By John Gerritsen of RNZ Some principals are wary of revealing the new equity index numbers that are replacing decile numbers as the measure of socio-economic disadvantage in their schools.They are worried the numbers, which…
Tag Archives: oceania
Tenant ordered to pay damages after wet wipes clog water pump
A tenant has been ordered to pay a series of costs after wet wipes clogged a water pump at her rental.Colette van Zijl has since moved to South Africa, but had been living in a Kumeu property being managed by Steven Hang.Hang…
Tauranga dog attack: Helen Fraser walks free after judge finds no wrongdoing in attack
Nine months after her rottweiler attacked a vet, a dog owner has had a charge against her dismissed by a district court judge. Helen Tina Fraser was charged by the Tauranga City Council after her dog Chopper attacked vet Liza Schneider…
Family fined after moving car to safety during NSW floods
As floodwaters rose in the New South Wales Hunter region last week, one family decided to take measures to protect their car but were instead hit with a fine from the local council.
Roads were raging torrents of water on July 6 and Amber Evans' backyard was completely flooded.
As the emergency unfolded, her husband decided to move their car to higher ground to avoid it being inundated.
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"It was like two inches from coming inside the house," Evans told 9news.com.au.
"We didn't feel safe moving our car back into the gutter as it was full of water, the driveway was full of water."
The following day, the family was fined $283 by Cessnock City Council for illegally parking on a median strip.
"Any other day of the week I could understand but we were parked there to save our car from being flooded," Evans said.
The day the fine was issued, Evans said, the area was still under a flood warning.
The family's backyard was flooded, the toilets couldn't be used as the septic tank was underwater, and their children had been evacuated.
"My seven-year-old was at his grandmother's home crying about whether he was going to come back to a house," she said.
"I found it's stressful enough going through the flooding, even though we were lucky for (floodwaters) not to go inside, without needing to add on the next day the rangers are out fining us for having our cars parked safely.
"It is very disheartening to see Cessnock City Council fining residents for saving their possessions."
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Cessnock City Council said in a statement that parking fines were issued to cars "illegally parked in areas that had been, but were no longer, subject to flooding".
"The ranger who issued the tickets was unaware that the street had flooded the previous day as there was no evidence such as floodwater, flood debris or road closed signage," the statement read.
"Council has written to Revenue NSW advising that it would support a caution being issued instead of a fine."
Evans said having the fine downgraded to a caution isn't enough and called on the council to apologise to residents who were fined.
"It is still a mark on my husband's licence, in return, that can affect his job," she said.
"It's not about getting the fine taken away, it is the fact this shouldn't be happening.
"During a flood event, a natural disaster, it wasn't the time to be out fining people whose cars were on higher ground."
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Cessnock Councillor Ian Olsen said fining residents during the flooding event has made council look like "fools" and undermines the support the council is trying to provide for victims impacted by the recent disaster.
"It is a bad look for council to be fining people during the floods," he said.
"Why the ranger went down there and did that, I don't understand. It's bad enough having your house flood."
Olsen defended the Evans family and said they hadn't parked the car in a dangerous position but it was simply on a median strip.
He claimed rangers were a "power to themselves".
"Our rangers need to be more lenient, just allow residents to be able to keep their cars safe," he said.
Woman pleads guilty to attempted murder after father begged her to end his life
A Brisbane woman has admitted to smothering her father with a pillow after he pleaded with her to end his life.
Rebecca Louise Burden pleaded guilty to one count of attempted murder over the 2020 incident at a Sandgate nursing home.
The Supreme Court heard Burden's father, who suffers dementia and an acquired brain injury, cried on his bed while telling his daughter: "Please just kill me, I don't want to be here anymore."
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The court heard Burden covered her father's face with a cushion and attempted to smother him for approximately 20-25 seconds before removing it when he kicked his legs in struggle.
Burden described the moment to Justice Soraya Ryan as a "lapse of judgement" and said she accepts full responsibility for her actions.
Defence barristers argued it was an act of "mercy", not malice, and the case against Burden was borne from her full admissions to police.
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The vision for Māori by Sir Apirana Ngata will forever be woven into the political fabric in Parliament
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Bryce Edwards: Are we spending too little – or too much – on the military?
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Travellers urged to use alternative transport to Auckland Airport as carpark demand surges
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Mobile phone video crucial part of Brisbane murder probe
Mobile footage will form a crucial part of the investigation into the alleged murder of a 24-year-old Queensland man after he was fatally stabbed at a Brisbane train station yesterday morning.
The footage captured Lauie Tagaloa's final moments as a brawl between two groups of men allegedly erupted in Fortitude Valley's Valley Metro shopping complex and train station around 4am, July 11.
Seyram Kwami Djentuh, 20, has been charged with Tagaloa's alleged murder.
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The video footage is said to show the alleged brawl, depicting men lunging and shouting at each other during a confrontation in the shopping centre.
Tagaloa is then allegedly stabbed in the neck and left dying on the floor while his suspected attackers flee the scene.
Three men were later located by police with the alleged murder weapon at one of the train station's platforms.
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Police confirmed both CCTV and the mobile phone footage will play a crucial role in the investigation.
The shopping centre's extensive CCTV network was used to locate the alleged killer and witnesses.
"Police were watching the BCC CCTV when they observed a disturbance taking place in the public thorough fare of the fortitude valley railway station," regional duty officer Sean Cryer said.
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"On close examination they saw a male person lying on the ground, the persons nearby had blood on them- we immediately dispatched the QAS and uniform crews to the railway station."
"A search was conducted for those persons, they were located on platform 4, a weapon was located."
A lawyer for Djentuh did not give a comment on behalf of his client.
Djentuh has been remanded in custody and will appear in court August 8.