Latest news with #Waikato
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Missing 17-year-old last seen at a mall in Auckland's New Lynn
Police are looking for missing 17-year-old Whetu Bennett, who was last seen at LynnMall in Auckland on Wednesday. Photo: Supplied / Police Police are seeking the public's help to find a 17-year-old girl who was last seen at an Auckland mall. Police said Whetu Bennett hadn't been seen since about 12pm on Wednesday when she was at LynnMall, in the suburb of New Lynn. However, a family member who posted on Facebook said her "baby sister" hadn't been seen since Tuesday. The woman said Whetu was wearing a black dress, beige top and sunglasses. "Her partner has called my mum in Morrinsville to inform her that he hasn't seen her since yesterday," the sister posted on Wednesday morning. "She isn't from Auckland and hasn't got anyone up there she knows. Please share my post. I'm absolutely [heartbroken emoji]. She said Whetu had no phone to call or message her family on. The post had been reposted by a New Zealand Missing Persons page and other family members had friends had also made desperate pleas for Whetu to contact them or go to a police station. A police spokesperson said on Saturday night, Whetu was still missing and police would assess information as it came in. The spokesperson said a family member reported Whetu missing and that the teenager had recently moved to Auckland from Waikato. Police re-posted the appeal three hours ago and asked anybody who knows the whereabouts of Whetu to contact police on 105 and quote the police reference number 250626/5181. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Times
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Times
John Mitchell: Leading Red Roses at World Cup is like coaching All Blacks
It ranks among the most comprehensive midweek defeats for tourists from these isles. In 1993 the British & Irish Lions had beaten New Zealand to take the series to a decider, and three days later they were thumped 38-10 in Hamilton. Among the Waikato XV that day were Ian Foster, Warren Gatland and John Mitchell. 'Antipodeans wait for the Lions,' Mitchell says. 'You just want that opportunity, and then it's a 12-year cycle as well, so that's why it's really important. When you've got confidence as a provincial side and you give yourself a chance of winning, you go for it.' A quantity surveyor at the time, he recalls the occasion: 'Three o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon, 35,000 people, probably not all of them on annual leave. Then the night we won and went into the night, I think I was driving around the Welsh president in my Ford Escort to try to find another pub. 'The next morning I had to report for work at 7.30am. I still remember my workmate, Derek Hobbs, he could see I was a little bit seedy and I had to go to the doctor for antibiotics because I think I cut my elbow open.' Fast forward 32 years and more pressing for Mitchell, 61, is the Women's Rugby World Cup in England, beginning on August 22, for which the Red Roses are favourites after a run of 55 wins in 56 Tests (the defeat being the previous World Cup final). They began their campaign on June 2 after a five-week break, starting with a first day of connection, sharing stories and photographs about the time off. Punishing fitness work from the first two camps will continue, twinned with increasing tactical work, to help deal with incidents such as the first-half red card for Lydia Thompson three years ago, en route to a fifth defeat in finals by the Black Ferns. 'If we don't create that exposure, then we're probably going to let ourselves down like the last World Cup,' Mitchell says. Mitchell has coached at several men's World Cups. In 2003 he led the All Blacks, 16 years on from their only win at the time, into the tournament. 'It does feel similar to that, but probably what's different is that I'm a little bit older and a bit more experienced,' Mitchell says. 'The young John Mitchell, he was 37 or 40 way back then, has done a few miles. I would love to have had the experience that I've got now back then. But hey, that's life, you've got to learn it. 'I've been in too many World Cups where people make it bigger than what it actually is. It's just a tournament, and it's a big tournament. Just focus on what you can control and make sure you don't get distracted by stuff from the outside world that affects the week.' More than 300,000 tickets have been sold for the tournament, more than double the record attendance in New Zealand three years ago, and Mitchell is aware of the World Cup's role in the growth of the women's game, as well as the status of the Red Roses. 'To me, it's significant; we stand for something, we've set a standard, but we also haven't won a World Cup for 11 years, so how do we get down what we haven't had for a long time?' he says. 'We mustn't have been doing something right. 'We've got an opportunity to embrace this, take it on, and create our own story that ultimately can help our girls pass on the message for a lot longer than when you come second. I guess that's the powerful opportunity while this tournament is under our watch.'
RNZ News
12 hours ago
- Sport
- RNZ News
Netball's Super Shot - who's scoring, who's not and does it matter?
Stars shooter Charlie Bell has shot 10 two-pointers among her 220 goals this season. Photo: Blake Armstrong/Photosport Analysis - What do the statistics tell us about the two-point shot and its impact on this year's ANZ Premiership, if any? Netball New Zealand decided to introduce a 'super shot' to the domestic league this year, following in the footsteps of Australia's Super Netball league, which rewards shooters for taking longer shots. The two-point shot comes into play for the last five minutes of each quarter, so for a third of the game. Well after seven rounds, the stats suggest that there's no real correlation between super shots and winning games. Tabletopping Mainland Tactix have sunk the least two-point shots by far this season, with just eight, at a conversion rate of 35 percent. Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic, who are second to bottom on the ladder, have scored the most super shots of any team with 34, at a success rate of 52 percent. Northern Mystics are second on the table and have converted the fourth-most with 27, but have the best conversion rate of any team at 57 percent. That's largely down to the shooting prowess of Filda Vui, who has the more two-point goals than anyone in the league with 23, at an impressive 62 percent. Magic shooter Saviour Tui ranks second with 21 and team-mate Ameliaranne Ekenasio third, with 13 super shots. Pulse replacement shooter Amorangi Malesala has only played 56 minutes this season, but has the fourth-most super shots with 12. Overall, 45 percent of attempts at the longer distance have been converted, which seems on par with the Australian league, given that the scoring zone across the Tasman is closer to the goalpost. Amelia Walmsley is the ANZ Premiership's leading scorer, but has not hit a 'super shot'. Photo: Photosport In last season's Australian SSN competition, 54 percent of the super shots found the net, where shooters are awarded two points for shots starting from three metres away. In the ANZ Premiership, the zone starts 3.5m away from the post. Northern Stars, who sit at the bottom of the table, have scored the second-most double-point shots with 31, at 41 percent. They have attempted more than any other team, which is not surprising, given they've trailled in most matches and have tried to make up ground by doubling their points. Central Pulse shooter Amelia Walmsley has scored the most goals this season with 307, at an incredible 96 percent. None of those goals include super shots. Second is Aliyah Dunn with 281, including 11 super shots, and Charlie Bell is third with 220, which includes 10 two-pointers. Tactix coach Donna Wilkins encourages her players to use the super shot sparingly. Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2025 Tactix coach Donna Wilkins, who played netball and basketball for New Zealand, has encouraged her shooters to use the super shot sparingly, noting the risk involved. A miss is often gobbled up by the opposition defence and turned into a goal at the other end of the court. Of course, its use can depend on who you've got in your team and whether you've got a high-volume shooter, like the Pulse do with Walmsley. Australian players have had a few years to get used to the rule change, which was introduced to their competition in 2020. Adelaide Thunderbirds won the premiership last year, but had by far the least two-point attempts in 2024. They won the grand final against the Vixens without putting up a single super shot attempt during the game. The success of the rule change shouldn't only be judged on whether it has an impact on results. If fans are more engaged by the anticipation and risk-versus-reward element, then that's a win. One of the most exciting finishes we've seen this season came in the final game of round seven on Monday, when Steel shooter Georgia Heffernan sunk a super shot in the dying minutes to help her side pip the Pulse. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
15 hours ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Country Life: Dollars for nature - can biodiversity credits fix NZ's conservation woes?
Photo: RNZ/Sally Round If mud and dead things aren't your thing but you still want trees planted, pests killed and wetlands to flourish, you could pay others to do the hard slog through biodiversity credits. Not to be confused with carbon credits, they are a way for private investors and corporations to pay others to save the skink or clean up sludgy streams and, in so doing, meet the expectations of a company's increasingly green customers. A biodiversity credit market is something the government has been perusing for a few years now , given limited public funds to pay for the huge costs involved in protecting and restoring nature. At Fieldays this month Associate Minister for the Environment Andrew Hoggard said farmers and other landowners were already doing their bit to protect biodiversity and wanted to do more. "Supporting voluntary nature credits markets is a chance for the government to show them the carrot, not just the stick. "We want to connect those caring for the land with investors who support conservation." Bunker, one of four male kākāpō, moved to Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari in 2023. Photo: Supplied / Jake Osborne This week, Christchurch-based business consultancy Ekos launched its own biodiversity credit scheme, BioCredita, where investors can purchase bundles of credits to fund nature projects, including Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari , a fenced eco-sanctuary in Waikato. The project, covering 3363 hectares, costs $5000 daily to run and is hoping to fund operations through credits or units priced at $12 each, representing the cost of protecting one hundredth of a hectare. The first buyer, according to Ekos' chief executive Sean Weaver, is a window manufacturer "who liked the idea of selling biodiversity-enriched windows". "They can't do much biodiversity conservation in the factory, but they can support a nearby project, which is what they've done," Weaver told Country Life . Follow Country Life on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , iHeart or wherever you get your podcasts. The Ekos credits are measured, independently verified and registered, and the project monitored to ensure operators do what they say they're doing, Weaver said. "We've built a standard called the Ecos SD standard, which defines all of the things you need to do in order to demonstrate the benefits that you're delivering. And then we've built a registry, a digital registry on blockchain technology, so that these units can be issued once they've been verified to the standard, and then they can be tracked and traced across." Weaver stresses the credits, unlike carbon credits, are not for use to offset damage to the environment. Pest control in native forest Photo: RNZ/Sally Round The Maungatautari project is among several pilot projects which the government is hoping to learn from. Others include a Silver Fern Farms project and Te Toa Whenua Northland which is transitioning around 100 ha from exotic forestry to native trees and includes pest control on iwi-owned land. A voluntary biodiversity credit market is just another tool for companies, both here and overseas, which want to fund New Zealand's conservation efforts, according to Hayden Johnston, GM for the Natural Environment at the Ministry for the Environment. "We know that in New Zealand, companies are spending in the millions of dollars each year to keep up with either their regulatory requirements or claims that they want to make about their brands. "I think people see New Zealand as a ... country that has high credibility in the international space, and I feel really confident that we could be creating some really high-end premium products or credits to be offered internationally. "One of the key questions we've always had is, you know, who is going to buy these things, and what do they want to buy?" Ekos' Sean Weaver said his scheme ultimately wants to attract foreign revenue to New Zealand which is seen as a hotspot for biodiversity. "Imagine going to Europe and lassooing, I don't know, 10,20,30,40 hundred million dollars worth of demand from big actors in those economies so that we can create a fire hose of money to point at New Zealand conservation interests. That's really the goal here." But what about criticism the credits could be another vehicle for greenwashing - companies exaggerating or misleading consumers about their green credentials? The integrity of biodiversity schemes is key, given the world's chequered experience with carbon trading. Already critics are flagging concerns around the nascent biodiversity credit industry, not just greenwashing - but scaleability, distaste at the "commodification" of nature and the risk of distracting governments from their funding obligations. Johnston said the government hopes to develop "guardrails" by following the pilot projects' experience. Tree planting in QEII forest Photo: RNZ/Sally Round "Principles like transparency, so that the buyer knows exactly what they're buying; additionality, so that what they're buying is clearly an additional benefit from what would have happened otherwise; longevity, so that the action or the outcome will occur over a longish period of time." A central registry for the credits is something they will be considering too, he said. Weaver describes credits as a variation on philanthropy. "Are they commodifying nature? No, they're not. They're commodifying the human labour and technology cost to look after nature. So no nature is being traded in these credits." Johnston said biodiversity credits could work well for farmers and landowners working collaboratively, say, in catchment groups, to fund things like fencing and pest control. "One of the things I'm really keen we test is how you can do this in a way that is cost effective. "We know that examples of projects that are using international verification, for example, can be quite costly, and we want to find ways to make this an available tool in New Zealand for New Zealand circumstances." Weaver said the Ekos credits, which are tradeable, should not be seen as a goldrush, but essentially a form of sustainable financing. "Everybody in the value chain, in our programme has to make a profit, but nobody is allowed to make a super profit, like an unjustifiable super profit. "The main reason for that is that the end-user of biodiversity credits is buying a conservation outcome, and they want to be confident that they're funding the true cost of looking after the place, and not funding, you know, somebody's super profit that will help them just buy another yacht." "Projects still need to go out and hunt for buyers, and our system is a new net to go fishing for that money," Weaver said. [LI Read submissions and discussion paper on a biodiversity credit system for NZ here.
RNZ News
a day ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Health NZ pay first instalment of Holidays Act shortfall to Waikato staff
More than $39m was paid out to Waikato staff on Friday, Photo: Supplied/ Waikato Hospital More than $39 million in Holidays Act remediation payments were made to Health New Zealand's Waikato staff on Friday - with more payments to come. Identified in 2016, issues relating to the Holidays Act found former district health boards were not paying staff correctly. Health New Zealand Te Manawa Taki regional deputy chief executive Cath Cronin said 5531 current Waikato District staff received a payment. "The remediation payment made today is for the period from 1 May 2010 to 30 June 2022," she said. "The payroll in Waikato is progressively being made compliant and staff in Waikato will receive a second payment later this year from 1 July 2022 up to the date of the second payment." Cronin said the complexities of the payroll in Waikato meant splitting the total amount over two payments was the best way for HNZ to move forward. "We have made significant progress in the remediation project with around two-thirds of our current Health New Zealand employees now having received the money they are owed," she said. The payment today followed similar payments to current HNZ staff in Auckland, Counties Manukau, Waitematā, Taranaki, Wairarapa, Nelson Marlborough], Hutt Valley, Capital Coast , Bay of Plenty, Te Tai Tokerau, Hawke's Bay and South Canterbury. The organisation said more than 75 percent of its payrolls had now been rectified. "Nationally, we have about 90,000 current employees, plus 130,000 former employees, covered by the Holidays Act remediation project, for the period from 1 May 2010 to the present day," Cronin said. The payment to Waikato District staff takes the amount paid so far nationally to more than $530.2 million across 71,093 current employees.
