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Otago Daily Times
14-07-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Illegal Queenstown boarding house tenants told to hide from inspectors
By Bill Hickman of RNZ A man who lived in an illegal boarding house in Queenstown says landlord James Truong instructed tenants to hide from MBIE inspectors as attention on the property grew. The man - who did not want his identity revealed - says he and another person were charged $440 a week to share a small room in a converted shed out the back of the house. Migrant tenants 'easy prey' for landlords The Ministry of Business and Innovation (MBIE) said Truong had been ordered to pay $113,723.56 for multiple breaches of the Residential Tenancies Act as well as refund 40 percent of the rent paid by tenants of an unlawful boarding house. Truong was also issued with a 3-year restraining order from committing any further unlawful acts related to operating a boarding house. The ministry's tenancy compliance and investigations had advised Truong to stop using the building as a boarding house in 2020, but a complaint in 2023 revealed 11 people living in the five-bedroom house and another 11 people housed in two converted garages and a shed. The tenant said he shared a room in the shed behind the house between April and July 2023. "It's like storage but he converted it as bedrooms. There was a microwave, a sofa and two small rooms. So me and my friend is living in that one bedroom and then one Sri Lankan guy is living in the other bedroom. "The shed doesn't have any bathrooms so we need to go inside the house to use the bathroom. Even the laundry is in there so we have to walk from the back of the house to the inside of the house," he said. Landlord told tenants to hide from inspection teams He said - as MBIE began investigating the house - Truong sent texts instructing him to leave the property or stay inside the shed when inspection teams were near. RNZ has seen texts from Truong instructing tenants to remove food from fridges, dismantle beds and put their clothes in plastic bags ahead of inspections. "He is messaging us to hide in the shed. He had cameras so he can see if it's MBIE. So he is messaging me saying 'ok don't go out from your room just stay there until I say so'. It's like we were doing something wrong," he said. He said five Indonesian people living in the garage were kicked out with only a night's notice once Truong learned the house was under investigation. Tenant didn't know he was being exploited Being new to country, the man said he was not sure whether the living situation was normal. "I don't know the kind of rules and it's really hard to find an accommodation so I thought like 'maybe that's how it works here'. So we don't know that we are getting exploited," he said. He said Truong would "pursue" the tenants with texts and sudden visits and - as attention of the house grew - he attempted to pressure tenants to sign letters indicating they agreed to live in the spaces willingly. The tenant said MBIE had tried to contact him but he did not respond because he was scared of losing his accommodation. Penalty reflects the seriousness of offending - MBIE National manager for MBIE's Tenancy Compliance and Investigations Team, Brett Wilson, said the penalty was not the largest order issued by the Tenancy Tribunal but the amount was reflective of the number of tenants involved and the seriousness of the issues uncovered. Wilson said the amount of rent to be refunded to the tenants was still being determined and appealed to any people who had lived at the property under Truong to get in touch. "MBIE expects all parties to comply with Tenancy Tribunal orders. Mr Truong has engaged with us so far and we will be working with him to arrange payment. In these cases our priority is to ensure that tenants receive the money they are entitled to and we will take all appropriate steps to make sure that happens," Wilson said. He defended the nearly three years between Truong being told not to use the property as a boarding house in 2020 and the investigation following complaints in 2023. "We do try and follow up cases as frequently as we can but with 600,000 estimated rental properties in the country we aren't always able to follow up cases as promptly as we would like to," Wilson said. Inaction reinforces 'cowboy culture' in rental market Renters United president Zac Thomas said the time between Truong being told not to run the property as a boarding house in 2020 and the eventual penalty - nearly five years later - reinforced a "cowboy culture" of non-compliance with housing standards. "When you do the math behind what this landlord must have made from 22 people over the space of nearly five years. We're looking at around $450 a week in fines. They would have made much more than that from the rents that were being paid by the tenants. It's absolutely crazy," Thomas said. He said until the housing crisis in places like Queenstown was addressed, tenants would continue to be taken advantage of by unscrupulous landlords. "We're seeing more and more cases like this because of the reintroduction of no cause evictions. Tenants are too afraid to speak up - at least they did so in this case over time - but throughout the country, time and time again - we see tenants too scared to stand up for their basic rights," Thomas said. Thomas said the Tenancy Tribunal was not properly resourced to address the scale of the problem in New Zealand. "This should've never taken five years to get to this stage. It's disastrous for our international reputation - in the heart of our tourist capital. "This person should never be able to be a landlord again. [The penalty] is a slap on the wrist compared to the consequences that there should be. "Until we have proper punishments for landlords we'll continue to see this cowboy culture where people push up against the law - go past the line - because they don't believe the punishments are greater than the money they can make from these situations," Thomas said. RNZ has been unable to contact Truong for comment.
RNZ News
08-07-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Uber in Supreme Court over drivers employment rights
employment policy 21 minutes ago Multi-million dollar rideshare company Uber took it's fight over drivers employment rights to the Supreme court today. The Court is deciding whether it's drivers should be considered employees. This could give the drivers benefits such as leave entitlements, minimum wage and holiday pay. Bill Hickman reports.
RNZ News
14-06-2025
- RNZ News
Wellington Bird Rehabilitation Trust founder Craig Shepherd keeps security licence despite assault convictions
By Jeremy Wilkinson, Open Justice reporter of Craig Shepherd Photo: Bill Hickman / RNZ A bird rehabilitation centre founder and security company owner will be allowed to keep his security licence, despite being convicted of assault charges against women. In 2023, Craig Shepherd pleaded guilty to four charges of assault in relation to three women, two of them employees of the Wellington Bird Rehabilitation Trust, as well as a third woman, who had dropped off an injured bird. In 2019, he touched one employee on the lower back and patted her on the bottom, after saying: "I've been watching you, you have been a naughty girl." Shepherd placed his hands around the waist of a second employee that same year and kissed the back of her neck, and on another occasion, patted her on the backside with a piece of cardboard and followed her, repeatedly hitting her with it. Then, in 2021, a member of the public came to the trust's premises at Shepherd's house, with an injured bird and a donation. Shepherd reached out as if he wanted a hug, before rubbing the $20 note she'd given him across her chest and then kissed her firmly on the lips. The woman gathered her belongings and ran towards the door. Shepherd was originally charged with indecent assault and pleaded not guilty, but he pleaded guilty in the Wellington District Court to the charges, after they were downgraded to male assaults female. Shepherd was denied permanent name suppression and a discharge without conviction, and ordered to pay each of his three victims $1500. He unsuccessfully appealed that ruling to both the High Court and the Court of Appeal. The bird trust that Shepherd runs in Wellington is supported financially by his business Harbour City Security, which offers services such as alarm and camera installation, and monitoring for residential homes and commercial businesses. Security businesses and the people who run them are required to hold a Certificate of Authority, which licenses them to undertake different forms of security work. After Shepherd's conviction, the police and the New Zealand Security Association (NZSA) made complaints about him, and his suitability to hold one of these certificates. Despite the Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority finding there were grounds for disqualification, Shepherd will be allowed to keep his certificate, as long as he receives no further complaints. One of his former employees and victims believes it is "appalling" that Shepherd is still allowed to run his business. "I don't think he should be allowed to run any business, let alone a security business," she told NZME . "It's really concerning that he's allowed to keep practising." At a hearing this year, Shepherd told the authority he no longer hugged visitors without obtaining permission first, despite - in the past - treating everyone as guests, which he conceded led to the complaints against him. Shepherd also said he was physically standoffish with people he didn't know and now "views most women now as a potential complainant". As part of his submissions, Craig said he'd been in business for 50 years and these were his first complaints. He provided 23 references, 16 of which were from women, in support of his character. Shepherd's primary submission was that he had learned from his mistakes and worked hard to make sure nothing similar occurred again. He told NZME that he had a "wary eye on anybody coming in here now", when asked about his submissions that he viewed women as potential complainants, but declined to comment further on this point. Shepherd said he was pleased to be given an opportunity to carry on the career he'd been in for 50 years. At the same hearing, police said Shepherd was no longer suitable to be a security provider, noting that his offending had a sexual overtone and occurred in an environment where he held the balance of power. New Zealand Security Association chief executive Gary Morrison said in submissions to the authority that the public should be able to trust security providers and that several other security professionals were concerned that Shepherd continued to operate his business, despite his convictions. He told NZME he was disappointed with the outcome, but understood how the authority had reached its decision. "It's important that the public can have trust and faith in security providers," he said. "We had a number of security providers who were aware of the issues and raised their concerns, and were concerned it was impacting public confidence." Authority member Kate Lash said that, while Shepherd continued to deny there was any sexual element to his offending, he pleaded guilty to a summary of facts to the contrary. "Convictions relating to actions by an older male against a younger female, the former of whom is in a position of disproportionate power, are extremely serious," Lash said. "That is particularly so, when the male holds other positions of authority, such as being a security provider and sole director of a reputable security company." Lash said Shepherd clearly regretted his actions and had tried to make amends for them, had changed his outlook on life and appeared to be at low risk of re-offending. Lash said she did not find it in the public interest to cancel Shepherd's security licence and approved his application to waive his disqualification. Despite this, Lash found that the defendant still lacked insight into his offending. "His assertion that the victims did not demonstrate discomfort with his behaviour suggests a limited understanding of the complex considerations a woman may face, when deciding how to respond in such circumstances," she said. "Furthermore, his belief that it is easy for a woman to lodge a complaint in such situations reflects a misunderstanding of the social and personal barriers that often make reporting difficult." Shepherd was reprimanded, and given a "final warning" in that he would likely have his certificate cancelled or suspended, if he received any more complaints of a similar nature. * This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald.
RNZ News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Councils in Lower North Island against downgraded expressway plans
Two district councils in the Lower North Island are banding together against down graded plans for an expressway through their districts. More than a decade since it was originally proposed - a revised design for the Otaki to North of Levin expressway has seen on-ramps and overbridges removed and interchanges replaced by roundabouts. Council and community advocates from the Kapiti and Horowhenua districts say the sudden change has left locals confused and appalled. Bill Hickman has more. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
Otago Daily Times
17-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Opponents livid as seabed mine project clears fast-track hurdle
By Bill Hickman of RNZ A company's plan to mine 50 million tonnes of South Taranaki seabed every year has cleared the first hurdle in the Fast-track process. Trans-Tasman Resources (TTR) executive chair Alan Eggers said he was "delighted" the company's application for its Taranaki VTM project had been accepted as complete and would now move on to the next stage of the process. Opponents, meanwhile, are "livid" and have vowed to continue their fight against the project. TTR wants to mine 50 million tonnes of seabed a year for 30 years in the South Taranaki Bight. Eggers said the company had identified a world-class vanadium resource that could contribute $1 billion annually to the economy. "It'll generate export revenues of around $850 million a year which will make it New Zealand's 11th or 12th largest exporter. "Within the region it'll generate about 1150 jobs. We would spend about $230m annually and it'll generate $190m in government royalties and taxes per annum," Eggers said. Eggers denied the approval process was a "short cut" to avoid environmental compliance. "We still have to comply with the embedded safeguards for the environment in the EEZ Act [Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf Act 2012]. The Fast Track Act includes us having to comply with all the conditions and management plans that were approved under the EEZ Act." He said the project planned to magnetically extract and export 5 million tonnes of heavy mineral sands containing iron ore and the critical minerals vanadium and titanium each year. "Our research and marine reports have been independently peer reviewed by international experts in their areas in terms of marine ecologies and plume effects," Eggers said. Opponents warns of harm to wildlife, environment Greenpeace seabed mining campaigner Juressa Lee said dumping the remaining 45 million tonnes of sand back in to ocean each year would threaten marine life such as the pygmy blue whale, Māui and Hector's dolphins and the world smallest species of penguin, kororā - which migrated through the area. "Investors in TTR's project are trying to pull the wool over the public's eyes, telling us to 'trust the science'. But TTR has never been able to alleviate the courts' concerns for harmful impacts on wildlife and the environment." The head of Kiwi's Against Seabed Mining is "livid" at the approval. Cindy Baxter says there is "massive opposition" to the project, and seabed mining in general. "A couple of weeks ago we saw 500 hundred people paddle out in Ōpunake against seabed mining. You've got many of the councils who are against it, you've got all the iwi, you've got surfers, you've got people who love their ocean, even the fishing industry is against it." People were angry at being "shut out" of the approval process, she said. "We're not allowed to make submissions - and it's the public opposition that has stopped this process so far - so that's why Christopher Luxon's government has shut us out of the process." If the project was successfully approved, it would create a precedent for seabed mining on coastlines all across the country, Baxter believed. "When we first started opposing this in 2012 there were companies all waiting in the wings for this first application to get across the line and, if it does, it'll be open slather on our coastlines." Activists would continue to oppose the project. "We will continue to make our voices heard and we're going to fight this all the way - as far as we can - through the courts. If we need to get into boats and go out into the ocean to stop them we'll do that as well," Baxter said.
