Category Archives: New Zealand

Melbourne United have claimed a fifth consecutive victory in the NBL, downing the New Zealand Breakers 89-78 behind a milestone night from sharpshooter Chris Goulding.

Playing in an empty MyState Bank Arena in Hobart on Friday night, United (7-4) drowned out three quarters of noise by the Breakers (1-7) to pull away in the final 10 minutes behind Goulding, who finished with 25 points.

The Boomers star notched a milestone 5000 career points in the NBL before going to another gear in the fourth quarter to carry his side to victory.

Early on in the contest it was all Jo Lual-Acuil who's interior presence and energy on the glass got the better of Breakers big man Yannick Wetzell, with the United centre notching 22 points and 12 rebounds of his own - his first ever 20 and 10 NBL game.

Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman said the duo of Goulding (50 per cent from beyond the arc) and Lual-Acuil were outstanding on a night where the Breakers' defensive pressure kept the contest close.

"He's (Goulding) a dual championship winner, he's our captain, there's not many more accolades you can put on him," he said.

"He likes to see perfection and if he doesn't, he's willing to hold people accountable to the way that we go about things, me included.

"I thought Jo's attack on the rim, and seal inside the paint were so effective tonight and then again being an anchor for us at the defensive end and challenging things at the rim."

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United were given numerous second-chance opportunities throughout with their domination on the boards, doubling their opposition 50 to 25, with 14 of those on the offensive end.

Jeremiah Martin led the way for the Breakers off the bench with 20 points off 8/13 shooting as their strategy to force their opposition into the paint paid dividends for three quarters.

Returning point guard Peyton Siva said their grit was something to be proud of but they need to win these tight contests.

"Overall, I thought we came out played and hard at the beginning - the mistake that we made was giving up too many offensive rebounds," he told reporters.

"Each game we have to draw some positives: today we did a good job of sharing the ball, we kept the turnovers down but at the end we still lost.

"We've got the short turn around, Sydney coming up. So we have got to focus in on that."

See more here:

NBL Chris Goulding hits milestone in Melbourne United win over New Zealand Breakers - ESPN

New Zealand's imported carbon levels rose, accounting for the production processes of goods and services arriving from overseas,figures released by Statistics NZ late last month showed.

This time it wasn't the usual suspects, livestock or transport, boosting our carbon footprint.

"In the year ended December 2019, greenhouse gas emissions embodied in our imported goods and services increased 3.2 percent from the previous year, to 30,728 kilotonnes and accounted for 51 percent of our carbon footprint", the report noted.

New Zealand's total carbon footprint for the year was 60,527 kilotonnes, an increase of 1.8% on the previous year.

The level of imported carbon is calculated by measuring the emissions spent in the creation of goods and services in their country of origin, before they are imported to New Zealand.

Because the goods or services are consumed here, our carbon figures take the hit.

The graph below shows the type of emissions embodied in imported manufactured goods, the level of which rose overall -up 5.6% on 2018.

Consumption-based emission statistics present a broader picture of how international trade, producers, and consumers influence our carbon footprint.

"They illustrate how a nations consumption and lifestyle choices impact on emissions, said Stephen Oakley, environmental-economic accounts manager at Statistics NZ.

Our total carbon footprint was made up of household consumption on 71% (42,888 kilotonnes),followed bygross capital formation (capital investment and inventories), 20% and government (central and local) consumption, 8%.

Household demand accounted for the lion's share of imported emissions during 2019 and was up 1.6 percent on the previous year.

To break household emissions down further: transport use made up 37%, food and non-alcoholic beverages was 24% and housing and household utilities (electricity) contributed 13%.

Over the last five years household consumption-based emissions have hovered around 42,000 to 43,000 kilotonnes. Increases in population and expenditure per capita have offset decreases in the emissions intensity of household consumption, said Oakley.

On the export side, unsurprisingly, the majority of our emissions were from agricultural products, which have inherently high embodied methane and nitrous oxide.

In 2019, New Zealand exported 80% of the methane produced here.

New Zealand is a net exporter of embodied emissions as its consumption-based emissions are significantly less than its production-based emissions. This means that as a nation we export more emissions than we import, said Oakley.

Read more:

Imports account for half of New Zealand's carbon footprint - Interest.co.nz

Anyone who follows Behrouz Boochani on Twitter knows hes not fond of Australian politicians. Especially their habit of detaining asylum seekers in inhospitable places such as Manus Island, where the now 38-year-old spent six years incarcerated by the Australian government.

A former investigative journalist in his Iranian homeland, Boochani was persecuted for his support for Kurdish rights, fleeing for Australia in 2013 where he was detained at the Papua New Guinea detention facility, which was later found to be illegal.

He came to Christchurch in 2019 and was granted refugee status in 2020. Boochani continues to fight for asylum seekers, marginalised people and indigenous rights across the globe.

He sat down with Sharon Stephenson to talk about his work and appearing at the upcoming Womad Festival.

READ MORE:* Womad promises international vibe even without overseas acts* Celebrated author Behrouz Boochani named one of two writers in residence at University of Canterbury* Iranian writer Behrouz Boochani granted refugee status in NZ* Asylum seeker Behrouz Boochani interview: They cannot take the sky away

Where were you born? Im the second oldest of five children, born in Kurdistan in the west of Iran. My family were sheep and goat farmers.

What did you want to do with your life? My heart was set on becoming a footballer! I follow Barcelona and Ronaldinho was my favourite player I wanted to win a world cup.

Instead you became a journalist and political activist. I was kind of forced to do that because Kurds were being marginalised by the system and we were losing our culture. I was 18 when I started to resist. I was writing in secret because I feared for my safety.

Why did you leave Iran? In 2012 I was working for a cultural magazine when some of my colleagues were arrested. I flew to Indonesia in May 2013 and thought Id be processed by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. But it didnt happen and it wasnt safe for me to live in Indonesia so I got on a boat to sail to Australia.

Joseph Johnson/Stuff

A former investigative journalist in his Iranian homeland, Boochani was persecuted for his support for Kurdish rights.

Was it a perilous journey? The first boat broke down after 40 hours at sea. I was arrested in Indonesia but managed to escape from prison and got on another boat. There were 65 of us and it took a week to get to Australia. We were arrested as soon as we arrived and sent to Manus Island.

There followed six years of what you say was inhumane treatment. I saw friends being shot and stabbed by guards, while others died of medical neglect and suicide. The mental torture of being deprived of hope was also immense.

It prompted you to tell the world about it. I started writing articles for The Guardian Australia and the Sydney Morning Herald on a smuggled phone, sending texts that were translated. I wanted the world to know about how both the detainees and the indigenous people were being treated.

Id guess that didnt go down well with authorities? I had my phone confiscated twice and had to smuggle in other phones. But I knew I had to keep writing.

Was that writing eventually turned into a documentary? I secretly filmed footage of life in the detention centre on my phone for six months, sending it to an Iranian colleague in the Netherlands who turned it into Chauka, Please Tell Us the Time.

One critic called it an essential film for all Australians and it was screened at film festivals around the world, including London, Berlin and Gothenburg.

After that came your memoir No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison. I wrote around 100,000 words for it, tapped out in texts. It was a lot of text messages.

You were invited to speak about your work at Word Christchurch in 2019. How did that change your life? I sought asylum status when I arrived in New Zealand and was eventually granted refugee status in July 2020.

JOSEPH JOHNSON/STUFF

Kurdish Iranian refugee and journalist Behrouz Boochani has been awarded refugee status by the New Zealand government.

What have you done since arriving here? I spent a year at the Ngi Tahu Research Centre working on two projects. One of those is a play about the disproportionate number of indigenous Australians in custody and life inside Australias immigration detention centres. It's called Jurrungu Ngan-ga and is in collaboration with Australias leading indigenous intercultural dance company. Its having its world premiere at the Sydney Festival at the end of January.

Are you still writing? Another project Ive been involved with is guest editing an Australian journal called Southerly. The issue was devoted to the work of refugees and those whove been incarcerated in detention centres.

Im also working on a fiction book but Im so busy I never seem to have time to write it. I hope to have it finished at the end of 2022.

Youre also in demand as a global speaker, right? I speak all over the world via Zoom, especially to universities, about the issue of marginalisation of indigenous cultures and refugees. Last week I spoke to a university in Sweden.

What do you do when youre not working? People in Canterbury would have seen me cycling around the city. I like cycling through Hagley Park. I also play football sometimes.

Is New Zealand home now? Although most of my work is based in Australia, physically I am based in Christchurch. Im happy here and have made friends all over the country. I feel a real connection to New Zealand and am learning a lot about indigenous resistance and the process of decolonisation here.

What will you be speaking about at Womad? About the history of colonisation that still exists in Australia. Their government banishes people to islands and takes indigenous land to house these people. Were both treated badly, so if we can get together, we can resist the system.

Behrouz Boochani is one of the speakers at Womad, 18-20 March. Visit womad.co.nz for info.

Read the original here:

'I feel a real connection to New Zealand' Behrouz Boochani on life and work in Aotearoa - Stuff.co.nz

During a late-night tour of Montevideo, a Uruguay rugby player offered the services of a hitman to kill a leading Counties rugby player. Photo / AP

Former All Black physiotherapist Malcolm Hood shares some remarkable stories from his long career with Neil Reid

Form slumps hit all elite New Zealand rugby players but you would never expect that to result in an offer to provide a hitman to make the player permanently "go away".

But that's just what happened during Counties' second tour of South America in the mid-1980s, when a flippant comment from team physio Malcolm Hood resulted in a local rugby player with connections to the underworld saying Lindsay Raki could be shot and killed for just US$110.

The offer was made as Hood and team captain Alan Dawson one of the best New Zealand players never to play for the All Blacks were taken on a late-night drive through Uruguay's capital city of Montevideo by local two players who were in the team to face Counties the following day.

"I was in the back seat and partway around the player next to me lent over to me and whispered, 'Malcolm, who do you want killed?'," Hood who was the All Blacks' first physio told the Herald.

"I said, 'What?'. I thought there might be a translation issue but his English was quite good. He repeated himself and I said, 'Well who can I have killed?'. He said, 'Anyone in Uruguay, anyone'."

Hood responded with what he thought was a joke, nominating Raki; a New Zealand Sevens star who played more than 100 games for Counties.

"I said, 'Oh well, our first-five hasn't been training as well as I would want, kill him'," he said.

But it was no joke for the Uruguay player, who told Hood the hit would cost US$110 ($163); including US$73 for the actual act and a charge of US$60 to source the murder weapon.

"That was when I realised he was serious and I told him 'No, no, I don't want Lindsay Raki killed, I will just get him to do some more sit-ups'," Hood said.

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"But he said, 'No it is all right, I will have him killed'."

The Counties and Uruguay side had met on the eve of their match in Montevideo. Defying normal rugby conventions, the local selection was so excited to be hosting its first New Zealand provincial team that they held the "after match" function the night before they clashed on the field.

Fear over what might happen to Raki saw Hood stick close to him for the duration of the team's stay in Uruguay.

"And I was glad when we all got out safely," he laughed.

Hood kept the shocking offer a secret until just "the last couple of years", finally revealing it to a shocked Raki.

"He was in a group with his mates, a lot of ex-Counties players, and when I told him the story he said, 'What, Hoodie!!'. The other guys said, 'Hoodie, that's the only mistake you have ever made in your life . . . you should have let the guy have his way'."

Forty years on, Hood can now laugh about the comment that could have seen him responsible for the ordering of Raki's death.

The physio also turned life-saver during one of Counties' tours of South America.

The side was flying between destinations in Argentina when a "panicking voice" talking Spanish made an announcement over the plane's intercom system.

Hood was battling a stomach bug and said despite a clear "kerfuffle up the front" of the plane his priority was to keep his face "buried" in a paper bag.

A minute later and the message was repeated in English, asking for anyone with a medical background onboard to head to the front of the plane due to an "emergency".

"Thought a big plane this size, there will be somebody medical onboard, and that I wasn't much used to anyone being this unwell," Hood said. "But shortly after one of the female cabin crew tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to please come urgently to the front of the plane."

Hood was then told that the captain of the plane the head of the aircrew had collapsed. After examining the gravely ill pilot, Hood realised how serious the situation was.

"I didn't know whether he was having some sort of stroke or brain issue, but I knew it was life-threatening," he said.

"I said, 'We need to get him oxygen, we need to elevate his feet and how low can we fly the plane?'. They told me that flying low was no problem, the plane came down and it appeared out the portholes at just above pampas grass level . . . we were flying low."

Emergency services were waiting on a nearby tarmac for the plane when it landed.

On his next flight, Aerolineas Argentinas crew told him that the pilot was recovering, and then let Hood sit in the cockpit as a sign of appreciation.

It was not the only flight drama Hood and the Counties team experienced during their two tours of South America in the 1980s.

The side were on the first flight set to land at the nearest airport to one of Argentina's tourism hotspots - Iguacu Falls since the runway had been lengthened to handle international flights.

Seats on the historic flight were booked as a "treat" for the Counties team. But Hood recalled it was anything but a smooth landing.

"When we came to land, we took up all the runway and kept on going. The plane didn't stop at the end of the runway and kept going and we ran through the run-off at the end of the runway. When we finally stopped, the nose of the plane was over the fence into the neighbouring farm.

"While it was now classed an international airport, maybe it wasn't best suited to the size of the plane that we were in," Hood joked.

Rugby boss: 'I was a cannibal out of necessity'

Hood enjoyed plenty of post-match banter with the opposition during his time in top-flight rugby.

But one occasion in particular, in Chile, stands out when a suited and "beautifully spoken" senior rugby official told him that he "was a cannibal".

Counties travelled to Chile to play a local selection during their second South American tour in the mid-1980s.

Hood spent a lot of time speaking to the local rugby side's president during the after-match function.

"He and I got on really well, he was a really nice fellow," Hood said. "He had a depth of character about him that I really liked.

"We talked for ages and he brought up the fact that he was a cannibal. And then the story evolved that he was a cannibal out of necessity."

The rugby official then revealed to Hood that he was one of just 16 of the 45 passengers and crew onboard Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 also known as "Miracle Flight 571" - which crashed in the Andes in October 1972.

Nineteen of the passengers were members of Uruguay's Old Christians rugby club.

The official search for the crash site and any survivors was called off eight days after the plane went down. Two months later 16 people were eventually rescued, after two members of the rugby team hiked for 10 days into Chile to find help.

Once the small food supply salvaged from the plane wreck had been used up, survivors turned to eating the flesh of those who died in the crash.

"If they hadn't eaten their companions they wouldn't have survived," Hood said.

"It is bad enough to think you are a cannibal for most of us, but with a deeply Catholic religion, they had to go against all their faith because you just don't do that sort of thing.

"Several years later the Catholic church absolved them. But they had to live with that conscience for some time.

"I knew the story, but it was quite something to meet someone who had been there. I just marvelled in the survival story. He was such a humble, decent person."

The staggering story of survival has been chronicled in several books, as well as the Hollywood blockbuster movie Alive.

Go here to see the original:

'Who do you want killed?': $161 offer to have former New Zealand Sevens star shot - New Zealand Herald

They were two good young batsmen knocking around the little New Zealand town of Masterton in the late 90s and back then no one was sure which was better. The first was Ross Taylor, the other was Jesse Ryder, five months younger, who lived in Carterton, 10 miles down the road. Ryder would open the batting and Taylor played in the middle order, No 4 or 5.

They stayed that way as they rose through the age grades, for Central Districts, the national academy and under-19 teams, right on up into the Test team, where, in 2009, they set a record on sharing a 271-run partnership against India in Napier. Ryder went on to make 201, Taylor 151.

Taylor has just finished his 112th and last Test; an innings victory over Bangladesh in Christchurch. Maybe youve seen the clips online, the honour guard as he came in to bat, the standing ovation as he walked off after being caught at square-leg for 28. Or the finish. Late on the third day, with Bangladesh nine wickets down in the second innings and still a hundred and plenty runs away from making New Zealand bat again, the crowd began to call out to the captain, Tom Latham, to bring Taylor on to bowl. Taylor hadnt done that in a Test match in eight years, but he grinned and turned his arm over a couple of times in a mock warm-up.

Then fate intervened. The umpires decided New Zealand needed to bring a spinner on because the light was fading. I guess that left one decision, Latham said. He gave the ball to Taylor. Ebadot Hossain was batting, and, by his own standards, he was in nick After a run of 10 consecutive noughts, Hossain had just hit the first four of his Test career, off Kyle Jamieson, which made this his highest score for Bangladesh. He blocked Taylors first ball, patted back his second, then had an almighty heave at his third, which he hit high into the leg-side. Latham took the catch.

So Taylors last act in Test cricket was the match-winning wicket. It couldnt be scripted any better, Latham said. It wasnt the perfect finish. Taylor had passed that up six months earlier, when he hit the winning runs in New Zealands victory over India in the inaugural World Test Championship. But it was a good one, and fitting, because it ended with him grinning and being mobbed by his teammates. Thats better than most players get.

Take Ryder. He played his last Test in December 2011. His numbers speak to his talent, 18 Tests, 1,269 runs at an average just under 41, and three centuries. He played his last international match three years later, an ODI victory against India in January 2014. That month he struck a century off 46 balls against West Indies. They called him up to the Test squad off the back of it, but dropped him again after he stayed out late drinking one evening.

New Zealand still wanted him in their World Cup team in 2015, until he pulled out of an A tour to the UAE for personal reasons. Ryder had all the talent, just as much as Taylor ever did, but he never could find a way around his problems.

Ryder was still playing first-class cricket for Central Districts in 2018. Then they cut him. After that he was working as a player-coach for Napier Technical Old Boys and led them to back-to-back national club titles, but the last time he was in the papers it was because he had been caught drunk-driving in March 2020.

Taylor and Ryder set on similar paths. Taylor is half-Samoan. The reason he has gone by Ross all these years is because his first headmaster couldnt get his tongue around his first name, Luteru. I guess there werent too many Polynesian kids in Masterton in those days, he said. After a while they gave up and said: Just call him Ross.

Ryder is half-Mori. Both played their way up in the world after being talent spotted on the junior circuit, Taylors talents earned him a spot at Palmerston North Boys High School, and Ryder was sent to Napier Boys High School. But they ended up walking very different journeys.

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They say Taylor had the advantage of a stable family around him and Ryder didnt. Taylor had a strength, certainly, that helped him through the hard moments he faced along the way. He stepped away from international cricket in 2013 after he was sacked from the captaincy in late-2012 by Mike Hesson, in a row that split New Zealand cricket right down the middle. Taylor was averaging 50 at the time and had just hit 142 and 74 to win a Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo. Hesson always insisted he had meant to replace Taylor only as captain of the white-ball side, but in the end, Brendon McCullum took over in all three formats. Taylor came back and ended up having his best year in Test cricket as a batsman to that point.

If that decision was a turning point for the national team, who made two World Cup finals as well as winning that World Test Championship, in the years afterwards, it was partly because of the way Taylor was able to readjust.

After that he came through injuries, eye surgery and a slump in form to finish as New Zealands all-time leading run-scorer. He earned his happy ending.

Link:

Ross Taylors magical Test farewell rewarded strength in tough moments - The Guardian

Father of two Jim Donnelly, who went missing after a weekend of personal stress and turmoil in June 2004. Photo / Supplied

More than 450 people are listed as missing in New Zealand every year - and while most are found within hours or days, some have simply vanished.

Their families beg, plead, appeal for information.

"Someone must know something," they usually tell reporters, the details of their story differing but their desperation for answers sadly not unique.

Tracey Donnelly finds herself talking to reporters every few years. She's used to the calls now, used to the questions and running through the answers.

But what she will never get used to is not having her husband Jim by her side, and not knowing - or even being close to knowing - what happened to him.

Jim Donnelly was a scientist working at the Glenbrook steel mill, southwest of Auckland.

On June 21, 2004, Jim left the home he shared with Tracey and their children Liam and Siobhan and went to work.

He parked his car, walked into the mill, went into his office and then - nothing.

Jim hasn't been seen since.

At least, not by his family or anyone outside the mill.

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His wife spoke about his disappearance for Herald podcast A Moment In Crime. She firmly believes there are people who not only know what happened to Jim that day - but are responsible for it too.

"We were a normal, everyday family - two parents working to pay the mortgage and childcare," she said.

"We had two children we were raising, they were going to school and we were just going about our lives in a normal way.

"I don't know what it was that destroyed that.

"My opinion is that it does revolve around the mill, something was happening inside the mill and I think he saw something he shouldn't have - and it's gone from there.

"If you had told me at the beginning I would think that, I would have told myself that I was incredibly silly, that this could not possibly happen to Jim.

"But as time has gone on, we have got no answer and it's more and more clear that he has been removed by other people rather than himself.

"Because if he had committed suicide, there would have been a body - so, my thing is my husband went to work, he was last seen at work and he's never come home."

In the weeks before Jim disappeared things were strained at home.

Something was troubling the 43-year-old but he wouldn't - or possibly couldn't - tell his wife what it was.

He was stressed, anxious and not himself at all.

"He was very preoccupied with something," Tracey recalled.

"There wasn't a normal atmosphere in our home there was something on his mind. And I really don't know what it was.

"From what I can see now, he thought he was handling it and sorting it out. But I think that it was bigger than he imagined."

The weekend before Jim vanished was strange, to say the least.

He told Tracey he had to go to a meeting, went and hired a suit to wear and explained he might be "a little fragile" when he came back. But he wouldn't disclose any more.

"That really concerned me a lot," said Tracey.

"I came back to him about five or 10 minutes later, after thinking about that, and said to him, do you mean fragile physically or mentally?

"He said physically and I thought, what have you got yourself into?, and I really didn't know what to do."

Jim went to the meeting and when he returned less than two hours later he was fine. Not a scratch.

Tracey was relieved but still worried and in the dark about her husband's stressors.

Over the next day he paced, he was preoccupied.

He took his son to the driving range to hit some golf balls and when he came back he was very agitated, telling Tracey he had to "go and avert a crisis".

"I didn't know what to think ... the whole weekend was a bit surreal," she said.

"He eventually came home that night and he still wasn't relaxed I didn't get much further with him, I just thought, he obviously has a lot going on and he's not about to tell me, so there's not a lot I can do at this stage."

On Monday Jim got up for work as normal. He woke his wife, they chatted and he headed off.

When Tracey got to work she confided in her boss about the "weird" weekend and her frustration and worry.

She also spoke to Jim's best friend Stephen - who he'd known since age 5 - and his wife.

They planned to get the men together that night for a talk, to see if Jim would open up to his mate.

Stephen called Tracey back soon after - he'd just heard that a man had been trespassed from his workplace the day before by security.

The number plate matched Jim's car.

"That's when Stephen said, 'I don't like the sound of this, this is sounding very odd'," Tracey explained.

"He went down to the steel mill, to see if he could get hold of Jim. Then he rang me back and said, 'they're saying he's not at work'."

Stephen and his wife raced to the Donnelly home to see if Jim was there.

Nothing.

Tracey's world started to spin, she left work and went to her parents' house.

Steven returned to the mill and asked the staff to look for Jim again.

"Eventually they located his car in the car park but it wasn't in the normal space, he'd parked it somewhere else.

"That's why they'd initially thought he'd left and wasn't on site.

"At that stage, they started looking for him and then they asked me to go down to the police station and report him missing, just to set things in motion."

Talking about Jim is hard for Tracey, even after all this time.

He was a private man and she dreads to think how he would react knowing their personal story is now so public.

But she will never sit back, never rest until there is an answer.

"We have to do this to try and find out what happened," she said.

"Where the hell is my husband? He went to work and where is he? What's happened to him?"

After the alarm was raised with police an extensive search kicked off.

The investigation found that Jim stopped for petrol on his way to work and bought a muffin with his fuel.

At work, he parked, signed in and went to his office, placing the muffin on his desk.

He changed into his work uniform.

And that's when the trail stops.

He was due at a shift handover meeting but never showed up.

His computer was not switched on.

"My initial thoughts were that he'd fallen over or had a breakdown, that it was just a matter of time till they found him," Tracey said.

"That was very logical, that we would just find him somewhere and he wouldn't be conscious."

The search covered the mill, its grounds, the surroundings - paddocks, beaches, waterways and bush.

Nothing.

Jim's colleagues were spoken to.

Sightings near and far from the mill were followed up.

Footprints on a beach, a man bolting across the motorway.

Nothing.

His mates went out at night to recheck areas already searched, thinking maybe he would come out for them, maybe he was afraid of the authorities for some reason.

They left food in case he was watching from somewhere, hungry.

Still nothing.

"It was like walking through mud," said Tracey.

"I was just barely functioning it's indescribable - unless you've gone through it - it's just this void that you're living in.

"It was just this waiting - waiting to find out what had happened, waiting for some news, just constant waiting."

Five days later Jim's hard hat was found beside an acid vat inside the mill.

After draining the acid bath, they found his work ID card, PalmPilot, safety glasses, credit card, cash and a single key - his work key.

The keyring with all his other keys was never found.

"I remember my stomach nearly falling out to my knees," said Tracey of the moment she heard Jim's hard hat had been found.

"That was a horrible 24 hours while they drained the acid bath."

There were no human remains in the bath and soon after the search had to come to an end - clues were like hen's teeth.

Mill management were convinced Jim had left the site.

But Tracey wasn't and still isn't convinced.

One thing that has always bothered her is an unidentified car that pulled into the mill car park the night Jim disappeared.

It pulled up near where Jim's car was parked, far from his usual space.

Police were already on the scene by that stage and when the driver spotted the uniforms, the patrol cars, they turned off their lights and drove away.

"The car was never identified, it was never seen again,' said Tracey.

"So my thoughts were that because Jim's car key had never been found, that someone was going to move the car and make it look like he'd left the site.

"But because we raised the alarm earlier than expected, that was unable to be done."

It's been 17 years since Jim was last seen and his family have had to learn how to navigate life without him.

"It's been really hard from that day the search was called off," said Tracey.

"What do you do as a family? You can't just turn around and carry on.

"I had to let the children know that Dad was missing and I had no idea where he was, or how he was, whether he was alive or dead.

"I was just trying to make sense of it. I couldn't work, I was off on sick leave, I actually couldn't deal with life at that stage, it was hard enough just getting out of bed and putting one foot in front of the other.

"The trauma that a person goes through with something like this it pretty much pulls you apart and it's very hard to put yourself back together.

"I was really not in a good space I didn't know whether I was grieving for someone that had died, waiting for someone to come back, or waiting for a body to be recovered, if he committed suicide.

Read the original:

Mystery at the mill: the strange and unsolved disappearance of scientist Jim Donnelly - New Zealand Herald

The NZ Council for Civil Liberties is worried about the creation of a surveillance society. Photo / George Heard

A Herald investigation has uncovered the true extent of security and surveillance cameras in New Zealand.

After dozens of Official Information inquiries, requests for data from private businesses and interviews with security experts, we can reveal there are an estimated 400,000 cameras.

And that number's growing, with manufacturers and retailers saying demand - especially from private households and businesses - has jumped exponentially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

So, what does this mean for community safety, crime prevention and detection, as well as privacy and civil liberties? Senior journalist Kurt Bayer reports.

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When sex worker Renee Duckmanton's burned body was found dumped on a nondescript farm road south of Christchurch, detectives quickly knew CCTV would be key.

They tracked back. There she was, on a homeowner's security camera in front of St Luke's Mews, capturing her walking east on Peterborough St to her usual pick-up spot on Manchester St, the red light strip.

Cameras show a silver Audi cruising past, doubling back, and picking her up.

The car is traced through town, stopping at red lights with her client, butcher Sainey Marong, at the wheel.

They drive on, heading west. Cameras, dozens of them, quietly, pretty much inadvertently, record them. Cameras belonging to private residences, Christchurch City Council, Waka Kotahi, shops, businesses and buses.

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The footage would only be seen again because of what Marong was about to do to her.

A detective would later tell a jury that it would take "hundreds, if not thousands" of hours of painstaking legwork to trawl through the footage.

While she phones her minder, he stops at a cash machine on Riccarton Rd to withdraw money. Snap, snap, cameras catch him again.

After killing her, he drives around, unsure what to do.

The next day, he's seen at 6.46pm driving into the forecourt of the Mobile service station in Rakaia, off State Highway One.

He fills up and goes in to pay, giving the attendant a thumbs-up before making to leave. Then he hesitates goes back, apparently pay some more money before leaving for good.

Duckmanton's burning body was found by passing motorists around 45 minutes later on nearby Main Rakaia Rd, just off SH1.

There was a blue beanie at the scene. Hours of sifting through older CCTV reveals footage of the killer wearing it a few weeks earlier.

Marong, who would argue all sorts of weird and wonderful things during his extremely unsuccessful defence, could not explain away the CCTV. It was there, mostly in black and white, but at times, in full colour.

His DNA matched evidence collected at the scene.

He was jailed for life.

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CCTV is on the rise in New Zealand.

As one security operator put it: "The only people who should worry about that is bad guys doing bad things, and who cares if they're worried?"

Herald investigations suggest an estimated 400,000 security cameras across the country.

With a population of almost 5.1 million, that's around one camera for every 12.7 people.

Globally, that's a drop in the ocean especially when compared to Chinese supercities or super-surveilled London.

The number's rising though. And it doesn't include cellphones (it's estimated there are more phones than people), dashboard cameras, laptops, webcams, etc.

"It's pretty clear that cameras are rapidly proliferating," says NZ Council for Civil Liberties chairman Thomas Beagle.

"Have you ever tried counting up how many cameras are in your house? With the rise of surveillance cameras and smartphones we now clearly have more than one camera per person in New Zealand."

Neither Police nor the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) have any idea how many cameras there are.

So how did we reach our 400,000 estimate?

New Zealand Security Association chief executive Gary Morrison believes that, based on five years of data from international manufacturers, there are around 200,000 imported surveillance cameras in New Zealand.

That figure includes cameras installed at residential, commercial and government sites, but he accepts it's "probably higher" given the large number of home systems sold by DIY giantsretailers like Bunnings and Mitre 10.

Bunnings says interest in its range of smart security cameras and accessories, which cost from $59 to $1200, has grown "significantly" in the last 12 months.

"Covid has contributed to an already heightened demand," a spokeswoman says.

We also fed in data obtained through dozens of requests under the Official Information Act and Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act.

They reveal around 10,000 cameras across New Zealand's 78 local, regional and unitary councils.

Auckland Council alone has 2035, while Christchurch City Council has 1253. Most local authorities have several hundred, spread across community centres, civic offices, galleries, libraries, recreation centres and parks.

And that doesn't take into account transport hubs, buses, trains, and ferries.

Auckland Transport says it has 3654 cameras, while Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has 1606, as well as 179 webcams across its national network. KiwiRail has another 1022 across its depots, worksites and network, with 193 on the Interislander ferries.

Government departments are also well-watched.

The Ministry for Social Development, for example, has 3521 cameras. The Ministry of Justice has 3159, Corrections uses 1800 at "non-custodial sites", Kaianga Ora another 900, and Customs 482 across five international airports and the Auckland sea cargo inspection facility.

It soon adds up, especially when you add in shops, bars, restaurants and banks.

Z petrol station reckons it has around 2000 cameras, while BP has cameras in every one of its 111 BP Connect sites and 101 BP New Zealand dealer sites.

Westpac, which calls CCTV "a strong and effective tool for keeping our customers and employees safe", has multiple cameras in every one of its 115 branches, plus cameras on most of its 459 ATMs.

Countdown has 185 stores nationwide and cameras everywhere.

McDonald's has 168 restaurants across New Zealand, with a spokesman saying a "typical" outlet would have around 20 public-facing CCTV cameras amounting to around 3360.

Not to mention KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Subway, Starbucks ...

For the Council for Civil Liberties, the worry is the creation of a surveillance society where people are videoed and tracked wherever they go.

"The presence of the cameras means that people feel the pressure to 'act normally', which is a chilling effect on their freedom to live their lives," Beagle says.

Police say Crime Prevention CCTV networks help reduce and solve crime and disorder, along with helping the public feel safe.

While police don't have many of their own cameras, they have strong partnerships, especially with local authorities, and can tap into their footage to "support the identification of suspects and gathering of evidence from CCTV footage within our community that is owned by community groups, individuals and businesses should they agree".

Beagle is also concerned about what happens to the captured footage.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner says anyone can ask for any personal information "which is about you", regardless of the format whether it's a video, photo, note, email, meeting minutes, audio recording or anything else.

The Privacy Act says if an organisation holds personal information in a way that it can be readily retrieved, it should confirm to the person asking for the information that it holds that information and give the person access to the information.

"The key thing to consider is whether the information is actually about you," the Privacy Commissioner says.

Technology is improving too. Gone are the days of the grainy black-and-white police image.

Even the cheapest off-the-shelf cameras now deliver high-definition footage.

Facial recognition camera technology is also becoming a popular, if not controversial, sphere. The practice allows the tracking of people from camera to camera - building up a history of where they go and what they do.

Held up as a useful tool for law enforcement and businesses, in catching criminals, it's also criticised as being a fundamental threat to a free and open society.

In 2019, a private operator of the King's Cross train station in London deployed facial recognition in its CCTV network without telling anybody.

After a public outcry, and a probe by the Information Commissioner's Office, the programme was scrapped.

Legislation is struggling to catch up.

Some US cities have banned the use of facial recognition technology, but in Singapore it's being woven into everyday life.

New Zealand needs to be careful in how it proceeds, Beagle warns.

"It's one thing to capture footage of people, it's another to use techniques like facial recognition to identify the people," he says.

"We find that this is an unreasonable invasion of people's privacy and the right to be anonymous in public."

When trouble started on Michelle Hohepa's street in Mangere Bridge, Auckland, she saw how much hassle and legwork was required by police officers called out for every burglary and theft.

It got the web designer thinking. Surely there was a better way.

What if she designed a website where anyone with a CCTV camera could register it and when a crime happened, police could access their footage to try to solve crimes.

Three years later and Community Cam has more than 320 individuals and businesses registered.

Police officers can log in and search for an address or suburb and see how many cameras are in the area. They can then contact the owner who may have footage of the incident they are looking into.

"They might contact them and say, 'Hey Michelle, can you check your cameras please and tell me if you saw anything at 10pm Sunday, we're looking for a blue car ... and if you saw it, here's the case number, and please upload it to the website."

It's also proving to be a helpful tool in missing persons investigations.

Hohepa has noticed a spike in the number of people with cameras.

"When I started there was only a handful of people I knew who had them and now everyone seems to have them."

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Big Brother is watching: The rise and rise of CCTV in New Zealand - New Zealand Herald

Not everyone loves the sun. For some of us, that deadly ball of gas and plasma is our worst enemy, causing unbearable heat and wreaking havoc on our skin.

If you are among those who suffer from intolerance to the sun, it may be tempting to wait out the warmer months in the safety of the air-conditioned indoors, rather than brave the traditional summer hotspots.

Or you could try a shadier destination. Niwa has just released its hotly-anticipated climate summary for 2021, which as well as crowning New Zealands sunshine capital, also reveals the places that enjoyed the fewest sunshine hours last year.

Here are New Zealands least sunny destinations for those of us who cant stand the heat.

READ MORE:* The best tiny towns of the West Coast * Bold claims: Is Whakatne really New Zealand's 'sunshine capital'?* Five of the South Island's quirkiest small towns

John Bisset/Stuff

The South Otago town of Balclutha is officially New Zealands shade capital.

The South Otago town of Balclutha boasted the fewest sunshine hours in New Zealand in 2021 just 1628, compared to the sunniest destination, New Plymouth, which experienced an oppressive 2592 sunshine hours.

Balclutha is best known as the gateway to the Catlins, but also has plenty on offer for those wanting to stick around to enjoy its shade. Take a relaxing, sweat-free stroll along the Blair Athol Walkway, an hour-and-a-half-long nature walk that takes you along the banks of the Clutha River the second-longest river in New Zealand. The river also offers great salmon and trout fishing.

Foodies can follow the Taste of Clutha trail, which showcases the best local produce around the Clutha district. And dont miss The Punt at Tuapeka Mouth, about a half-hour drive from Balclutha the historic ferry is the only one of its kind in the southern hemisphere, taking passengers and their cars (or even campervans) across the river for free.

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A cruise around the Tasman Glacial Lake with Glacier Explorers is ideal for those who prefer cooler climes.

Aotearoas highest mountain is a brilliant sun block, with just 1652 sunshine hours reported there in 2021. There are many activities you can do in the cool comfort of the mountains shadow.

The Hooker Valley track is one of the best short walks in the country, its accessible flat path taking you through spectacular alpine scenery right to the foot of the mighty maunga. Or if you really want to cool down, head to Tasman Glacier, New Zealands longest glacier you can even cruise around the lake in a boat and see the icebergs, on a Glacier Explorers tour. Its the closest thing youll get to Antarctica in Aotearoa.

Another of the area's top attractions allows you to avoid the sun altogether. Aoraki is part of an international dark sky reserve, offering some of the best stargazing in the world. You can take a tour of the night sky with Big Sky Stargazing at the Hermitage Hotel.

John Hawkins/Stuff

Enjoy a beach day from the comfort of your car at reti Beach.

No worries if you forget your sunglasses when visiting Invercargill our southernmost city experienced just 1704 hours of sunshine in 2021, making it the perfect city break for shade seekers.

Queens Park is the best place to make the most of the comfortable temperatures. Located in the heart of the city, highlights of the 80-hectare park include all kinds of gardens, an aviary and animal reserve, a popular playground and waterpark, and an 18-hole golf course.

Even if you normally loathe the beach, youll enjoy a trip to reti Beach, just a few minutes from the city centre. Its main point of difference is that its one of the few beaches in New Zealand you can drive on, so you can still enjoy a beach experience while avoiding the unpleasant aspects (namely, the sun and sand).

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Despite the lack of sunshine, theres nothing dim about Reefton.

The West Coast town of Reefton only had 1751 sunshine hours in 2021, but its known for light of a different kind it was the first town in New Zealand to get electricity, back in 1888.

There are several interesting walks you can do around the historic town, including the Bottled Lightning Powerhouse Walk, which takes you to the powerhouse site where New Zealands first public supply of electricity was generated.

If you think gin and tonics should be reserved for sunny evenings, think again. At Reefton Distilling Co, they know how to make the most of the areas weather, using the abundance of fresh rainwater and native botanicals to make gin, as well as whisky, vodka and other liqueurs. You can visit their cellar door or take a tour of the distillery.

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Forget the sun amid the dramatic landscapes of Middlemarch, youll feel like youre on the moon.

Want to avoid the suns harsh rays on your road trip? An hours drive inland from Dunedin youll find yourself in the township of Middlemarch, which recorded 1756 sunshine hours in 2021.

Many people will come here to start or finish the Otago Central Rail Trail, but if the thought of cycling in the sweltering Central Otago heat doesnt appeal, there are other cycle trips you can do without leaving the area, like the Middlemarch Explorer cycle loop. You can also make your way to New Zealands only inland salt water lake, the striking Sutton Salt Lake.

More adventurous visitors can also hike up to the Rock and Pillar Range, which featured in The Hobbit. With its other-worldly rock tors and eerie cloud formations, youll feel like youre on the moon.

Warwick Smith/Stuff

Palmerston North might be the North Islands least sunny spot, but it still boasts some beautiful gardens.

If youre looking to escape the sun in the North Island, your best bet is Palmerston North, which had a refreshing total of 1827 sunshine hours in 2021.

The Victoria Esplanade Gardens are a highlight in not-so-balmy-Palmy, boasting 26 hectares of bush walks, bike tracks and gardens, plus a playground, paddling pool and even a miniature railway to keep the kids entertained. You can also enjoy a leisurely walk or cycle along the Manawat River Pathway.

Palmerston North isnt just cool when it comes to temperature its also getting serious cred as a street art hub, with murals and colourful graffiti adorning the citys walls. Grab a map and take yourself on a walking tour to see them, or head down Berrymans Lane to see Melbourne-like masterpieces.

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New Zealand's least sunny destinations for those who hate the heat - Stuff.co.nz

The Ivan Ward Centre at Selwyn Village in Point Chevalier, Auckland. Photo / Google Maps

By RNZ

A ward at one of Auckland's largest rest homes has been closed after a caregiver tested positive for Covid-19.

The families of residents at the Ivan Ward Centre at Selwyn Village in Point Chevalier have been sent an email telling them that the caregiver is asymptomatic.

It is not known which strain of Covid-19 they have contracted.

The rest home said the ward would be closed to visitors for at least 14 days, and residents and other staff were being tested.

So far, no one else has returned a positive test.

The Ministry of Health has listed a number of new locations of interest in Auckland this morning and is asking people to monitor themselves for Covid-19 symptoms, get tested and stay at home if symptoms develop.

Gateway Wholesale Meats in Takanini on 11 January from 3.42pm-4pm Morrin Road Bakehouse St Johns on 10 January from 7.10am-7.30am and also on 14 January from 6.30am-7am New World Metro in Queen Street on 14 January 12.21pm-12.30pm and also on 13 January from 12.11pm-12.30pm Shosha Takanini on 10 January from 6.03pm-7.15pm

- RNZ

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Caregiver at large Auckland rest home tests positive for Covid, ward closed - New Zealand Herald

Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono and Katherine Winitana wowed the audience with O Soave Fanciulla from La Boheme. Photo / John Wansbrough

NZ Opera School Afternoon RecitalPrince Edward AuditoriumReviewed by Lin Ferguson

The first public event of the 2022 New Zealand Opera School was a triumph and a huge relief for all.

You could practically hear the great sigh of satisfaction ripple through the audience as the performers arrived on stage with broad grins ready, to put it crudely, sing their socks off.

And sing they did with a passion and excitement excitement to be on stage again after months shutdown through the Covid lockdown, particularly in Auckland.

What a treat it was.

The four singers, Katherine Winitana (soprano), Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono (tenor), Hannah Ashford-Beck (soprano), Sam Downes (baritone), and accompanist Ben Kubiak, are the Dame Malvina Major Foundation NZ Opera Studio Artists.

As Kubiak said, it felt like dusting off the cobwebs.

"We are so grateful the opera school has gone ahead ... these days you can take nothing for granted so moments like these are very special," he said.

In the true spirit of musical entertainment, these singers performed a bracket of well-known songs from musicals including West Side Story, remembering with love the superb composer Stephen Sondheim who died recently.

Downes sang an emotional Some Enchanted Evening and before leaving the stage told the audience he would be reprising the song at his wedding in three weeks.

Winitana was glorious with her rendition of Summertime and Ashford-Beck inspired giggling throughout the audience with her song of the oyster ... it was fun and she was very funny.

Bringing the house down for all the ardent opera lovers was the ever spectacular duet from the close of the first act of Verdi's La Boheme O Soave Fanciulla sung by Katherine Winitana and Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono.

This audience all but swooned as these two sang this glorious well-known duet with all the nuances of love and great passion.

And Kubiak's accompaniment was a veritable orchestra.

A delighted and much-soothed audience left Prince Edward Auditorium at Whanganui Collegiate School on Wednesday knowing once again the NZ Opera School had returned and was in great shape.

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Review: Whanganui audience delighted by New Zealand Opera School afternoon recital - New Zealand Herald