Latest news with #Dunedin-based
Otago Daily Times
14 hours ago
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
Straw spears toddler's roof of mouth in South Island bike accident
Warning: contains graphic content Dunedin doctors are warning parents about the risks of metal straws after a South Island toddler got one impaled through the roof of her mouth after falling from her bike. The 21-month-old toddler was taken to a nearby rural emergency department after a retractable metal straw was embedded through the roof of her mouth after a fall from a push bike. She was "intermittently distressed but consolable" three Dunedin-based specialists who treated her noted in the latest issue of the New Zealand Medical Journal . The three doctors, Dr Jacob Arahill-Whitham, Dr Hitesh Taylor, and Dean Ruske, detailed the ordeal as part of a case study — the child, date and location were not identified in the article. When the toddler presented at the regional emergency department, an X-ray was taken which showed the metal straw had penetrated through the girl's nasal sinuses and could possibly have been sitting against the base of her skull. The regional emergency centre and the nearest tertiary hospital decided to take a CT scan, which confirmed the tip of the straw was buried into the sphenoid bone at the base of the cranium. The toddler was then transferred to the tertiary hospital via helicopter and she arrived 4.5 hours after the initial 111 call was made. Her parents, and doctors accompanied her in case she needed emergency intubation. When she arrived, a neurosurgery team was available on standby and she was whisked into the operating theatre straight away. She was sedated and the metal straw was removed with no resistance, and in one attempt. The hole in her palate the straw left was able to be closed, and the toddler was discharged the next say with a course of antibiotics. There were "no further issues", the article said. The authors, Dr Arahill-Whitham, Dr Taylor, and Dean Ruske said this case highlighted potential dangers of rigid drinking straws for young children. "Rigid drinking straws will likely become increasingly common with the continued phasing out of single-use plastics." They advised clinicians and parents should be made aware of the risks. The authors said injuries in children to the soft and hard palate were likely under-reported and under-estimated due to incidents being unwitnessed or managed without medical intervention. They said the most common impalement injuries in children was from falling with an object in their mouth. Commonly reported objects include toothbrushes, toys, cooking utensils, stationary and sticks. However, penetrating injuries to the hard palate were rare, but they did present risks to the orbit and brain. They required surgery in only about 10% of cases, they said. -
Newsroom
6 days ago
- General
- Newsroom
A man in uniform
I was a normal boy. I was interested in all the boy things. I was mad about footy, hockey, tennis, cricket, baseball and boxing. Indeed, from a very young age, I excelled at both individually competitive, as well as team, sports. I was also fascinated by, and interested in, mechanics, engineering, motor vehicles, and aviation and continued to actively participate in 'male' activities as I matured and developed. At 17, I commenced training, and by 18 I had qualified as a pilot. But unlike my male peers, I was also interested in pretty colours, pretty clothes, pretty hair, pretty shoes, dolls and I adored babies. Strangely, though, given what I have read about gender ambiguity, I never ever recall ever actually wanting to be a girl. As a young child, I never wanted to wear girl's clothes. I was though very envious of girls with their pretty shoes, pretty hair, pretty ribbons, pretty dresses and other colourful clothes. Whenever the opportunity presented, unlike the other boys, I participated in the girls' skipping and pretend games. In truth, I have always adored everything about girls and women. My experience as a child at home, and in the Boys Home, was that it was my sisters, my mum and then the ladies at the Boys Home that had held my world together. In contrast to girls, during and immediately after the 1940s war years, boys of all ages were uniformly dressed in navy blue, grey or brown. Unlike myself, other boys were almost paranoid about avoiding being labelled sissies. I recollect too, the frequent visits to hairdressers after adults harped on about my hair being too long. At the hairdresser, a 1940s boy's hair was literally shorn off. I resented and rebelled against this what is now so simplistically referred to as stereotyping of boys. When at the Look Out Point Boys Home, I sometimes became very vocal about having to have my hair cut and having to wear navy blue, brown or grey drab clothes. Looking back, I am sure my vocal objections to this dreadful stereotyping was another reason why the Dunedin-based Child Welfare department officials thought I was a bit mentally retarded. I still have very fond memories of an occasion when, at about seven or eight years of age at the Boys Home, I found a pretty blue ribbon an unknown girl had used for tying up her hair. That ribbon became very precious to me. It was a beautiful shiny blue and I carried it around in my pocket for weeks after the find. It was my secret! I recall I also imagined growing my hair and shaping it into a ponytail using the pretty blue ribbon. Eventually, however, the ribbon became worn, crinkled, tattered, lost its shine and had to be discarded. I still recall though, when that pretty ribbon was in my pocket, I felt so completely different about myself. I felt confident. I felt strong and I recall it doing wonders for my self-esteem. That pretty blue ribbon made me feel whole. Much later, my puberty years proved to be an absolute nightmare. Like all of my mates I was attracted to girls and needed and had, a number of girlfriends. I was a normal heterosexual (and always have been), but I couldn't understand why I, in contrast to my mates, was also interested in pretty things like girls were. Moreover, I didn't have any time for 'boys talk' about girls, which so often degenerated into ugly obscenities. I also could not understand why I never really felt whole as a teenage boy. At about 18 years of age I was living in a sleep-out on a farm I was managing a short distance out in the country from Oamaru. I was still anguishing about not being in an engineering apprenticeship at the time and this was further aggravated by some confusion in my mind about who and what I was. By 18 years of age, I was well aware that there was something a little different about me in comparison with other boys my age. * My first real collar and tie job was with the New Zealand Police Association. This pinstriped suited national secretary role involved constant meetings and dining with people in high places including Prime Ministers, leaders of the opposition, cabinet ministers, state officials and the like. I had 13-plus years' experience as a police officer and had risen to the rank of Inspector and an advisor to the Commissioner. From the day I first started, I felt uncomfortable and somewhat inadequate in a suit and tie and deeply resented what I regarded as this 'male uniform'. When dressing for work, my self-esteem tended to plummet because suits and ties were turning me into something I was not. In truth, the creative and original thinking that was the key to the success of my job as national secretary was being stiflingly suffocated each and every day by 'proper dress' before I even got to work. The proper dress required in my Police Association leadership role was so completely different to the colourful shirts, trousers, skirts and dresses I wore when not at work. 'Proper dress' was turning the 'creative flower' I had been when a detective, a doctoral student, and senior university lecturer into cold damp piece of clay. When a police officer, I had worn the police uniform, which included a blue-collar shirt and tie. I had had no problems whatsoever with that! I also played rugby for the police team. So there had to be something strange going on in my head. There is no doubt whatsoever that my revulsion to 'proper dress' in my new role resulted from my resentment of stereotyping and a need for me to have complete choice in the matter of my own quite different preferences. This was likely aggravated by a reminder from deep within my subconscious of my unhappy experiences of the male 'officials' dressed in suits and ties who, with the very best of intentions, had taken me from my home and family and imprisoned me when a small child in the Look Out Point Boys Home. With few exceptions, as a child, I resented decision-making 'officials'. Yet here I was, years later with 'proper dress' having turned me into one of them? After a few months in the job, I toyed with the idea of resigning from the Police Association and seeking other employment where I could wear the casual clothes, dresses, caftans, skirts and lava lava's etc., that I had previously felt comfortable and confident in. Alternative employment was a realistic option for me because I was well qualified with a doctoral degree to pursue an academic or business career and I had had job prospects at universities in New Zealand, Australia, the US and Canada when I took on the Police Association role. Farming was also an appealing option, particularly as I already owned a farm. I opted for what I thought might be an acceptable compromise. I wore safari suits with polar neck jumpers or Hawaiian shirts with slip on shoes, pendants necklaces and wrist bracelets. Initially, there was no objection raised and when I became more settled in the job in which I had started to excel, this, together with a from time to time occasional acknowledgement that 'proper dress' required a suit and tie, the safari suit became my reasonably relaxed and colourful daily work wear. This style of dress wasn't just something I wanted to do. It was something I absolutely needed to do in order to feel whole. Deep down, however, I always knew that, ultimately, safari suits were never going to be enough. * One morning as I readied for work in a cream safari suit and blue polar neck jumper, I noticed my wife's beautiful pearl necklace hanging from a hook by her dressing table. It was the perfect match for my suit and polar neck jumper and, with her quizzical permission, I borrowed the pearl necklace for the day. I was already very good at my job as national secretary and totally committed to professionalising the police at all levels. My whole of industry approach and commitment was recognised and valued by the Police Commissioner Bob Walton, who with his wife Marge, had become personal friends. Police national executive meetings were held once every week in the commissioner's office at police headquarters and, of course, the senior police staff, including the commissioner, invariably wore their Police uniforms. There was an executive meeting the morning I wore the pearl necklace with a blue polar neck jersey under a safari suit. At the time of the meeting, everything proceeded as normal, but after the meeting, and after the deputy and assistant commissioners and superintendents had had an opportunity to get into a 'huddle', one of their number told the commissioner that if Moodie attended an executive meeting again wearing a 'woman's' pearl necklace, they would walk out. Commissioner Bob Walton told me about the walk-out threat he had received and expressed his own personal disapproval of the threat ever having been made. Walton was an outstanding leader. He wanted my experience and whole of industry approach available to him at his police executive meetings. He not only wanted it, he knew he needed it, because achieving substantial change to his Department required a consultative approach. In typical Bob Walton style, he asked me in a kindly manner to please avoid wearing a pearl necklace at the following week's Executive Meeting. I immediately agreed to his request. At the following week's executive meeting, I kept to my agreement with the commissioner when, instead of the pearls, I wore my favourite blue polar neck jersey under a pretty yellow and red dress with blue stockings and a lovely gold chain necklace accessory. No one walked out. No one uttered a word of disapproval. They were stunned. Later this silly business erupted again with Detective Superintendent Wally Baker complaining, on behalf of his executive, that my wearing caftans, dresses and skirts was anti-Christian. I was able to quickly silence this complaint, however, with the response, 'I had never once seen a picture of Jesus Christ in trousers.' The consideration of most importance to me personally was that if imprisoned in a suit and tie, there was no way I could have done the Police Association national secretary role at the level needed to modernise and professionalise the Police. I would have been like a bird in a cage, or a fly on sticky paper. With the support of my Police Association executive, I needed to be able to be myself. I needed to do the police job on my own terms, and in my own way. I never minded how people interpreted what I was doing. Some times when quizzed about it by my police members, I would volunteer that the clothes I wore reflected my love of pretty things. And yes, I sometimes responded, 'I might be a bit queer', while immediately querying, 'But how do you actually know?' With the aim of causing them to think more deeply about what was right and what was wrong, I adopted a light-hearted approach when talking about my dress preferences. * For many months during 2009, I had been experiencing severe testicular pain. At times, this was dreadful, nine out of 10 pain when sitting in a plane or car. When it persisted, I sought medical advice and, after extensive ultrasound imaging and surgery, the cause was finally removed. The surgeon had found and removed what he described as a 'third testicle'. A third testicle that he thought likely to have been the source of the pain. This then led to speculation that the 'third testicle' might instead have been an ovary, a part formed ovary or some deformity resulting from the biological processes that determine sexuality during gestation. Whatever it was, following removal of this 'third testicle', the pain stopped, and so also did something else. After recovering from the surgery, for the first time in my life, I did something I realised I had never really experienced during my life. I suddenly took a real interest in my appearance as a male. Menswear window displays were almost immediately of interest to me, and my life long preferred alternative interest in ladies shop window displays, and particularly displays of ladies' shoes, ended completely. For the first time in my life, I was wholly focused on my identity as a male. This change in my self-awareness and male self-esteem was quite extraordinary, but it was not without an accompanying considerable sense of loss. Indeed, a sense of loss that remains with me even to the present day. I had both liked and enjoyed being the strong, colourful and free-spirited person I had been prior to 2009, and his loss felt very much to me like the death of a close family member. I in fact grieved over my loss for many, many months. Aided by professional counselling, I increasingly adjusted to my new reality and identity, and became the quite different unambiguously male person I am today. A mildly abbreviated chapter taken from the 400-page memoir The Justice Mirage by Rob Moodie, who writes extensively about four cases he handled as a defence lawyer. Martin van Beynen profiled Moodie for Stuff, and wrote, 'His main motivation was to record exactly what happened in four cases where he represented clients whose lives he feels were destroyed by the justice system.' There was the case of Superintendent Alec Waugh, the district commander of Whanganui, who was charged with defrauding the police; Moodie succeeded in having the convictions quashed and, in an Employment Court action, had Waugh reinstated as a superintendent with a payout of $1.5 million. There was the case of King Country farmers Keith and Margaret Berryman. The army built a bridge on their farm to use as a training exercise, but it collapsed in 1994, killing beekeeper Kenneth Richards; after an inquest, the Coroner absolved the army and pointed to alleged failures by the Berrymans. Moodie got involved and the High Court later ruled the Coroner's finding was unsafe. 'For far too many people,' he writes, 'our concept of justice is an illusory mirage.'
Otago Daily Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Polytech shuts down cookery course
The lack of a commercial kitchen is a driver in the closure of one of the courses at the Otago Polytechnic Central Campus. Deputy executive director academic delivery Chris Williamson and deputy executive director industry training and innovation Mark Cartwright said in a joint statement three programmes — one each in Cromwell and Wānaka and one in Dunedin — were under review. Otago Polytechnic has a campus in Cromwell town and one in Bannockburn. Late last year it was announced the brewing and stonemasonry courses run at Cromwell would be discontinued from this year. At that meeting Otago Polytechnic executive director Megan Potiki said Otago Polytechnic was in debt and costs would have to be reduced to get it standing back on its own feet. There was a risk it could be forced into a federation of polytechnics and that was not wanted, she said. The Otago secondary-tertiary college certificate in cookery, which has operated out of dedicated kitchen in the town campus, will also come to an end after the facility is sold and all Central Otago programmes are consolidated at the Bannockburn campus. The programme, which involved 16 students attending two days a week, will cease as the polytechnic has been unable to secure an alternative commercial kitchen. The closure will result in the loss of 0.61 fulltime-equivalent positions, affecting a lecturer and a technician. Central campus director John Christie confirmed the cookery course would end, but emphasised that trades training in beauty, hospitality and carpentry would continue at the Bannockburn site. Around 200 students from Alexandra, Wānaka and Queenstown attend these programmes at present. If a suitable commercial kitchen could be found, closing the cookery course could be reconsidered, Mr Christie said. The Wānaka-based level 4 New Zealand certificate in outdoor and adventure education was not financially sustainable due to low numbers of students. It was proposed to stop the programme from the end of the year. One staff role would go immediately and the other at the end of the year, when the current students had completed their studies. Efforts to increase enrolments had not worked and the course was financially unsustainable, the statement said. The third course to face the chop is the Dunedin-based New Zealand certificate in plumbing, gas fitting and drain laying (level 3). The course was not viable and an announcement by the Tertiary Education Commission that it would not fund more than one year of the one-semester programme led to its demise and the loss of one fulltime position, the statement said. Yesterday's statement said staff had been consulted about the proposed changes. "We have met with the kaimahi [staff] concerned to explain the proposed changes for these three programmes and outlined the process for providing feedback," it said. "We will carefully consider all the feedback we receive before making any final decisions, and will also ensure kaimahi are offered support during this consultation process."
Otago Daily Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Cookery course being discontinued
The lack of a commercial kitchen is a driver in the closure of one of the courses at the Otago Polytechnic Central Campus. Deputy executive director academic delivery Chris Williamson and deputy executive director industry training and innovation Mark Cartwright said in a joint statement three programmes — one each in Cromwell and Wānaka and one in Dunedin — were under review. Otago Polytechnic has a campus in Cromwell town and one in Bannockburn. Late last year it was announced the brewing and stonemasonry courses run at Cromwell would be discontinued from this year. At that meeting Otago Polytechnic executive director Megan Potiki said Otago Polytechnic was in debt and costs would have to be reduced to get it standing back on its own feet. There was a risk it could be forced into a federation of polytechnics and that was not wanted, she said. The Otago secondary-tertiary college certificate in cookery, which has operated out of dedicated kitchen in the town campus, will also come to an end after the facility is sold and all Central Otago programmes are consolidated at the Bannockburn campus. The programme, which involved 16 students attending two days a week, will cease as the polytechnic has been unable to secure an alternative commercial kitchen. The closure will result in the loss of 0.61 fulltime-equivalent positions, affecting a lecturer and a technician. Central campus director John Christie confirmed the cookery course would end, but emphasised that trades training in beauty, hospitality and carpentry would continue at the Bannockburn site. Around 200 students from Alexandra, Wānaka and Queenstown attend these programmes at present. If a suitable commercial kitchen could be found, closing the cookery course could be reconsidered, Mr Christie said. The Wānaka-based level 4 New Zealand certificate in outdoor and adventure education was not financially sustainable due to low numbers of students. It was proposed to stop the programme from the end of the year. One staff role would go immediately and the other at the end of the year, when the current students had completed their studies. Efforts to increase enrolments had not worked and the course was financially unsustainable, the statement said. The third course to face the chop is the Dunedin-based New Zealand certificate in plumbing, gas fitting and drain laying (level 3). The course was not viable and an announcement by the Tertiary Education Commission that it would not fund more than one year of the one-semester programme led to its demise and the loss of one fulltime position, the statement said. Yesterday's statement said staff had been consulted about the proposed changes. "We have met with the kaimahi [staff] concerned to explain the proposed changes for these three programmes and outlined the process for providing feedback," it said. "We will carefully consider all the feedback we receive before making any final decisions, and will also ensure kaimahi are offered support during this consultation process."
Otago Daily Times
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Crew seeking funds to take show on road
Writer and performer Chelsea McRae sings her heart out about saying the wrong thing out loud and letting go of past hurt in Therapy: A Musical Comedy. PHOTO: RIVER QUINN Funding the arts is a full-time gig, say the team behind Dunedin-created show Therapy: A Musical Comedy. Written by Dunedin-based playwright and performer Chelsea McRae, with music by Mario Sadra-de Jong, and debuted at the 2024 Dunedin Fringe Festival, the award-winning show is about cults, comedy and closure. Having toured to five cities, winning a Fringe Touring Award along the way, Therapy: A Musical Comedy is off to Auckland next month. To fund the trip, the team behind the show — McRae, Sadra-de Jong, and Cody McRae, have been battling for financial support, reaching out to local businesses and groups. And with Creative New Zealand's funding slashed by the government earlier this year, the competition for funding has been at an all time high. For this reason, the team have turned to Arts NZ's creative platform Boosted to raise the funds. McRae said, in a statement, the show was not just a passion project, but was part of the team's careers. "This show is important," McRae said. She wrote the script based on her own lived experience of overcoming the loss of a parent to suicide and overcoming the trauma of sexual assault. "We've had people engage in therapy themselves because of this show. We've spoken to people who have felt destigmatised by the open and honest conversations we have about trauma in this show. "Art should not be left out of the equation — art changes people's lives." The Boosted campaign continues until Friday, June 27, with a goal of raising $2000. For more information, or to donate, go to — APL
