Latest news with #FarNorth
RNZ News
a day ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Far North District Council ordered to pay former CEO Blair King $210,000
The Far North District Council has been ordered to pay more than $210,000 to former chief executive Blair King. Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf The Far North District Council has been ordered to pay more than $210,000 to former chief executive Blair King, who resigned in 2023 less than a year into the role. The council's legal costs relating to King's departure case are even higher, adding up to just over $220,000. The figures were revealed to RNZ this week via a Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request. They do not include other costs, such as staff time or expenses incurred recruiting King's replacement. The six-figure payout continues an unfortunate tradition at the council, where only one of the past four chief executives has left without an employment dispute and a hefty settlement. Some occurred when a new chief executive was hired, or had their contract renewed, shortly before a local election then fell foul of incoming councillors. Clive Manley, who was dismissed by then Far North Mayor Wayne Brown, received a severance payment in 2008 of $248,000. The reason for his departure was never disclosed. His successor, Dave Edmunds, who was rehired by Brown's council just four days before the 2013 council elections, went on "temporary leave" a few months after John Carter was voted in as mayor. In January 2014 it emerged Edmunds had left the council but the reason for his departure, or whether he had received a payout, were not revealed. However, the council's annual report, released in November that year, showed a severance payment of $193,846. Councillors then employed Colin Dale, the former head of Manukau City Council, as acting chief executive until a permanent replacement could be found. In 2017 the council hired ex-Air Force Group Captain Shaun Clarke. While councillors opted not to renew his contract for another two years from 2022, there was no employment dispute around Clarke's departure and no payout. King, the former head of Tararua District Council, was hired at the end of 2021 and started work in March 2022. According to an Employment Relations Authority ruling released late last year, King formally resigned in February 2023, alleging a "toxic" environment and being "ghosted" by councillors. Moko Tepania. Photo: Peter de Graaf/RNZ The authority found the relationship breakdown between King and then newly elected Mayor Moko Tepania started at a meeting in Kaikohe in November 2022, though accounts differed as to exactly what happened at that meeting. King argued he had been constructively dismissed and the council's behaviour had created a "toxic work environment", while the council filed a counter-claim alleging he had breached good faith obligations by failing to engage properly. The authority found fault on both sides, dismissing the council's counter-claim and some of King's complaints. However, the authority sided with King by finding he was subjected to "an unjustified disadvantage" during the Kaikohe meeting. The authority also found the council had failed to engage with King after a confidential follow-up meeting called to discuss his future with the organisation. The exact figure for the settlement paid to King, according to the council, is $212,750.00. The total legal costs were $220,115.21. Tepania said both parties had come to a settlement, and no further comment could be provided. The council's current chief executive Guy Holroyd, who previously headed Ngāti Hine Forestry Trust, said it was not appropriate to comment on an employment matter. King was contacted for comment but had not responded by publication time. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- RNZ News
Woman charged with neglect and fraud in relation to death of Northland toddler Catalya Tangimetua-Pepene
Catalya Remana Tangimetua-Pepene. Photo: Supplied A 31-year-old woman has been charged following the death of Kaikohe 3-year-old CatalyaTangimetua-Pepene. Tangimetua-Pepene was killed on 21 May. Neighbours in the Tawanui Road housing complex where she lived have said her smile was so bright "it lit up the whole world". Detective Senior Sergeant Christan Fouhy, of Far North CIB, said the woman appeared in the Kaikohe District Court on Thursday. "Police have charged this woman with neglect and fraud related offences." She has been remanded in custody to reappear on 15 July. Drummond Augustine Leaf appeared in court earlier this month charged with murder.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- RNZ News
Northland paedophile James Parker's jail time extended after new victim comes forward
By Shannon Pitman, Open Justice reporter of Northland paedophile James Parker. Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf WARNING: This article discusses sexual abuse and may be upsetting to some readers. A convicted paedophile and former school deputy principal, who was on the verge of being released, has had his sentence upped after another victim came forward. James Parker's latest offending has been described as more serious, a judge noting it had a "sadistic flavour" and was "predatory and certainly controlling". The seven charges relate to two young boys he sexually violated between 2009 and 2011 - even using a Taser so one would do as he was told. Parker, 50, appeared in the Whangārei District Court on Wednesday for sentencing but his final sentence posed significant issues. In 2013 Parker was handed a sentence in the High Court at Whangārei of preventive detention with a minimum period of imprisonment (MPI) of seven years for offending he committed while teaching at Pamapuria School in the Far North. Complaints began to surface about Parker's behaviour in 2009 which went nowhere but he was given a police warning that he should stop having boys stay at his home. By 2012, after mounting complaints, Parker was arrested and the principal was eventually sacked for failing to ensure the safety of the students. Parker admitted to 74 charges of child sexual abuse on 20 boys between 1999 and 2012. The youngest was nine years old. It was revealed Parker used his trusted position in the rural community to host sleepovers with boys, many of whom had disruptive home lives. There were at least 300 known sexual incidents in what the Crown said at the time was "without comparison in New Zealand history". The court heard the latest victims were also offended against during the same time period. As was often the case, he had the boys sleep over and sexually violated both of them, one specifically. Parker has been in prison for 12 years and first came up for parole five years ago, but has been declined four times. Much of Wednesday's sentencing discussion centred around the difficulty of determining how many more years he must now serve before being eligible again for parole. Over the past decade multiple reports have been completed on Parker and the Parole Board was recently considering the possibility of guided release into the community. 'The comments are concerning' Crown lawyer Richard Annandale submitted, had these charges been before the court in 2013, Parker would have likely had an MPI of 10 years. Annandale was critical of Parker's level of remorse after Parker mentioned previously he could not remember these victims. "The comments are the concerning aspect in a way that he justified or minimised the behaviour, whether he remembers it or not," Annandale submitted. "When one's considering an end sentence, parole eligibility should not be before three years." Parker's lawyer Steve Cullen submitted a statement from Parker that he was deeply aware of the harm he had caused. Parker said through his lawyer he was concerned about the impact of media coverage on his previous victims and referenced none had gone on to the victims' notification registrar. "He thought perhaps they wanted to put it behind them and move on and not hear about any more," Cullen submitted. Cullen also submitted the requirements of Corrections meant Parker was not able to access rehabilitation until his seven-year MPI had been reached. Cullen said a new MPI would restrict his rehabilitation and the process would have to start again. "It's wrong, but it's what the prison does ... It's absolutely futile," Cullen said. 'Significantly sadistic flavour' Judge Gene Tomlinson said the latest charges had a difference from others. "The indecencies of [suppressed] are in my assessment, and indeed, have a more serious and significantly sadistic flavour. "Certainly predatory and certainly controlling, which I did not detect in the sentencing notes of Justice Heath when recounting your offending in 2013." Judge Tomlinson said the impact on the victims was extreme, robbing them of a full life because of his predatory behaviour. He acknowledged Parker's early guilty plea but said with his prior history, he had no chance of winning. Parker was sentenced to eight years and six months' imprisonment with no MPI. "In the circumstances you present, I am satisfied the usual time frame for seeking parole on a sentence such as eight-and-a-half-years is entirely appropriate in the circumstances when balanced against all of the factors in your case." As Parker's new prison term begins this week, he will be eligible for parole after serving one third of his sentence. 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
RNZ News
10-06-2025
- RNZ News
Far North town Moerewa burned out on burnouts
Police say the organisers are cooperating with police. Photo: 123RF Community leaders in the small Far North town of Moerewa are calling for a long-standing culture of doing "burnouts" to end before it ends in tragedy. According to locals, people burning rubber and smoking up homes was a weekly occurrence. Roddy Hapati Pihema said there were burnout marks on almost every street in Moerewa. Pihema, who headed the Taumatamakuku Community Residents Representative Committee, said the problem was so widespread even the police did not know how to deal with it. "The police have basically given up. Half the community wants the behaviour to stop but you still have this generation where it has become part of their modern-day culture. "At a tangi, they might go out and do burnouts on the road. It's the same when people have their 21st or a big birthday. "It's become part of the culture of not just Moerewa, but everywhere you look in the North." For Pihema, the issue was personal. He said a relative of his was killed when he was struck on a footpath by a motorcyclist who was doing burnouts at night about 20 years ago. "I've felt what it's like when things go terribly wrong when you lose a family member that way. "This is not the type of culture that we need to be passing on to the next generation. The thrill of doing burnouts should never ever be more important than the safety of our community and our community members." In 2015, Pihema said students at Moerewa Primary gave a letter to the mayor and police, asking them to make their town safer. Piehma - also the local board member for the Moerewa Kawakawa subdivision - said they had tried to honour this request by introducing mitigators like speed bumps. But he said the local board and police were under-resourced, and needed support to address the issue. Moerewa. Photo: RNZ / Lucy Xia Moerewa Civil Defence volunteer and Otiria Marae trustee, Mike Butler, said burnouts were causing a myriad of issues but some residents were too intimidated to speak up. "When a person does a burnout, tyre smoke goes into people and kaumata and kuia's homes. "Rubber left on the roads causes a massive headache. It blocks up our drains, and when we get Mother Nature at her best it can't handle it because of all the blockages of debris, rubbish, leaves and also tyres." He said children walking to school were also cutting their feet on pieces of smashed glass. Another resident, Pamela-Ann Simon-Baragwanath, said locals were cleaning up the mess left behind by street racers every week. "When they do these burnouts they dump rubbish in large volumes. I cleaned up the old KiwiRail entrance four or five months ago and we pulled out about seven to eight trailer loads to the max, we hand-pulled all of that out and took it to the dump." She said the litter was seeping into the waterways and attracting rats, and the community was fed up. She wanted to see more cameras installed as a deterrent, and burnouts contained to a location that would not cause ongoing problems. Police and the Far North District Council have been contacted for comment. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
09-06-2025
- Science
- RNZ News
Tracking turtles
In late 2024 a cluster of sick green sea turtles washed up around the Rangaunu Harbour on the east coast of the Far North. It was just another mystery in a long line of all the things we don’t know about these ocean taonga. But a new telemetry study, using these very turtles, could change all that. The study has officially kicked off with the release of five satellite-tagged honu. Liz Garton finds out what secrets the researchers hope to uncover. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
