. There was a lot of stuff going on that I think had to be fixed," Symonds said. The authority member then asked Symonds whether he recognised that the desk incident could have made her feel humiliated. "Well, I can't say what she felt. It wasn't my intention." Throughout the hearing, statements have been made about Detective Inspector Joshua Lautogo's strained relationship with Doell, including an alleged incident in which he was witnessed bad-mouthing Doell "with hate in his eyes". The staff member who witnessed Lautogo's alleged outburst reported the incident up the chain. However, when Lautogo gave evidence, he said the incident never occurred. Evidence was put to Lautogo that he had been making disparaging remarks about Doell, specifically in text messages to Detective Inspector Kevan Verry. "It's born out of my frustration at the time in dealing with Bridget, and it is an example of managing up and expressing frustration to my direct supervisor," Lautogo said. He felt as though Doell was systematically targeting him and, when he raised questions, he was misconstrued as being argumentative. Lautogo told the authority he ended up leaving because he could no longer work with Doell. Detective Inspectors Verry, Rhys Johnson, Geoff McCarthy and David Lynch have also given evidence. The case finished on Friday, with a decision to be released at a later date. -This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald .
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
Mediawatch: Ministers' 'helpful' handouts go multimedia
A strategically placed billboard that was part of a lobbying campaign targeting energy minister Simon Watts, captured by TVNZ's Q+A. Photo: TVNZ Q+A "Dear Prime Minister: the rise in crime and antisocial behaviour since COVID 19 struck is stark and confronting. We ask that you please take urgent action to support recovery and retain our reputation as a safe city and country." That was the message of a full-page ad in the Weekend Herald placed by groups representing Auckland businesses, accusing the government of failing to act on past promises. It was almost identical to a similar plea to a previous PM four years ago. The following day the current PM was the target of another open letter advert in the Sunday papers. This one - placed by electricity retailers, users and Consumer NZ - called on him to fix "a broken energy sector". That campaign also featured on TVNZ's Q+A show the same day, and in a front-page New Zealand Herald story the next day, the Minister of Energy - the aptly named Simon Watts - acknowledged our electricity market was "not functioning as well as it should". But it's not the first time that he's been singled out by a lobbying campaign in public. In June, pro-electrification group Rewiring NZ deployed AI animation to turn him into a superhero in ads that urged the public to make it an election issue - and it used a billboard near the Beehive to make sure that he didn't miss it. TVNZ's Q+A said lobby groups like Federated Farmers and the Sensible Sentencing Trust had used the same spot for the same reason in other campaigns. But do ministers targeted by these ads even notice them? "Yes, I do. On the way to the airport, out of Parliament and down onto the quays there - it's pretty hard to not to," National's Chris Bishop told TVNZ's Whena Owen. But are campaigns singling out individual politicians in public really effective? Most ministers are also lobbied behind the scenes by the same special interest groups. Being hectored publicly as well could make them more inclined to dig in rather than give in. "Lobby groups have always taken out ads in newspapers. Now they're moving it to digital billboards which can be up longer and can be cheaper," said Dr Claire Robinson, the author of Promises, Promises: 80 years of Wooing New Zealand Voters . "They can be located at traffic lights where ministerial cars have to stop. It's probably a really good way of getting something under the nose of a cabinet minister who may not open the newspaper anymore in the morning to see it there." "If you want to lobby a minister now you've got not only print, radio and TV - and you've got your own channels, social media and even LinkedIn posts. There's a complete industry in being able to disseminate your messages, hoping that one of them is going to get through," Dr Robinson told Mediawatch . Politicians aren't shy about getting their own messages out to the media either - and have specialised staff to do it. Journalists' email inboxes are clogged with media statements from ministers and MPs hoping that their comments will make it into the media's coverage. And now they are going multimedia too. Last weekend reporters got video of the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio greeting Winston Peters, along with a media statement, after an ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Malaysia, which was attended by Peters. NZ First posted that footage on Facebook on the day of the meeting - and then there was another version last Tuesday featuring Peters looking statesmanlike, with a TikTok-type soundtrack added. The same day the streaming show Herald Now ran the Rubio footage during an interview with Peters . Should media be wary of airing images hand-picked by ministers' staff? "Yes, because by using it they're essentially using party generated pictures and feeding the beast - and exacerbating the rule-breaking of political parties," Dr Robinson told Mediawatch. "Anything that is generated through party social media channels really needs to be stopped at the door. "But at the same time the media loses all perspective when a PM or foreign minister meets a US president or Secretary of State. In 2014, photos of John Key playing golf with Obama were splashed across the newspapers . . . and nobody asked who took the photos back then." Recently reporters have also received sound bites from ministers along with standard media statements. Last week, Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee announced anti-money laundering law changes to make managing property easier through family trusts. The release included a minute-long MP3 clip of her reading out some of the key points - and 'video on request'. In June her office also sent three separate sound bites about the 'Three Strikes' law coming into force. Why send selected comments rather than allow reporters to record their own in a media conference in the usual way? "Quite often we'll put out a media release, then we get all the phone calls looking for a grab. Why not give a grab ourselves?" McKee told Mediawatch . RNZ's reporters in the press gallery in Parliament told Mediawatch they wouldn't use audio supplied under those circumstances. "I believe it has been picked up by a couple of radio stations but I haven't actually tracked it myself." ACT leader David Seymour has spoken about bypassing the media because they "abuse their power to edit" and refused to allow ACT's ministers to appear on RNZ's Morning Report . He's even appealed for funds from ACT supporters to fund his own online media channels. Is McKee supplying audio comments as a substitute for interviews or media conferences at which she could be challenged or questioned by reporters? "That's not the reason. It's actually realising that our media are quite stretched - for time and for people," McKee told Mediawatch . On that issue of the family trusts and anti-money laundering laws, McKee was interviewed by RNZ news after sending out the statement and audio. "I've always made myself available to the media. Should they want a sound grab directly, I'm happy to give it. We just thought that this would help the media, especially if they do have those tight deadlines. And of course some have less staff now." "It doesn't take me long to add a couple of 10-second sound bites to the media releases we put out. And of course if it is being picked up then it is useful to some. So we'll continue to do it." McKee says she hasn't tracked which media outlets have used the supplied audio. Another minister handing out sound bites with media statements lately is Associate Minister of Transport James Meager. "Now is the perfect time to look ahead toward building a resilient maritime economy for future generations," he said in mid-June, announcing pumped-up investment in navigation services for shipping. One week later, Meager sent out three more sound bites, about a funding boost for lifesaving. Meager credits his press secretary, former Newstalk ZB journalist Blake Benny. "He came to me with the idea that if we include some audio grabs with our press releases, it makes the job of producers and radio reporters so much easier," Meager told Mediawatch . If so, it might mean not having to answer questions about contestable claims made in statements - or confront contradictions? "There's always the option for journalists who want to ring up and press on some of the details in those press releases. I'm always happy to take interviews. The only time I decline would be if it's outside my portfolio or if I literally can't do them." Few ministers ever issue statements on matters outside their portfolio - and Meager declined to say which outlets had broadcast his recorded statements. Before he became an MP, he set up an online archive of political ads - - with partner Dr Ashley Murchison, an expert who wrote a PhD about responses to political ads. Some of Nicole McKee's recent media statements said video was available on request as well. Meager doesn't offer that - yet. "But if we had the resources and that made people's lives easier then it might be something that we look into. I used to work as a press secretary and I think I wish I'd been smart enough to think of this six years ago," he told Mediawatch . But he says he and other ministers will be offering the media more multimedia stuff in future. "I'm doing a couple (of soundbites) this weekend for a couple of announcements we're making in the top of the South so hopefully they'll be picked up. In the weekend when staffing levels are lower, that might be a little bit helpful too." Dr Claire Robinson Photo: supplied "Political parties have always used new technology to try and get their messages across - even going back to Michael Joseph Savage in 1938 when he used film, which was a new technology back then," Dr Claire Robinson told Mediawatch . "I think that the politicians hope that the time-poor media will just insert (the content) into coverage. But there's something deeper going on here because they're exploiting the whopping decline in journalism employment," said Dr Robinson, who is also the current chief of Toi Mai / the Workforce Development Council, which published a development plan for journalism in 2024. "That decline is because of government-enabled inaction or policies that have seen that advertising money that used to sustain news media organisations go offshore. In the old days (they) would have more scrutiny and political parties are now exploiting that gap and creating their own media." In a recent piece for The Post , Dr Robinson said the public pays for political parties' digital media messaging - but shouldn't be paying for some of it. "The rules are really clear. You can only electioneer using public funds in the three months prior to an election campaign. The rest of the time parties are enabled to create information, but not to electioneer with social media," Dr Robinson told Mediawatch . She says the NZ First party publishing footage of Winston Peters in Malaysia as foreign minister on social media is an example of the problem. "It has their party logo and is using Peters' role in his capacity as Minister of Foreign Affairs for party purposes. It doesn't say 'Vote for NZ First' but the boundaries are blurred. It is really saying our leader is a great leader because he can create amazing relationships with people." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
