Latest news with #BrookeVanVelden
RNZ News
08-07-2025
- Climate
- RNZ News
New Zealand to send firefighters to help with wildfires in Manitoba, Canada
Canada's wildfires, which have already forced evacuations of more than 26,000 people, continued their stubborn spread. Photo: AFP New Zealand is sending a small specialist team of firefighters to Canada to help with severe wildfires ripping through its Manitoba province. The fires have prompted thousands of evacuations this season, with more than 20,000 people forced from their homes. At the request of Canada's Forest Fire Centre, a seven-person crew from Fire and Emergency New Zealand will fly to Canada on Wednesday. The team will help manage fire crews on the ground and oversee safety and logistics. Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden said a larger firefighting task force was also likely to be sent later this week. "The scale of these fires is hard to imagine, with just one of the fires having burnt 300,000 hectares. That is almost two Stewart Islands," she said. "I want to thank these firefighters who are offering their support to our Canadian counterparts at this time. Their efforts will make a real difference to the communities in Canada." New Zealand has sent more than 300 personnel to North American wildfires since the establishment of Fire and Emergency New Zealand in 2017. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
07-07-2025
- Automotive
- Scoop
How Effective Has The Road Cone Hotline Been?
More than 650 reports have been made to the road cone hotline within its first month, but how effective has it been on the streets of Auckland? It is lunchtime in central Auckland, and the Wellesley Street Upgrade project is well underway. One day it will be a connection to the City Rail Link - but right now there is construction noise and a bright orange line of road cones. "We work around here, so it's been like this forever. Just used to it now, but looking forward for them to go away," a woman who was heading out for lunch told First Up. Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke Van Velden announced significant shifts to rebalance WorkSafe's focus last month, kicking off with a road cone hotline. On the streets of Auckland, attitudes towards the hotline - which is actually an online form - were mixed. Some welcomed it. "I've been tempted (to report)," said one person. "I think there are way too many of them (road cones), I think they are overused." Some opposed it. "There's an excessive focus on road cones. They are a sign of progress, I love progress so I have no problem with excessive road cones." Some were not sure whether that was the solution to their problems. "Auckland has a lot of road works, but I don't know if I would call a hotline." Since launching in June, the hotline received nearly 400 valid reports in week one, 126 in week two, 71 in week three and 70 in week four. Road controlling authorities say The digital hotline collects complaints and sends reports to road controlling authorities. Among all road controlling authorities, Auckland Transport received the most complaints, with nearly 200 reported. Auckland Transport group manager for road corridor access Tracey Berkahn said she was not surprised. "I think that's fairly expected because we're the largest city, we've got the most people and we've also got quite a lot of development going on. So there are a lot of work sites." Berkahn said investigating all of the complaints had created quite a bit of extra work for her team of six, but it had led to improvements. "We had one particular case in Albany where it was in a business area where there was a piece of electrical maintenance work being done. We had diggers and generators and tools on site. But when we went out, we realised that the site probably had about 30 too many cones. The work site was larger than the plan what's submitted to us for approval, and we talked to the site supervisor and they removed about 30 cones to make that site smaller, to be less disruptive on the businesses and the motorists in the area." Berkahn said on an average day, there were 2000 active sites in Auckland. Among the 200 sites investigated from the hotline reports, 30-40 percent of them had either too many or too few cones. "Quite often when we go out (to investigate), we find where the customer thinks there are too many cones, it might be that there's been a lane created for pedestrians. And if you're driving past in a car, all you can see are orange cones. But if you're walking down that lane as a pedestrian, you're much safer because you're kept away from the machinery on the work site and the cars on the road are kept away from you." Berkahn said Auckland Transport had an existing cone reporting system, but the hotline generated greater public awareness. "The one thing that I would like listeners to understand is that it's been really positive having this relationship with WorkSafe and being able to contact customers about their queries and explain sometimes why those sites are necessary and how they're providing safety." Wellington City Council received 57 complaints in the first week but after a month that had dropped to just 8. The council declined to be interviewed but in a statement said they believed complaints had fallen because the novelty of the hotline is wearing off, and that no cones has been removed due to a hotline report. Meanwhile, Christchurch City Council has received 40 complaints. In a statement, transport operations manager Stephen Wright sid while they found most of the sites were compliant, any issue that needed to be addressed by the contractor were discussed from an education approach in the first instance, but it was up to the contractor to decide whether the cones were needed or not. NZTA, who received the 140 complaints, did not respond to First Up's request for comment. Word on the streets Back on the streets, Temporary Traffic Management workers were split on whether the road cones themselves - and the hotline - worked. "I think there's too many of them and it's a great idea there is an 0800 number," a worker with four years' experience in site management told First Up. "I think that (the hotline) is an overkill. There isn't a problem unless it's blocking a car park or it's limiting businesses to customers. Now I think the problem is people like myself are kind of bending those rules - more cones have been putting out than what's needed and some don't pick up their gear after they've finished their site. But then the other flip side to that coin is gear getting stolen, so therefore what was safe before was not safe anymore because there weren't enough cones. "If it weren't for people like me, people would be driving into trenches and driving into holes," a TTM manager with more than 10 years of experience told First Up. RNZ asked another worker how he would feel if I took half of the cones away from his site. It was a definite "no" from him. He said sometimes when pedestrians saw a gap between the cones they would try to cross the road, and the closely lined up cones kept pedestrians safe and made sure they followed the rules. WorkSafe said the road cone hotline will be reviewed at the end of the year.
RNZ News
06-07-2025
- Automotive
- RNZ News
How effective has the road cone hotline been?
The road come hotline received nearly 400 valid reports in week one, 126 in week two, 71 in week three and 70 in week four. Photo: Ke-Xin Li More than 650 reports have been made to the road cone hotline within its first month, but how effective has it been on the streets of Auckland? It is lunchtime in central Auckland, and the Wellesley Street Upgrade project is well underway. One day it will be a connection to the City Rail Link - but right now there is construction noise and a bright orange line of road cones. "We work around here, so it's been like this forever. Just used to it now, but looking forward for them to go away," a woman who was heading out for lunch told First Up. Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke Van Velden announced significant shifts to rebalance WorkSafe's focus last month, kicking off with a road cone hotline. Tracey Berkahn says a small proportion of the worksites saw too many or unnecessary road cones. Photo: Auckland Transport On the streets of Auckland, attitudes towards the hotline - which is actually an online form - were mixed. Some welcomed it. "I've been tempted (to report)," said one person. "I think there are way too many of them (road cones), I think they are overused." Some opposed it. "There's an excessive focus on road cones. They are a sign of progress, I love progress so I have no problem with excessive road cones." Some were not sure whether that was the solution to their problems. "Auckland has a lot of road works, but I don't know if I would call a hotline." Since launching in June, the hotline received nearly 400 valid reports in week one, 126 in week two, 71 in week three and 70 in week four. The digital hotline collects complaints and sends reports to road controlling authorities. Among all road controlling authorities, Auckland Transport received the most complaints, with nearly 200 reported. Tracey Berkahn says a small proportion of the worksites saw too many or unnecessary road cones. Photo: Auckland Transport Auckland Transport group manager for road corridor access Tracey Berkahn said she was not surprised. "I think that's fairly expected because we're the largest city, we've got the most people and we've also got quite a lot of development going on. So there are a lot of work sites." Berkahn said investigating all of the complaints had created quite a bit of extra work for her team of six, but it had led to improvements. "We had one particular case in Albany where it was in a business area where there was a piece of electrical maintenance work being done. We had diggers and generators and tools on site. But when we went out, we realised that the site probably had about 30 too many cones. The work site was larger than the plan what's submitted to us for approval, and we talked to the site supervisor and they removed about 30 cones to make that site smaller, to be less disruptive on the businesses and the motorists in the area." Berkahn said on an average day, there were 2000 active sites in Auckland. There are a lot of road cones in Auckland, but do people consider it excessive? Photo: Ke-Xin Li Among the 200 sites investigated from the hotline reports, 30-40 percent of them had either too many or too few cones. "Quite often when we go out (to investigate), we find where the customer thinks there are too many cones, it might be that there's been a lane created for pedestrians. And if you're driving past in a car, all you can see are orange cones. But if you're walking down that lane as a pedestrian, you're much safer because you're kept away from the machinery on the work site and the cars on the road are kept away from you." Berkahn said Auckland Transport had an existing cone reporting system, but the hotline generated greater public awareness. "The one thing that I would like listeners to understand is that it's been really positive having this relationship with WorkSafe and being able to contact customers about their queries and explain sometimes why those sites are necessary and how they're providing safety." Wellington City Council received 57 complaints in the first week but after a month that had dropped to just 8. The council declined to be interviewed but in a statement said they believed complaints had fallen because the novelty of the hotline is wearing off, and that no cones has been removed due to a hotline report. Meanwhile, Christchurch City Council has received 40 complaints. In a statement, transport operations manager Stephen Wright sid while they found most of the sites were compliant, any issue that needed to be addressed by the contractor were discussed from an education approach in the first instance, but it was up to the contractor to decide whether the cones were needed or not. NZTA, who received the 140 complaints, did not respond to First Up's request for comment. The Wellesley Street Upgrade project is underway to turn the street into a connection to the City Rail Link. Photo: Ke-Xin Li Back on the streets, Temporary Traffic Management workers were split on whether the road cones themselves - and the hotline - worked. "I think there's too many of them and it's a great idea there is an 0800 number," a worker with four years' experience in site management told First Up. "I think that (the hotline) is an overkill. There isn't a problem unless it's blocking a car park or it's limiting businesses to customers. Now I think the problem is people like myself are kind of bending those rules - more cones have been putting out than what's needed and some don't pick up their gear after they've finished their site. But then the other flip side to that coin is gear getting stolen, so therefore what was safe before was not safe anymore because there weren't enough cones. "If it weren't for people like me, people would be driving into trenches and driving into holes," a TTM manager with more than 10 years of experience told First Up. RNZ asked another worker how he would feel if I took half of the cones away from his site. It was a definite "no" from him. He said sometimes when pedestrians saw a gap between the cones they would try to cross the road, and the closely lined up cones kept pedestrians safe and made sure they followed the rules. WorkSafe said the road cone hotline will be reviewed at the end of the year. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
16-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Employment Relations Act amendments aimed to boost labour market flexibility
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden. File photo. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Business leaders are backing changes to the Employment Relations Act aimed at improving labour market flexibility, but the Public Service Association is warning it will amount to less secure employment. "I'm announcing the introduction of the Employment Relations Amendment Bill to Parliament, marking a key milestone in this government's efforts to help New Zealand businesses employ or contract with confidence and create more and better opportunities for workers," Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden said on Tuesday. The bill change the distinction between "employment" and "contracting". It also aims to simplify the personal grievances process to reduce "rewards for bad behaviour and reduce costs for businesses", van Velden said. BusinessNZ director of advocacy Catherine Beard said the bill should provide more certainty, particularly around contract-based work. "Workers and businesses should have more certainty about the type of work being done from the moment they agree to a contracting arrangement," Beard said, adding that to the personal grievances process were also something that needed to be fixed. "A system that increasingly fines employers for trying to deal with poor performance or serious misconduct including theft, fraud and even violence, is one that clearly needs fixing." Beard said the removal of the 30-day rule that automatically classified new employees as union members under a collective agreement was something businesses wanted . However, the Public Service Association said the changes amount to less secure employment, lower wages and more dangerous workplaces. "This is plainly and simply a fundamental erosion of workers' rights to secure employment," Public Service Association national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said. "The minister is effectively giving employers the green light to fire workers at will. "We are seeing the same playbook now with planned cuts to sick pay, pay equity, the 90-day fire at will law, weakening health and safety requirements for employers and the axing of Fair Pay Agreements." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
16-06-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Minister Brooke van Velden says sick leave cuts for part-timers is what businesses want
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden. Photo: RNZ / Reece Baker Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says the possible sick leave cuts for part-time employees is something business owners want. At the moment everyone gets 10 paid days a year. Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden said earlier that she was looking at changes that would make leave proportionate to the number of hours worked. She told Checkpoint it was not a new idea, and she had been looking at sick leave changes alongside ongoing work to replace the Holidays Act. "I have been working away behind the scenes for about the last six months now trying to work out technical details to replace this act." When asked if it would be based on hours or days she said she could not say as cabinet had not signed off on how the changes would work. "This is something that businesses do want, they want that proportionate leave... some companies that work with part-time workers have quite a few part-time workers, you know, like a cafe or small retail shops and that's a lot of sick leave they are on the hook for." Van Velden did not give evidence on how much sick leave part-timers were taking. "That's not the reason behind doing this change," she said. "It's to do with whether it's right, and is it right that someone who is working one day a week is entitled to the same sick leave allocation as someone who works five days a week - that's what we are basing this policy on, whether it's right." She said she believed someone who worked "what we expect to be a full week", would have the full entitlement this included someone who worked 40 hours in four days. When asked about how the change may disproportionately impact women - more women than men are in part-time jobs - she said it had nothing to do with gender. "If we want true gender equality we have to stop with this disingenuous argument that women are the ones who will be losing out because woman are the ones expected to do childcare." Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told Morning Report earlier he knew it was something Minister Brooke van Velden was looking into. "She looks at a whole raft of workplace relations," Luxon said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
