Kiwis worried about arrest over student loan debt crackdowns
A former IRD prosecutor is calling for changes to the student loan system so that Kiwis living overseas aren't put off coming home because they're worried about being arrested at the border. In April, interest rates for overseas borrowers was lifted from 3.9% to 4.9% and the late payment interest rate for all borrowers to 8.9%. Tax barrister Dave Ananth says this is putting people off returning to New Zealand at a time we should be encouraging skilled people to come home. Bella Craig reports.
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1News
an hour ago
- 1News
Chinese consulate asks NZ film festival to can Philippine doco
Chinese officials have asked that a Filipino documentary be removed from future screenings at the New Zealand Doc Edge Festival, saying doing so would be in the interest of Chinese-New Zealand relations. The documentary, Food Delivery: Fresh from the West Philippine Sea, had its world premiere on June 30 at The Capitol Cinema in Auckland — after being withdrawn from screenings in its home country. The film was scheduled to premiere at the Puregold CinePalo Film Festival in Manila was pulled from the line-up days before it aired over what the film creators described as "external factors" earlier this year. It was then selected by New Zealand's Doc Edge Festival — the first to be able to do so. But, this week, festival organisers were asked to do as the Filipino counterparts had and cut the doco from its schedule. In correspondence seen by 1News, the Chinese Consulate requested the festival refrain from all future screenings — if it wanted to act in the "interest of public and China-New Zealand relations". The correspondence pointed out that New Zealand Prime Minister's Christopher Luxon's recent visit to China had been "fruitful". ADVERTISEMENT Festival organisers said the written request followed several calls to ticketing staff and board members, requesting that the screenings be pulled. "The documentary... is rife with disinformation and false propaganda, serving as a political tool for Philippines to pursue illegitimate claims in the South China Sea. Its screening would severely mislead the public and send the wrong message internationally," the email from the Chinese Consulate read. "This documentary disregarded history and facts, and is designed to amplify the Philippines' wrong position on the issue concerning the South China Sea and deliberately distort and hype up the maritime situation." Doc Edge general manager Rachael Penman said they've refused the request and willingly stand by all their filmmakers. "We are a voice for independent filmmakers," she said. "We programmed a film that we felt was really important to be seen and brings up a conversation with so many people. I hope that everyone does go and see this now, and has their own opportunity to make their own decisions about this film." 1News has reached out to both the Chinese Embassy and the Chinese Consulate via email and phone with questions around its specific concerns with the film and why it was appropriate to exert political pressure in such a way. While it didn't address those specific questions, the Chinese Embassy said as a "matter of principle we hope that publicly promoted content would reflect realities rather than spreading mis or dis-information". ADVERTISEMENT It also called for disputes to be peacefully resolved and expressed its desire for "countries outside the region to play a constructive role in this regard instead of doing the opposite". The Philippine Embassy declined to comment other than to say "it is aware" of the situation. Directed by Filipino filmmaker Baby Ruth Villarama, the tells the stories of local fishermen, the national Coast Guard, and the Navy as they work in the South China Sea – with a particular focus on the area around the Scarborough Shoal. Contained within the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone, China's had de-facto control of it since 2012 and has refused to accept an international ruling that said its claim over almost the entirety of the South China Sea has no legal basis. University of Otago senior lecturer in politics Nicholas Khoo said there is "absolutely no ambiguity" and the Scarborough Shoal is "Filipino territory". "The challenge is that China doesn't respect the Filipino position, nor does it respect the international legal issue that is at stake here." He said the situation "underlines the importance of New Zealand standing up for the international legal order" and for it to continue to "reassert our interest in freedom of navigation", adding that "there should not be an aggressive use of force to attempt to solve issues". ADVERTISEMENT Khoo said the film clearly contradicts China's narrative and that will be why officials are working to prevent its screening. New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded on behalf of government officials and said it fully supports freedom of expression. In relation to the territorial disputes, it said New Zealand does not take a position on individual claims in the South China Sea, but did want disputes resolved peacefully via diplomacy and in accordance with international law, in particular the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. In China the film has also been heavily criticised. Commentators with its state-run network described it as revealing a "pattern of selective storytelling that serves broader political interests" and a "propaganda piece" that "dodges the gritty geopolitics of the region and the realities of the territorial issues and maritime disputes". Villarama told 1News today she had deliberately chosen to shine the lens on the people rather than the politics. "Because we really want to celebrate us as people, without politicising the issue. We want to diplomatically reach out and share our personal stories, because the more personal we go, the more authentic we can be with others." She said she held no animosity towards China, and invited those opposed to her documentary to go and watch "so they can know the truth about our people". ADVERTISEMENT "We don't have any agenda. There is no 'Western influence'."
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Hamilton sentencing: Michael Mead jailed for violent, painful sexual violation of woman
By Belinda Feek, Open Justice multimedia journalist of Michael Mead persisted in inflicting "intense pain" on the victim on multiple occasions. Photo: Supplied/123RF Warning: This story contains details about sexual offending that may upset some readers. A woman who was subjected to several violent and painful sexual assaults, including some with a wooden baton, says it caused her to suffer ongoing medical issues. Despite the woman's protests and pleas not to do it, Michael Mead persisted in inflicting "intense pain" on the victim on multiple occasions. Mead, 64, appeared for sentencing in the Hamilton District Court on Monday on two representative charges of sexual violation by unlawful connection during consensual sex. Crown solicitor Lexie Glaser pointed out to Judge Arthur Tompkins it wasn't the first time Mead had sexually assaulted a woman: he was jailed in the High Court at Wellington in 2009 for inserting a metal whisk into a woman's bottom. He then went on to reoffend and was recently found guilty by a Hamilton jury of two more charges, relating to his violating her with his fist and a wooden baton, which he kept stored under his bed. Judge Tompkins said the victim had pleaded, "No, please do not do it" to Mead, but he ignored her. The assaults caused "intense pain and bleeding", which caused her to seek medical attention. She spoke in court of the "significant and ongoing traumatic" effect the offending had on her. It had affected her ability to sleep, trust others, and work. Glaser urged the judge to hand down a minimum non-parole period of 50 percent. Michael Mead was sentenced in the Hamilton District Court. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly Mead had 42 previous convictions, including for indecent assault, blackmail and assaulting a female, but most seriously, the 2009 unlawful sexual connection. In that incident, which NZME wrote about at the time, Mead had spiked his victim's drinks at a party and committed the sex attack while she was in a drugged state. She woke up feeling pain in her bottom, and as if something was stuck there. She asked Mead, who lived in Whanganui at the time, to remove it, but he initially said "no". When he finally did, the item was revealed as a metal whisk with sharp bristles which had become caught. A few days later, he returned to her house, ripped her clothes off, and forced her to walk around the backyard naked. He then sent her emails containing digitally altered photographs taken from pornographic films, and said that if she complained to police he would send the images to her family and friends, saying they were taken at the party. Judge Tompkins labelled that offending as "particularly concerning". Mead's lawyer, Richard Barnsdale, urged the judge not to impose a minimum period of imprisonment (MPI), instead arguing in favour of letting the Parole Board decide when he would be set free. "For Mr Mead to convince the Parole Board to be safe to be released, he will need to do a lot of work and see a lot of people, and make a lot of alterations to his life," Barnsdale said. "[Mead] says that he hasn't had any counselling yet and that is the only way that he can be made safe to be released into the community." He urged the judge to take a starting point of around 10 years. When reminded about this previous conviction, Barnsdale said his client had "a major personal and psychological problem in this area and it would have to be treated while he is serving his sentence". "That is a factor more likely to concern the Parole Board," he told the judge. He asked that Mead be released from prison "while he is still not too old and can form another life in a safe way". Judge Tompkins noted how the recent offending had changed the victim's life "significantly". After taking a starting point of 11 years, Judge Tompkins found there were no mitigating circumstances, particularly because Mead had taken the case to trial. As for the MPI, Judge Tompkins noted Mead's previous jail term "didn't have the kind of protective effect which the community is entitled to expect". Because he had reoffended, the judge deemed an MPI appropriate, since he'd had "ample" opportunity to do any rehabilitative work. "Mr Mead is at a very high risk of committing harm [in the future]," the judge said, as he confirmed Mead will serve an MPI of 50 percent. Sexual harm Family Violence If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111. * This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald .
Techday NZ
6 hours ago
- Techday NZ
Milford enhances research with Bloomberg RMS Enterprise adoption
Milford, the New Zealand-based specialist investment firm, has adopted Bloomberg's enterprise-level Research Management Solutions (RMS Enterprise) to improve research production and workflows. The move expands Milford's utilisation of Bloomberg's suite of buy-side solutions, aimed at streamlining processes across the entire investment cycle. With RMS Enterprise in place, Milford intends to enhance automation in its research operations, facilitate efficient sharing of insights among teams, and simplify sustainable investment research efforts. Through RMS Enterprise, Milford will combine market data with internal information across various asset classes, increasing transparency and efficiency within its investment process. The solution enables the research team to generate content using both structured and unstructured data, while also supporting research analytics and the deployment of scoring models. Milford already utilises Bloomberg's PORT Enterprise for portfolio and risk analytics, which offers advanced risk and return attribution models. By integrating RMS Enterprise and PORT Enterprise, Milford can automate the creation of analyst model portfolios—improving oversight by analysts and enhancing the evaluation of research ideas. Integrated workflows The adoption of RMS Enterprise will benefit Milford's broader investment team by integrating with other Bloomberg Terminal workflows. Team members will be able to access and discover relevant research content more easily using Bloomberg's search and analytical tools. RMS Enterprise also features a comprehensive administration suite that supports collaboration across the organisation and can be configured to integrate with proprietary in-house systems where required. "We are pleased to adopt Bloomberg's Research Management Solutions to enhance our research capabilities. The smooth and easy integration with both the Bloomberg Terminal and our existing technology solutions enables us to streamline our processes and efficiently share and manage research across teams." Wayne Gentle, Chief Investment Officer and Executive Director at Milford, provided this comment regarding the adoption of Bloomberg's RMS Enterprise. Vendor perspective "As the macro-economic environment remains unpredictable and drives further market volatility, today's leading buy-side firms rely on the efficient use of first-class research to generate alpha. We are delighted to provide Research Management Solutions to Milford to streamline and enhance their investment cycle and workflows so they can continue to deliver actionable insights to their end investors." Ben Pool, Sales Manager for New Zealand and Australia at Bloomberg, outlined the value the firm sees in supplying research solutions to Milford under current economic conditions. Research capabilities Bloomberg's research offerings aim to transform investment research and analysis processes for clients by providing access to consistent, high-quality data and analytics, both from Bloomberg and other content partners. Its solutions can be implemented across individual desktops or enterprise-wide to help optimise research production and facilitate distribution of insights within organisations and to counterparties. PORT Enterprise, Bloomberg's premium offering currently used by Milford, is employed by more than 750 clients. It provides sophisticated portfolio risk and return attribution capabilities, including enhanced customisation and batch reporting. Clients also have access to Bloomberg's Multi-Asset Class (MAC3) fundamental risk factor models, which feature advanced risk forecasting tools such as Tracking Error volatility, Value-at-Risk (VAR), and scenario analysis. Both RMS Enterprise and PORT Enterprise are components of Bloomberg's integrated buy-side solutions, which are designed to offer technological support throughout the front-to-back investment lifecycle. Milford manages over NZD $27 billion in funds across New Zealand and Australia and serves over 150,000 direct investors and financial advisers across the two countries. The company has historically emphasised active fund management, employee ownership, and investing alongside its clients.
