Latest news with #Koberstein
Otago Daily Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
New leader takes the helm at Zonta Club
Chris Brown. PHOTO: ODT FILES In the Zonta spirit of empowering girls and women worldwide, the annual changeover of the Zonta Club of Oamaru president and committee members took place at the Brydone Hotel recently. The changeover allows all members to experience different roles within the club including leadership, advocacy, publicity and fundraising. The dinner celebration also included guest speaker, former deputy mayor and mayoral candidate for the Waitaki District Mel Tavendale. New president Chris Brown was inducted. Outgoing president Rebecca Koberstein said the North Otago club had all the hallmarks of the Zonta spirit, with its focus on belonging, community and their passion for giving a voice to those who cannot speak. "Zonta prides itself on working together to build a better world for both women and girls, and we can be proud that is what we have achieved," she said. Mrs Koberstein thanked the "hardworking" members for their tireless efforts on targeted district projects including Grandparents Raising Grandchildren and Project Uplift, where women's bras are sent in the thousands to benefit women in the Pacific Islands and throughout New Zealand. She said the "hard work" on service projects was admirable, but their fellowship set them apart. "An important quality that makes us special, it is how we care and support each other," she said. "Zonta" is derived from a Native American word meaning "honest and trustworthy". A new initiative The Zonta Empowerment Grant for Women was introduced this year to acknowledge the global campaign International Day of the Girl on October 11. Three chosen recipients will be announced in October. The club also awards the Gillies Family Scholarship annually to support educational opportunities for women, and hosted fundraisers including a successful quiz night and fashion parade last year, Mrs Koberstein said. Fundraising committee member Denise McMillan said this month the club would host a luncheon at Ele and Grant Ludemann's home to raise funds for the Ovarian Cancer Foundation on June 29. Mrs McMillan said the event with award-winning chef Pablo Tuccini, and Uruguayan chef Federico Scattoni, was a "fun way" to celebrate Argentinian food and raise money for a good cause.
NZ Herald
23-05-2025
- NZ Herald
Mangakino farmer must report to jail after losing animal cruelty appeal
Koberstein appealed his prison sentence in the Court of Appeal in Wellington in March and Justices Rebecca Ellis, Rachel Dunningham and Layne Harvey released their decision dismissing the appeal yesterday. Koberstein's lawyer, Philip Morgan, KC, appealed on the grounds the prison sentence was excessive given Koberstein was also banned from farming. He asked that a home detention sentence be imposed instead. Koberstein has been on bail pending the outcome of the appeal. A jury found Koberstein guilty of 11 charges in March last year. The charges were laid by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) after a complaint and subsequent search of his farm in July 2019. He was found to have wilfully ill-treated 33 sheep that had to be destroyed, and failed to ensure proper and sufficient food for 834 pregnant sheep, 86 cattle and 32 heifers. Other charges related to sheep stuck on their backs with their eyes pecked out by hawks, one with a neck too deformed to eat properly, and another with an injured foot seen walking on its knuckle. Judge Snell said at sentencing that the offending was serious as it involved hundreds of animals in very poor to extensively poor body condition, suffering over a lengthy time. Despite numerous warnings and previous convictions for similar offending, Koberstein 'buried his head in the sand'. Judge Snell said Koberstein was 'unrepentant'. At appeal, Morgan said Judge Snell should have reduced the sentence by 12 months, not four months, for the lifetime farming ban. Morgan said disqualifying Koberstein from farming effectively meant his life's work was lost. He also argued Judge Snell's prison starting point was too high, given Koberstein's age and the fact he did not mean to starve the animals. Crown prosecutor Anna McConachy said Judge Snell's sentence was appropriate and should be upheld. She said the 17% discount was generous, given the circumstances. She highlighted Koberstein's lengthy history of MPI interventions before the 2019 offending. She said this history showed Koberstein was farming animals with poor body conditions in 2013, 2016 and 2018. The appeal decision said the justices agreed with McConachy that the overall approach to sentencing was generous and the end sentence was not manifestly excessive. 'An uplift for the previous involvement of MPI and Mr Koberstein's previous convictions could easily have been warranted. Mr Koberstein's conduct did, on more than one occasion, cause the extended and acute suffering of many animals, leading to their death.' They said in the decision that Parliament had provided for terms of imprisonment for this type of offending in the Animal Welfare Act and had encouraged courts to treat such offending as criminal.
