A key witness from the trial of convicted murderer Scott Watson has reportedly died in a suspected suicide.Furneaux Lodge worker Guy Wallace was one of the last people to see Ben Smart, 21, and Olivia Hope, 17, alive on New Year’s…
Tag Archives: oceania
Fresh warnings as flooding crisis escalates
There are new evacuation orders this morning for Sydney, with more than 18,000 people told to leave home.
Covid 19 coronavirus: Crime plummets during lockdown and remains below pre-Covid levels
Crime levels plummeted when New Zealand went into Covid-19 alert level 4 lockdown last year and many offences remained at lower-than-usual rates by the end of 2020.The number of victims recorded by police was 28,342 in January,…
Old boys return to St Stephen's School at Bombay for cleanup towards reopening
Old boys have returned to St Stephen’s School at Bombay in an emotional step towards reopening the historic school next year.The school, which educated generations of Māori leaders from 1844 until it closed in 2000, has become…
Wellington City councillor Rebecca Matthews opens up about panic attacks and stress
Wellington City councillor Rebecca Matthews has experienced a dozen panic attacks since she was elected, something she has never dealt with before. The first one happened during the Covid-19 lockdown. “I didn’t even know what…
Herald morning quiz: March 23
Test your brains with the Herald’s morning quiz. Be sure to check back on nzherald.co.nz at 3pm for the afternoon quiz. To challenge yourself with more quizzes, CLICK HERE.
Covid 19 coronavirus: Auckland Grand Millennium Hotel MIQ worker tests positive
VIRUS LATEST* Australian bubble decision – PM says any outbreak could strand travellers * Cost of lockdowns: What the data tells us * A year of elimination: New study on why NZ got it right * Claire Trevett: The shifting sands…
NSW floods 'far from over' as heavy rain falls
The intense weather pummelling New South Wales is "far from over" as two major systems collide to bring more heavy rain and major flooding to a state already in crisis.
The Australian Defence Force will join the emergency effort today as many thousands continue to face evacuation orders nervously wait as rivers swell beyond capacity.
Last night the NSW SES issued the latest flood evacuation warning for the Colo River in the Hawkesbury region, with major flooding similar to the July 1990 disaster expected at Sackville early on Tuesday morning.
READ MORE: Queensland home 'a ticking timebomb' as heavy rain causes landslide
https://twitter.com/BOM_NSW/status/1373920418529169413
There is already major flooding at North Richmond and Windsor and it may barely recede for most of the week based on rain expected in coming days, the Bureau of Meteorology says.
The bureau warned 10 million Australians were under a weather warning as two major systems collided, leaving Western Australia the only mainland state not affected.
"It may have been going for days but unfortunately this situation is far from over," the BOM said.
Warnings for heavy rain, damaging winds and heavy surf cover an area similar in size to Alaska.
READ MORE: Snakes jump into life raft as NSW rescue crews battle to reach family
https://twitter.com/NSWSES/status/1373967914596855815
Along the coast, the bureau expects the Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast and, later in the day, the South Coast to be the worst hit.
In a severe weather warning issued just before 11pm on Monday it warned heavy rain and flooding would be life-threatening in some parts.
The bureau warned because the coast had already been so thoroughly drenched, even moderate localised rainfall could provoke flash flooding.
Nambucca Heads was one of several locations to cop more than 200 millimetres of rain on Monday and Coffs Harbour had 183 millimetres.
Further west, forecasters expect the highest chance of flash flooding in the Upper Western, Central Tablelands, North West Slopes and Plains and Central West Slopes and Plains regions.
The ACT, Snowy Mountains and Northern Tables are expected to bear the brunt later in the day.
ADF sends rescue helicopters to NSW
There have already been hundreds of rescues in NSW of people trapped by rapidly rising floodwaters or cut off as rivers breached their banks.
In one rescue, crews trying to reach a family on the Mid North Coast had to fend off snakes that "jumped into the life raft" looking for refuge, Fire and Rescue NSW said yesterday.
The Australian Defence Force will send two search and rescue helicopters to flooded areas today after NSW requested backup.
"The search and rescue choppers will be able to work through night and day and supporting personnel will be made available to make this happen," David Littleproud, the Minister for Emergency Management, said.
READ MORE: Sydney suddenly home to one of world's biggest waterfalls
https://twitter.com/BOM_au/status/1373884280137510913
"Both will have the capability to winch and recover in the dangerous flood areas.
"They will operate out of Nowra and Bega on the New South Wales south coast."
Serial rapist released into complex where sexual assault victims live
Pressure is mounting on Western Australia's Attorney-General over a court decision to release a serial rapist into a complex that houses female sexual assault victims.
A women's support group says the system is flawed and fails to protect the vulnerable.
Advocates want to know how a rapist such as Nigel Pindan can be released from prison and housed alongside victims.
READ MORE: Hell's Angel bikie allegedly caught with 10 kilos of methamphetamine
"It almost beggars belief and your mind immediately goes to 'there must be some other rationale or reason behind this'," said Women's Health and Family Services CEO Felicite Black.
" … The focus needs to be on keeping those women, and I might add the wider community, safe."
In opposition, Attorney-General John Quigley demanded his then counterpart to toughen the state's "weak" dangerous sex offender laws.
"He has the power to step in on behalf of the community and ask the Supreme Court to cancel the release order in view of the breach," Mr Quigley said in 2014.
But on Monday Mr Quigley was unavailable to comment on Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Hill's ruling on Pindan.
The decision, delivered on March 18, ruled the proposed accommodation for the rapist was suitable despite WA Police considering it "very high risk" and the State Solicitor's Office saying it was "not suitable".
Some of the residents have been the subject of domestic violence or historic sexual assaults, according to the judgment.
"I am satisfied that the proposed residence is sufficiently suitable for the respondent to reside in," Justice Hill said.
She accepted the evidence of forensic psychiatrist Peter Wynn Owen that the complex didn't inherently pose any higher risk than Pindan's normal day-to-day life and any risks could be addressed by imposing restrictions.
"Mr Pindan needs stable accommodation and he has an opportunity to have that accommodation," Dr Wynn Owen told the hearing.
"I'm not sure that anywhere in the community will not potentially have people – women – who are vulnerable in it.
"I don't see that persons who are, for example, the victims of domestic violence as being more or less vulnerable [to Pindan].
"The victim selection has been about intoxicated and vulnerable through sleeping or unconsciousness."
The court order prevents the rapist from drinking or being in a car or private residence with any woman who hasn't been pre-approved by corrective services.
He will be tracked with a GPS bracelet but when the judgment was issued, authorities still needed to test whether it would be sensitive enough to spot him moving from his apartment to another in the same facility.
Pindan must also fully disclose his offending to anyone who starts a friendship or relationship and give police and corrective services officers access to his devices if asked.
PM blasts 'disgusting, sickening' reports of lewd Parliament acts
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has blasted "disgusting and sickening" reports of Coalition staff members allegedly performing lewd acts inside Parliament.
A News Corp and Network Ten report earlier tonight alleged a group of four Government staff members had exchanged videos and images taken inside Parliament House.
One staffer at the centre of the allegations has now had his employment terminated. He is alleged to have performed a lewd act on the desk of a female MP in Parliament House.
"Everyone has a right to feel safe at work. The reports aired tonight are disgusting and sickening," Mr Morrison said.
READ MORE: Internal investigation into Brittany Higgins rape allegation 'paused'
"It's not good enough, and is totally unacceptable.
"The people who come to work in this building are better than this.
"The actions of these individuals show a staggering disrespect for the people who work in Parliament, and for the ideals the Parliament is supposed to represent."
Mr Morrison said the staff member at the centre of the allegations had been identified and had his employment terminated immediately.
"I urge anybody with further information to come forward," Mr Morrison said.
"I will have more to say on this and the cultural issues we confront as a Parliament in coming days."
READ MORE: Nicolle Flint prepared to meet with Labor over women's safety