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RNZ News
an hour ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
NZSIS head reminds ethnic communities to be vigilant about foreign interference
Andrew Hampton, director-general of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service. Photo: RNZ / Liu Chen The head of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) has reminded people to stay vigilant to foreign interference and ask questions if in doubt. About 300 ethnic community leaders from across the country gathered in Auckland on Saturday for the fourth Ethnic Advantage Conference organised by the Ministry for Ethnic Communities. The discussions were centred around social cohesion with foreign interference as one of the featured topics. In a panel discussion, director-general of NZSIS, Andrew Hampton, explained what foreign interference was and reminded people to be vigilant. Ethnic community leaders at the Ethnic Advantage Conference on 28 June, 2025. Photo: RNZ / Liu Chen Hampton said remembering democratic principles could be helpful, for example, people can have different views but working for a foreign state to influence New Zealand was problematic. He said community leaders had an important role to play in maintaining dialogue between each other and sharing information. His department would continue to build trust and relationships with the ethnic communities, Hampton said. "It's not a destination, it's a journey, but the consequences of us not continue this journey are dire when it comes to national security." NZSIS would continue to shed light on foreign interference, provide information to community leaders, make sure the department was accessible and approachable, and its workforce reflected the communities, Hampton said. Mark Mitchell and ethnic community leaders at the Ethnic Advantage Conference. Photo: RNZ / Liu Chen Mark Mitchell, the minister for ethnic communities said New Zealand can't be naive and believe that it's invincible from foreign inteference. "We do have countries that try to interfere with their diasporas," he said. "But here in New Zealand, we have to make sure as a government we're doing everything we can do to protect them and to call out those nations when they engage in that sort of behavior." Speaking of social cohesion, the minister called for people to endorse peace and tolerance. Mitchell said with the current geopolitical tensions, New Zealand was facing serious headwinds and was in a more challenging environment compared with decades ago. Ethnic community leaders at the Ethnic Advantage Conference. Photo: RNZ / Liu Chen "One of the primary messages that we have had ministry and myself, is that we're entering a phase now where our conversation should be around social cohesion and peace and tolerance," Mitchell told the audience. He alluded to the Destiny Church march in central Auckland a week ago, and said people should be united, condemn and not buy into the provocation it tried to incite. He said New Zealand should be proud of where it was but people needed to make sure they don't lose ground. "...Recognising always the ability to engage in peaceful protest and freedom of speech, but with that comes great responsibility, and with that also comes a clear message to do it whilst in a peaceful and tolerant way." Individuals should also take responsibility for the way they receive and process information, as there was a lot of disinformation and misinformation around, he said. Chief executive at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, Mervin Singham Photo: RNZ / Liu Chen Chief executive at the ministry, Mervin Singham, said social cohesion and countering foreign interference are interconnected. "From my perspective, the first line of defense [against] foreign interference is community cohesion," Singham said. "So if people in New Zealand, wherever they come from in the world, if they feel they belong here, they matter, they enjoy the equitable environment that they live in..., then they will be less susceptible to being influenced to doing things that they shouldn't in this country and that's not in the interest of New Zealand." Singham said people could be a little bit nervous about this topic because their connection with a foreign country or their sense of pride in their country of origin. "What we don't want as the panel just discussed is people becoming involved in coercive activities that are not in the interest of the country," he said. "For example, stealing intellectual property, not for New Zealand's interest, for foreign state or pressuring people to doing things that they don't want to do, but they feel they're obliged because of the threat of oppression from an offshore state." There were resource tools on the ministry's website which people could use to educate themselves about the topics, for example where to go to report an interference, Singham said. Soon, the tools, launched earlier this year, would be available in 30 languages, he said. "They might be able to be more vigilant about how influence is slowly leading into interference, those sorts of things. This is where the power of the community lies." Community advocate Eva Chen. Photo: RNZ / Liu Chen Community advocate Eva Chen said the discussion on foreign interference was a good reminder, but more information and clarity was needed from the government. "I always felt that the topic of foreign interference is far away from our day-to-day lives but today hearing from the panel, I got to know that it isn't that far away." However, she would appreciate more guidance from the officials about the specific activities and what kind of information they need from the community. "It's good that we're reminded to be vigilant, but for grassroots people like us, it feels far away and something that isn't likely to happen... we might not know how to be vigilant." Chen agreed social cohesion and foreign interference were interlinked. "If we're living in a loving society, being helpful to each other, then there is less likelihood of foreign interference. "However, if we have our own agendas... especially when the New Zealand government is not providing us with enough resources, and we need to seek help from the outside world, we might be susceptible to foreign interference when we're not vigilant enough." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- Science
- RNZ News
Annual New Zealand Garden Bird Survey begins
A Kererū pair in the kōwhai. Photo: Manaaki Whenua/Meg Lipscombe Hundreds of citizen scientists are set for a stint of bird spotting as the annual New Zealand Garden Bird Survey gets underway on Saturday. It's the 19th time that Te Tatauranga o ngā Manu Māra o Aotearoa has been held. From now until 6 July people were encouraged to get out in their garden or go to a local park and look at and listen for birds for one hour, on one day, and record the highest number of each species they notice. The survey's co-ordinator, Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research senior researcher Dr Angela Brandt, said the ongoing data collection showed how the trends for each species might be changing over time. The survey reported on 14 different bird species that were most commonly seen in the garden to identify trends within those species. Pīwakawaka (fantail) about to take off in the backyard. Photo: Manaaki Whenua/Graham Murphy Last year's survey found that tūī and pīwakawaka continued to increase, while national declines in silvereye or tauhou lessened. But there were short-term declines for kererū both at the national scale and in seven regions, she said. "What we've noticed, especially in our last two reports, was that three species were starting to show these short-term, five-year declines. "That's the kererū, the goldfinch, and the house sparrow. It's not a cause for alarm necessarily, but it's something that we should pay attention to and we want to see whether those trends start to pick up again or if they continue on that kind of declining end of the spectrum." Brandt said the survey not only provided information about birds and the environment generally, but it boosted participants' wellbeing by getting them outdoor and observing and thinking about nature. "We had people saying it was a good opportunity to slow down. Participants talked about feeling curiosity, joy, fun, wonder and a sense of connection." A Tūī (kōkō) interrupted from its feed. Photo: Manaaki Whenua/Colin Keast It also complemented the monitoring undertaken in conservation areas, she added. "We're asking people to count all the birds they see, so we get a lot of information on the common species [as well as rare and threatened species] and can then see if they're potentially starting to decline. "But also we're also getting information from urban and rural areas where people are, so that covers some different parts of New Zealand to the monitoring efforts going on by our science organisations and experts." For some species there was a lot of variation among regions, she added. "The fantail is a great example of a species that's quite consistent [everywhere] as we're generally seeing increases over the last several years." In contrast the korimako (bellbird) was "quite variable," she said. "Canterbury and Nelson for example, we've had pretty consistent increasing trends for bell birds over the last several years. "But then we actually have some strong decreases in the counts that we've seen in some of our North Island regions such as Gisborne, Hawke's Bay and Manawatu." It underscored why survey participation was invaluable, Brandt said. "What's really helpful for us to actually pick up those differences is to get enough people participating in each region, [to] give us that full picture." How to take part in the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey: 1. Visit the NZ Garden Bird Survey website to get started. 2. Select a garden or a local park. 3. Choose any ONE day between 28 June and 6 July. 4. Look and listen for birds on that day for ONE hour. 5. For each species, record the HIGHEST number seen or heard at one time. 6. Submit the results online via the NZ Garden Bird Survey website's Take Part page. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Death of prisoner at Mt Eden Corrections Facility treated as homicide
Mt Eden Corrections Facility. Photo: RNZ Multiple investigations have been launched after a man died at Mt Eden Corrections Facility in Auckland. Police said they were made aware of the death at about 4pm on Friday after an 'incident' at the prison. Detective Inspector Greg Brand told RNZ the death of the man was being treated as a homicide. Do you know more? Email "Police were made aware at about 4pm yesterday of a man who had died at the prison following an incident," he said. "Officers continue to follow positive lines of inquiry." Mt Eden Corrections Facility is the main prison for newly remanded prisoners in the Auckland region. The Department of Corrections said the man's next of kin has been notified and all evidence will be given to the police. "Corrections will also carry out a full investigation," Mt Eden Corrections Facility general manager Dion Paki said. "As the prisoner was in a double-bunked cell, the second prisoner who was residing in the cell has been moved to a single-cell." Paki said Corrections was expressing "sincere condolences" to everyone affected. "We acknowledge this will be distressing for staff and other prisoners in the unit and we are providing people with support," he said. Paki said this included access to chaplains and any cultural support. The Inspectorate Office for the department, which operates independently, would also be investigating the death. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
6 hours ago
- Automotive
- RNZ News
'I've never woken up so disorientated in my life': Community helps tornado victims
The car was whipped around by the tornado Photo: RNZ / Emma Andrews Clean up efforts are underway after a tornado tore through the Taranaki town of Waitara overnight. There was a bit of confusion when Susan Duncan was woken up by her dog barking on Friday night, she thought someone was tampering with her daughters car which was parked outside of her house on Aratapu Street. "I heard the wind and I heard the wheelie bins and stuff, and it's sort of a normal thing that happens, but my dog just wouldn't shut up so I thought I better get up," Duncan said. She looked outside and saw her trees beaten and then she saw the car and thought "what the hell?" Waitara Aratapu St resident Susan Duncan said her Ford Focus was picked up and tossed around in the wind, after reports a tornado ripped through the area just after midnight, on Saturday 28 June, 2025. Photo: RNZ/ Robin Martin There was already a dent on the car, but the car had been swung by the tornado leaving skids on the grass and its windows had smashed. "I'm so shocked that all this has happened but my house is still standing. I'm so grateful and lucky that it wasn't in the middle of the day - imagine iron flying at you." Her daughter Jade spoke to RNZ while on a video call with her mum. Jade works as a baker in Wellington and was saving money to fix the minor dent on her car. "To see it absolutely destroyed sucks," Jade said. "I'm trying to move to Melbourne so I was going to fix the car and sell it, so I had that money to get to Melbourne." It was part of her plan because her fiancé is over there waiting for her. The car was whipped around by the tornado Photo: RNZ / Emma Andrews The car is worth $5000 and the insurance was put on hold, Duncan said, now the car will "go to the wreckers". "We didn't want to waste the money while it's not being used right? Nothing's going to happen to it," Duncan thought before the tornado struck. People have rallied around those who have been affected by the tornado, continuously bringing supplies and pumpkin soup. Waitara High School principal Daryl Warburton jumped into the school van, hitched up the trailer, and headed to his friends house on Aratapu Street. He was there to pick up the debris and locate items that were scooped up during the weather event. The affected houses on Aratapu Street are next to farm land where there are normally horses - the residence heard from the owner that the horses are safe. A roof has been patched up from the weather event on Aratapu Street Photo: RNZ / Emma Andrews Warburton had driven to the house on the farm and collected outdoor furniture that had flown approximately 250 metres. He said the flying items had sliced through wired fencing at the farm house. Meteorologist Kgolofello Dube said the atmospheric conditions at the time were "favourable" to a tornado forming, and given the damage, it was likely. It is not yet confirmed that there was one. Firefighters were called to several homes shortly after midnight after strong winds blew out a sunroom on Elliott Street . Fire and Emergency NZ said there were no injuries, but at least 11 houses on the main street of Waitara alone suffered damage. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
7 hours ago
- RNZ News
Prisoner dies at Mt Eden Corrections Facility
Mt Eden Corrections Facility. Photo: RNZ Multiple investigations have been launched after a man died at Mt Eden Corrections Facility in Auckland. Police said they were made aware of the death at about 4pm on Friday after an 'incident' at the prison. Detective Inspector Greg Brand told RNZ that police were looking into the circumstances of the death, and there are positive lines of enquiry. Do you know more? Email Mt Eden Corrections Facility is main prison for newly remanded prisoners in the Auckland region. The Department of Corrections said the man's next of kin has been notified and all evidence will be given to the police. "Corrections will also carry out a full investigation," Mt Eden Corrections Facility general manager Dion Paki said. "As the prisoner was in a double-bunked cell, the second prisoner who was residing in the cell has been moved to a single-cell." Paki said Corrections was expressing "sincere condolences" to everyone affected. "We acknowledge this will be distressing for staff and other prisoners in the unit and we are providing people with support," he said. Paki said this included access to chaplains and any cultural support. The Inspectorate Office for the department, which operates independently, would also be investigating the death. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
