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RNZ News
19-05-2025
- RNZ News
Canterbury priest may have been financial abuse victim
Father Geoff Gray was ordained in June 1972 at Timaru's Sacred Heart Basilica. Photo: CC 3.0 / Ulanwp Warning: This story discusses suicide. A Canterbury Catholic priest took his own life after 50 years in the clergy as his mental health deteriorated and financial pressure mounted. Father Geoff Gray was found by a concerned neighbour on the grounds of the Akaroa parish on 29 November last year. In findings released today, Coroner Ian Telford said there were indications Father Geoff was the victim of financial abuse. "Towards the end of his life, Father Geoff's mental health deteriorated markedly - a situation directly exacerbated by mounting financial pressures and other uncertainties," the coroner said. "The evidence indicates that this largely arose due to the exploitation of his generous and trusting nature. Unfortunately, my jurisdiction does not extend to the further investigation and determination of this situation. Nevertheless, it is a matter of some concern, and begs the attention of all New Zealanders. "Several people close to Father Geoff were becoming increasingly concerned that some indicators of financial abuse were present in his life. His bank had even taken the step of freezing his accounts, fearing he was being scammed. At the same time, those around Father Geoff were alert to the issues and doing everything they could to caution and support him. Nothing in these findings is intended as criticism and these situations are invariably challenging, particularly when supporting capable adults. In short, it is often difficult to know what to do for the best. "However, Father Geoff's case serves to illustrate the potentially devastating consequences that can flow in these circumstances. To that end, I urge anyone concerned that an older person may be experiencing any form of abuse to seek help." Father Geoff was ordained in June 1972 at Timaru's Sacred Heart Basilica. He served at many parishes throughout New Zealand and overseas, including as a priest in the Society of St James Apostle in Bolivia between 1982 to 1992 and again from 1997 to 2001. "Father Geoff developed and maintained a strong connection to the area and established family-like relationships with local people," Telford said. "Several witnesses to my inquiry refer to Father Geoff's 'adoption' of a young adult from Bolivia, with whom he maintained contact and provided financial support. While the precise details of this relationship remain unclear, it was most likely an informal and supportive arrangement, rather than a legal adoption. "It is evident that Father Geoff sent money to various people, including the young adult in Bolivia described above - to assist with education and other expenses. Around the time of his death, the requests for money became increasingly regular, and this caused Father Geoff significant stress." Police inquiries following Father Geoff's death uncovered a brief case with a large amount of documentation recording overseas financial transactions to several people in Bolivia and the United States. A handwritten note with numerous transactions recorded a total of $40,350 from 2023 to 2024, the coroner said. "An email message was photographed which has been loosely translated by counsel assisting my inquiry. In very broad summary, this is an email from Father Geoff promising to pay the debt of two overseas individuals," Telford said. "As part of my inquiry, I directed the filing of Father Geoff's bank records, which showed that he was sending considerable sums of money to various people overseas. Although it is difficult to decipher exactly who the recipients of this money were, at least $40,000 was transferred overseas between March 2024 and Father Geoff's death." Father Geoff had been intending to retire to Christchurch. He had a history of mental health issues dating back to 2008 and was managing anxiety and sleep problems through medication. He saw his GP, Dr Kris Sargent, on 2 September 2024 and reported he was "stressed and suffering from increased panic and low mood". "He told Dr Sargent that he had been sending a lot of money to his people in Bolivia, including his 'adoptive son' who was 'asking for more and more money from Father Geoff, ostensibly related to educational expenses and then later regarding a car needing to be repaired'. This was causing Father Geoff significant financial and personal stress and Dr Sargent told him that this all sounded suspicious," the coroner said. "Around the end of October 2024, a member of Father Geoff's family contacted his diocesan bishop, Bishop [Michael] Gielen, with concerns that Father Geoff was 'not himself'. Bishop Gielen promptly met with Father Geoff on 31 October 2024. Father Geoff said he wanted to bring his retirement forward to January 2025. Bishop Gielen encouraged him to retire immediately - a suggestion Father Geoff strongly rejected. "Father Geoff also said he was involved in a 'complicated financial situation with a friend in Bolivia' who needed money for a car. Bishop Gielen asked Father Geoff whether he was being taken advantage of, to which Father Geoff firmly responded he was not, and that he was fully aware of whom he was giving the money to. Bishop Gielen offered to assist him with this financial stress, but Father Geoff said he would manage it himself. Father Geoff also said he wanted to retire in Christchurch as this was close to his family. Bishop Gielen confirmed there was a place available for him and arrangements were made so that he could start moving. "Father Geoff last saw Dr Sargent on 21 November 2024. Father Geoff said his financial difficulties were going to be resolved, and he was expecting a return of a substantial sum of money when the car in Bolivia was sold. They both felt his anxiety would improve when his financial situation resolved. Father Geoff also reported that he was lonely in Akaroa and was looking forward to moving to Christchurch." He attended a clergy retreat on 24 November and appeared agitated. Bishop Gielen and several other priests enquired about his well-being, but Father Geoff did not want to talk. On 27 November, he left the retreat abruptly, telling another priest he was "overwhelmed and had forgotten his medication". "He also said that his bank had called him during the retreat, and he needed to go and sort out an issue before going home." While leaving the car park, he collided with a parked car and the building. Later that evening he had difficulty making payment at a supermarket. "Sometime after 6pm Father Geoff's neighbour brought him dinner to his house," Telford said. "He asked her to help him pay an online bill as it was not working for him. His neighbour reported that it appeared he had been locked out of his bank account. He told his neighbour that his bank thought he was being scammed and they had frozen his accounts. He showed her a long handwritten list recording payments he had made to people in Bolivia. He explained why he thought these requests for money were legitimate and he said it was largely to do with a car. He said he could not access any money out of his accounts. "At about 6.30pm, Father Geoff returned to the supermarket, and he used a staff member's phone to contact his bank. It appears he was able to pay for his items with his card." The following day, he went to his usual hairdresser for a hair cut. "His hairdresser said it was unusual for Father Geoff to walk in without an appointment. She added that he did not appear himself and seemed anxious. "He asked her to cut his hair shorter than normal, so he looked tidy. She asked about his health as he had told her at his previous appointment that he was not well. Father Geoff said that his mental health was not good, but he did not go into any more detail. When paying, Father Geoff was shaking to the extent that she had to help him hold his bank card." The following day he was found dead after taking his own life sometime on 28 or 29 November. If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
RNZ News
12-05-2025
- Climate
- RNZ News
Local State of Emergency on Banks Peninsula lifts
The community of Little River was hard hit by flooding. Photo: Christchurch City Council The local State of Emergency on Banks Peninsula has been lifted after no further significant land movement was detected. It was put in place after heavy rain caused widespread flooding and slips. Mayor Phil Mauger said monitoring equipment on Lighthouse Road provided several days of detailed information to inform the decision. "With that information, we're now in a position to make a decision on the evacuation zone, begin work on the slip remediation options and lift the State of Emergency," he said. "The team has been working closely with property owners and businesses in Akaroa and will continue to do so." Cracks in Lighthouse Road, Akaroa which led to some houses being evacuated due to landslip fears. Photo: Christchurch City Council The ground in Banks Peninsula was still saturated, the mayor said, and Christchurch City Council will monitor the area. "A designation has been made under the Building Act on the area, so we can react if needed. "Christchurch and Banks Peninsula are now both in a recovery period and the focus will be on repairing damaged infrastructure around the district."
RNZ News
08-05-2025
- Climate
- RNZ News
Banks Peninsula residents fear further flooding and slips with more rain forecasted
Cracks in Lighthouse Road, Akaroa which led to some houses being evacuated due to landslip fears. Photo: Christchurch City Council A Banks Peninsula woman whose daughter has been evacuated from her Akaroa home because of a slip says it has been a stressful week worrying about whether it will get worse. The Christchurch City Council was reviewing whether to lift or extend the state of emergency for the peninsula on Thursday, a week after heavy rain caused widespread flooding and slips. Staff were monitoring a slip on Lighthouse Road, with four homes in the area evacuated as a precaution. Shireen Helps said her daughter could not go home. "It's very, very stressful, and especially something like that that's sort of hanging over your head and you don't know whether [the slip] is going to come down or not... it's all pretty dreadful really," she said. Helps' daughter did not wish to speak publicly, but praised civil defence and the council and said her family was being updated twice daily about the situation. Council controller Anne Columbus said crews were keeping an eye on the slip with more rain forecast on Friday. "We know from last week that it was moving when we had the rain present and we're expecting around 20 to 25 millimetres so we're just wanting to make sure people and their properties are in a safe space," she said. "We actually had 29 slips in total across Christchurch district from last week's weather event, the vast majority of those were in Banks Peninsula too and our grounds and soil here are really saturated so there's the potential for additional rain creating more slips, but our focus is definitely around Lighthouse Road. "We've got four families out of their properties at the moment, but we've also got people who are running their businesses from the back of Lighthouse Road towards the coast so there's quite a few people that are impacted." Helps said the slip was in a similar spot to a historical slip in 1993 that caused major disruption. She was living in the Lighthouse Road house at the time and had to evacuate. "We were out of that house for six months and the road was closed for a whole year," she said. "This new slide is just up above the old one, it's not as big... the house still has the clay bunds that EQC put around it from last time so it's well protected and it's a bit off to the side out of the path of this one so it should be quite safe there really." Helps said her penguin tour business Pōhatu Penguins had been forced to temporarily close because of the significant storm damage to Lighthouse Road, the only road up to the Flea Bay colony. "Thank goodness it's not at a busy time of the year but still it's having quite an impact on us because of course we have got bookings which we've got to refund," she said. Little River was swamped by floodwaters last week. Photo: Christchurch City Council Homes and businesses in Little River were swamped by floodwaters after more than 200mm of rain fell on the peninsula, however no homes were red or yellow-stickered in the region. Farmland was submerged and some properties in Akaroa were inundated with sewage. Mayor Phil Mauger declared a state of emergency for both Christchurch and Banks Peninsula last Thursday, with the city recording its fourth wettest day on record, although it was lifted in Christchurch on Sunday. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
07-05-2025
- Climate
- RNZ News
Banks Peninsula's state of emergency continues due to incoming wet weather
Cracks in Lighthouse Road, Akaroa which led to some houses being evacuated due to landslip fears. Photo: Christchurch City Council A decision to lift or extend the state of emergency for Banks Peninsula has been delayed because of wet weather forecast later in the week. The region has been in a state of emergency for almost a week after being drenched by heavy rain that caused widespread flooding and slips in Canterbury and closed State Highway 75 for days. No homes were red or yellow-stickered in Christchurch, or on Banks Peninsula, but four homes were evacuated as a precaution in Akaroa because of a slip on Lighthouse Road. Christchurch City Council controller Anne Colombus said the decision had been delayed until Thursday because staff wanted to better understand rain forecast for Friday. She said a change in the weather could trigger further land instability. "Lighthouse Road remains an active slip site, which we are monitoring closely for any movement in the land. No changes have been recorded since yesterday, but wet weather could easily change this," she said. "Until we have a better understanding of what's happening with the land, it is currently not safe for people to use this road or people live closely nearby. "We are working closely with affected property owners and businesses and are also looking at alternative access options for properties affected by the closure of Lighthouse Road. "There have been a number of slips of varying sizes that our contractors have been tiding up and further wet weather could exacerbate this." Mayor Phil Mauger declared a state of emergency for both Christchurch and Banks Peninsula last Thursday, with the city recording its fourth wettest day on record, although it was lifted in Christchurch on Sunday. Neighbouring Selwyn District Council also declared a state of emergency last Thursday, which was lifted the following day. About 50 properties were affected by flooding, with seven homes yellow-stickered, mostly in Doyleston, Leeston and Southbridge. Homes and businesses in Little River were swamped by floodwaters after more than 200mm of rain fell on the peninsula. Farmland was submerged and some properties in Akaroa were inundated with sewage . The community of Little River was hard hit by flooding. Photo: Christchurch City Council Mauger marked the council 10-out-of-10 for its handling of last week's storm although he conceded people in Little River would not give glowing reviews of the response. Little River residents were critical of the council, saying if Lake Forsyth had been opened to the the sea earlier the flooding could have been mitigated. The lake was opened on Friday night, when locals said water drained from the settlement as if a plug had been pulled from a bath. The council said it would review the decision not to open Lake Forsyth sooner. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Waitangi Day: Thousands gather in NZ with Māori rights in focus
Thousands of people have attended events in Waitangi in northern New Zealand, to celebrate the country's national day. Waitangi Day marks the first signing of New Zealand's founding document: The Treaty of Waitangi or Te Tiriti o Waitangi in Māori. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon bucked tradition by choosing not to be in Waitangi for the celebrations, instead attending an event in the South Island. This year's commemorations come at a time of increased tensions, as the government pursues policies considered by some to be anti-Māori - including a bill which would reinterpret the 184-year treaty. On Wednesday, the eve of the holiday, hundreds of Māori protesters staged a silent demonstration by turning their backs on government ministers, signalling their dissatisfaction with the handling of Indigenous issues. Act party leader David Seymour - who is the architect of the controversial bill in question, known as the Treaty Principles Bill - also had his microphone taken away twice at the event. "We are sick of talking to ears that will not listen, and to minds that will not change," Eru Kapa-Kingi - from the Toitū te Tiriti movement, which led the largest ever protest over Māori rights in 2024 - said. Luxon announced in December that he would not be at Waitangi - choosing instead to celebrate the day in the South Island with its largest tribe - or iwi in Māori - Ngāi Tahu. Iwi are groups of people who are joined by their shared ancestry and connection to nature. Ngāi Tahu has roughly 74,000 members, according to New Zealand's last census. "Today is a day to reflect on where we have come from and look forward to where we are going together as a nation," Luxon said in a video message from Akaroa. "The treaty is central to our history and it is also critical to our future. When Māori. communities succeed, all of New Zealand benefits. We'll continue to deal with our differences respectfully and move forward together," he added. Luxon is not the first prime minister to miss the commemorations at Waitangi but his decision not to attend during a time of increased tensions between Māori and his government has drawn mixed reactions. Ngāi Tahu said it welcomed the prime minister's decision to celebrate with them and that it was a time to "reflect on our shared strengthen the relationships between tangata whenua [Māori] and the Crown, for the benefit of all our communities in New Zealand". His political opponents have accused him of cowardice as his government pursues policies that many Māori consider offensive. "When the prime minister doesn't even want to show up to Waitangi he's showing us he's not the person for the job - he doesn't want to govern for the people of this nation," said Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. The Treaty of Waitangi was signed between many, but not all, Māori tribes and the British Crown at Waitangi on 6 February 1840 - giving both parties certain rights and privileges. For Māori, this includes retaining chieftainship over their lands and resources, but differences between the Māori and English versions of the treaty have left it open to interpretation. Nevertheless, the promise to protect indigenous land rights was repeatedly broken and the economic and cultural impacts of this, coupled with racial discrimination, has led to an inequality that is still being addressed today. It is in this context that the anniversary of the signing of the treaty has come an important day for discussions about the state of relations between Māori and the state. This year's anniversary comes amid ongoing scrutiny of the Treaty Principles Bill. The minister who has been championing proposal - Act Party leader David Seymour - has attended, despite being asked not to by his hapū (sub-tribe). Proponents of the bill say it will promote equality among New Zealanders, but those against it say it is divisive and will further disadvantage Māori. Concern about the bill is so high that a national forum representing several iwi (Māori tribes) recently wrote a letter to King Charles - New Zealand's head of state - asking for his help. "We seek your intervention to ensure that the government does not diminish the Crown's honour," the open letter reads. "Please remind them to respect their responsibility to act as an honourable partner on your behalf." While it is unlikely the bill will pass - with Luxon and his majority National Party vowing to not back it at its second reading later this year - some of those who have participated in the public hearings about it say its very existence is an insult. They include former justice minister Kiritapu Allan, who described the proposed legislation as an "abomination". "This is a bill that is about scrubbing us [Māori] from history," she said. Others have supported it. Economist Ananish Chaudhuri said the conversation about enshrining the Treaty principles in law was needed "if New Zealand is to remain a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural nation". He also spoke out against a situation in which different cultures in New Zealand are treated differently, saying his birth nation of India was a "cautionary tale". Other steps the government has taken that have caused anger include the dissolution the Māori Health Authority - which was set up under the last Labour government to try and create greater health equality - and the removal of Māori names from government departments. New Zealand eases visa rules for 'digital nomads' to boost tourism Crashed NZ navy ship was left on autopilot, inquiry finds Painting of Māori elder fetches record price in NZ auction
