The Government is strengthening plant variety rights (PVR) to protect investments underpinning high‑value exports, regional jobs and global demand for New Zealand produce, Trade and Investment and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Cameron Brewer say.

“High‑value horticulture relies on years, often decades, of breeding, testing and commercialisation. Strengthening the Plant Variety Rights Act 2022 gives New Zealand the intellectual property settings it needs to compete internationally, protect our investment and grow export returns,” Mr Brewer says.

“From drought-resistant grass seed that benefits pastoral farmers, to higher-yielding and better-tasting produce for New Zealanders and our export markets, these changes will provide vital support for growers,” Mr McClay says.

“In 2024, 75 per cent of the $3.5 billion in export returns from kiwifruit and an estimated 55 per cent of the $979 million in export returns from apples came from plant variety rights‑protected varieties. This shows the vital contribution that new plant varieties make to growing export earnings and taking us closer to New Zealand’s ambitious goal of doubling the value of exports in 10 years.

“A successful sector means thriving communities, economic growth, secure jobs and a prosperous economy.”

“Zespri’s projections show that extending the PVR term by five years for SunGold Kiwifruit alone would mean additional revenue of around $1.8 billion over five years from the time of the extension, to the kiwifruit industry and the Biosecurity Science Institute,” Mr Brewer says.

“Growers will also benefit from additional returns as PVR varieties maintain their market value for longer, allowing growers to continue to build high value demand ahead of supply.

“Directly and indirectly we all benefit when our domestic growers are thriving. 

“Breeding and importing new varieties can be a long, expensive and uncertain process. Breeders and importers take a significant risk, and we need to ensure they are supported in this process.”

The Government is also restoring provisional protection, so breeders are covered from day one of their rights application instead of when it is granted.

“This means plant breeders can take immediate legal action if new varieties are stolen and commercially exploited during the application process, which can take up to five years and sometimes much longer,” Mr Brewer says.

“By providing greater certainty and support, we are empowering plant breeders to keep innovating – driving economic growth and ensuring New Zealand remains competitive on the world stage,” Mr McClay says.

“The National-led Government is fixing the basics and building the future by making common-sense changes for industry that help support more opportunities for New Zealanders.” Mr Brewer says.

MIL OSI

The continued operation of the Kaimai Hydro-Electric Power Scheme in the Bay of Plenty has been granted Fast-track approval, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones announced today.

This is the 23rd project to be approved under the Fast-track process and supports New Zealand’s renewable electricity generation infrastructure.

Manawa Energy Limited lodged a substantive application in September 2025 for the re-consenting of the existing Kaimai Hydro-Electric Power Scheme.

Approval has taken five and a half months since the independent expert panel commenced.

“The Kaimai Hydro-Electric Power Scheme involves the continued operation of the existing hydro-electric generation scheme and associated water and generation infrastructure in the Kaimai Range,” Mr Bishop says.

“The scheme generates an average of 169 GWh of electricity per year, equivalent to the electricity needs of approximately 24,600 households, and contributes around 32 per cent of Tauranga’s electricity demand.”

“Reliable renewable electricity generation is critical to supporting economic growth and regional resilience,” Mr Jones says.

“This scheme has been operating in some form for at least 50 years and continues to play a vital role in supplying electricity to the Bay of Plenty community.

“Fast-track is helping ensure important infrastructure projects like this can continue operating with greater certainty and efficiency.”

“The continued operation of the scheme is expected to avoid an increase in emissions of around 26,693 tonnes of CO2 per year, supporting New Zealand’s emissions reduction goals,” Mr Bishop says.

“The project involves re-consenting the existing hydro-electric power scheme, including associated generation and water infrastructure, to support ongoing renewable energy production.

“The independent expert panel released its draft decision and conditions for the project on 24 April 2026.”

Notes to editor:

For more information about the project: Kaimai Hydroelectric Power Scheme Re-Consenting

Fast-track by the numbers: 

•    23 projects approved by expert panels. 
•    16 projects with expert panels appointed. 
•    46 projects are currently progressing through the Fast-track process. 25 active substantive and 21 referral applications.
•    47 projects have been referred to Fast-track by the Minister for Infrastructure. 
•    149 projects are listed in Schedule 2 of the Fast-track Approvals Act, meaning they can apply for Fast-track approval. 
•    On average, it has taken 118 working days for decisions on substantive applications from when officials determine an application is complete and in-scope. 

Fast-track projects approved by expert panels: 

•    Arataki [Housing/Land]  
•    Ashbourne [Housing/Land]  
•    Ayrburn Screen Hub [Infrastructure]
•    Green Steel [Infrastructure] 
•    Homestead Bay [Housing/Land] 
•    Bledisloe North Wharf and Fergusson North Berth Extension [Infrastructure]  
•    Drury Metropolitan Centre – Consolidated Stages 1 and 2 [Housing/Land] 
•    Drury Quarry Expansion – Sutton Block [Mining/Quarrying] 
•    Kings Quarry Expansion – Stages 2 and 3 [Mining/Quarrying] 
•    Kaimai Hydro-Electric Power Scheme [Renewable energy] 
•    Maitahi Village [Housing/Land] 
•    Milldale – Stages 4C and 10 to 13 [Housing/Land] 
•    Pound Road [Housing/Land]  
•    Rangitoopuni [Housing/Land]  
•    Ryans Road [Housing/Land]  
•    Southland Wind Farm Project [Renewable energy]
•    Sunfield [Housing/Land]  
•    Tekapo Power Scheme – Applications for Replacement Resource Consents [Renewable energy] 
•    Takitimu North Link – Stage 2 [Infrastructure] 
•    Waihi North [Mining/Quarrying] 
•    Waitaha Hydro [Renewable energy] 
•    Waitākere District Court – New Courthouse Project [Infrastructure]
•    Wellington International Airport Southern Seawall Renewal [Infrastructure]

Expert panels have been appointed for: 
•    Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project  
•    Bream Bay Sand Extraction Project
•    Central and Southern Block Mining Project
•    Delmore
•    Downtown Carpark Site Development
•    Foxton Solar Farm
•    Haldon Solar Farm 
•    Hananui Aquaculture Project 
•    Lake Pūkaki Hydro Storage and Dam Resilience Works 
•    Mahinerangi Wind Farm 
•    Mt Iron Junction
•    Northwest Rapid Transit
•    State Highway 1 North Canterbury – Woodend Bypass Project (Belfast to Pegasus)
•    Stella Passage Development
•    The Point Mission Bay 
•    The Point Solar Farm  
 

MIL OSI

The two people suspected to be responsible for the death of baby Soul Turany never discussed how the boy suffered his catastrophic head injuries, an inquest has heard.

Police say either the boy’s mother Storme Turany or her then-partner Tony Farmer must have inflicted the injuries that killed the 16-week-old, some time on the morning of 30 August, 2014 at their rural home near Darfield.

Soul died early on 31 August, 2014.

Clinicians have told the inquest into Soul’s death that he could not have injured himself, the person who did it would have known what they had done and Soul would have been unconscious soon after the assault.

Coroner Ian Telford advised Turany and Farmer of the privilege against self-incrimination before they gave evidence in Christchurch.

During more than nine hours on the stand Turany did not invoke that privilege and strenuously denied any involvement in her son’s death, instead pointing the finger at Farmer.

On Friday, Farmer also denied ever harming Soul.

A possibility put to Farmer by counsel assisting the coroner Jamie O’Sullivan was that, “You were not Soul’s father, you’ve been in a stressful situation, Storme’s snapping at you, you became stressed and annoyed at Soul?”

“No, I wasn’t,” Farmer responded.

“Have you ever become frustrated with Soul and handled him roughly?” O’Sullivan asked.

“No,” Farmer responded. Farmer said he had also never handled his own child roughly.

Asked what he would say in response to suggestions he had harmed Soul, Farmer said “that I didn’t”.

Farmer went to Soul’s funeral and stayed with Turany for several days afterwards.

He told the inquest he wanted to remain in a relationship with her.

“I loved Storme,” he said. “Maybe now I might not have been in as much love as I thought I had been, but at the time, yep.”

Farmer said the couple never spoke about how Soul died, despite both being told by police one of them must have caused the non-accidental injuries.

“She said she was confused, but we didn’t discuss anything to do with Soul or cause of death or anything like that,” he said.

Asked why not, he responded, “I don’t know – just neither of us did.

“Obviously she wasn’t doing too well. She was upset so I didn’t really want to bring it up. It sounds silly, such a raw subject. You might have questions but you don’t want to upset someone further.”

On the morning Soul was injured, he woke between 3am and 3.30am and was unsettled. Turany spent much of the morning trying to settle him, including giving the child paracetamol and a nasal spray.

Farmer admitted going into the child’s room and placing a dummy in his mouth while Turany prepared a bottle.

Soul was still unsettled at 5.29am and Farmer sent a message asking Turany if she wanted help.

Turany called Healthline at 6.23am but hung up after 17 seconds.

Turany then made a series of unanswered calls to her sister and left a voice message saying she was going to take Soul to hospital.

She again called Healthline.

Turany and Farmer agreed Soul was alert at this time. Soul was sitting on Farmer’s knee and Turany said she went outside at some stage during the nine-minute call.

Farmer and Turany agreed Soul was limp at the end of that call.

Clinicians told the inquest Soul’s fatal injuries were likely inflicted about six to 12 hours before his first scan at Christchurch Hospital at 10.20am on 30 August. They said he was likely unconscious immediately following the assault or very soon afterwards.

O’Sullivan asked Farmer if he had injured Soul while he was sitting on his lap.

“Is there anything you could have done with Soul that harmed him either accidentally or in another way?” she asked.

“No,” he said.

Farmer’s evidence is continuing on Friday.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

New Zealand Food Safety is supporting Presbyterian Support Services (South Canterbury) in its recall of Too Easy Meals brand Crumbed Chicken and Gravy (350 g) due to the possible presence of foreign matter. 

“The concern with these crumbed chicken and gravy meals available in Timaru and online is that they could contain clear hard plastic,” says New Zealand Food Safety acting deputy director-general Jenny Bishop. 

“If you have any Too Easy Meals brand Crumbed Chicken and Gravy meals produced between 2 April 2026 and 4 May 2026 and with best-before dates of 2 April 2027 to 4 May 2027, don’t eat them. Customers should contact Presbyterian Support Services (South Canterbury) for a full refund.”  

The affected products are sold at: 

New Zealand Food Safety has not received any notifications of associated injury, and the products have not been exported. 

Visit New Zealand Food Safety’s recall page for up-to-date information and photographs of the affected product. 

Too Easy Meals brand Crumbed Chicken and Gravy

“As is our usual practice, New Zealand Food Safety will work with Presbyterian Support Services (South Canterbury) to understand how this happened and prevent its recurrence,” says Ms Bishop. 

The vast majority of food sold in New Zealand is safe, but sometimes problems can occur. Help keep yourself and your family safe by subscribing to our recall alerts. Information on how to subscribe is on the New Zealand Food Safety food recall page.

MIL OSI

Hours after baby Soul Turany died from catastrophic head injuries at Christchurch Hospital, the boy’s mother sent a text message to her then-partner.

“I still don’t understand why I haven’t heard from you. Soul has passed away,” she wrote.

Police say either Storme Turany or Tony Farmer must have inflicted the injuries that killed the 16-week-old child, some time on the morning of 30 August 2014 at their rural home near Darfield.

He died early on 31 August.

Clinicians have told an inquest that Soul could not have injured himself, the person who did it would have known what they had done and he would have been unconscious soon after the assault.

Turany sent the message to Farmer at 5.43am on 31 August.

“I’m so sorry about Soul. I want to be there for you. I don’t know what to do,” Farmer replied.

The pair continued to exchange messages over the following days, with Turany inviting Farmer to Soul’s funeral.

Coroner Telford asked Turany – who had described herself as an over-protective mother – how she could explain her messages to Farmer if she was innocent, given that would mean he had killed her son.

“I can’t explain it. It makes me feel sick,” she said.

Before her second interview with police, Turany said she did not want to think that Farmer had killed her son.

“I did not want to believe it,” she said.

“I thought at this point the detectives might still be wrong. I thought this might have been some kind of mistake.”

Turany ended the relationship with Farmer some time about 12 September, when she was formally interviewed by police under caution.

Farmer’s lawyer Andrew McCormick suggested she ended the relationship to cast guilt over her former partner.

“Tony is saying he’s there for you and you are seeking out contact from him,” McCormick said, characterising the messages between the pair following Soul’s death.

McCormick asked if Turany wanted to point the finger at Farmer.

“I did not hurt my son. If this is about one out of two people, then yes there is a reason to point the finger,” she responded.

Several lawyers put direct accusations to Turany about her involvement in Soul’s death.

On Monday Turany’s sister Skye Lamborn told the court about an occasion when Turany “chucked” Soul down on a bed and then called her in tears.

On Wednesday Turany had claimed that was mischaracterised but on Thursday said she could not recall it.

Lawyer for police Kerry White asked if it provided a clue as to what happened on the morning of 30 August.

“You’ve done something to Soul that morning and it’s not the first time that it’s happened is it?” White asked.

“I cannot recall,” Turany responded.

“Due to frustration and exhaustion you have again chucked Soul down hard on the bed?” White pressed.

“No,” Turany interjected, mid question.

“But he’s hit something – is it the headboard?” White continued.

“That is not true,” Turany responded.

“I’m not suggesting that is an outcome that you intended but that is what’s happened, isn’t it?” White pressed again.

“No it is not,” Turany said.

McCormick then took a different path, asking: “Was it an accident?”

“That is not what happened,” Turany said.

On Thursday Turany struggled to recall many details of the morning Soul was injured, including her first phone call to Healthline and several calls to her sister but was adamant she had nothing to do with his death.

Farmer will take the stand on Thursday afternoon.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

The flotilla departs tomorrow with 54 boats and nearly 500 participants from 45 countries on the eve of Nakba Day.

MARMARIS – The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) issued a definitive declaration today from the port of Marmaris, confirming that its nonviolent mission to break Israel’s illegal siege of Gaza will proceed. The fleet departs tomorrow, joining forces with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition to launch 54 boats carrying nearly 500 participants from 45 countries. As the world mobilizes after 78 years of Palestinian dispossession, occupation, and erasure, the flotilla will be at sea, sailing toward Gaza, maintaining that commemoration without action is no longer enough.

Four New Zealanders are set to continue on this mission to break Israel’s illegal siege. These individuals are Samuel Leason, Hāhona Ormsby, Mousa Taher, and Julien Blondel.

After a month defined by maritime violence, illegal abductions, and the documented torture of international human rights defenders by the israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), our fleet has regrouped and expanded in preparation for the final leg of its journey to the shores of Gaza where they will deliver food and aid to Palestinian children and families continuing to live under israel’s brutal occupation.

The Strategic Mandate for Action

The decision to proceed is grounded in visceral mandates. While Gaza’s healthcare system continues to face total collapse, the Flotilla’s medical fleet serves as a direct, civilian-led humanitarian intervention. GSF organizers emphasized that as the Israeli regime attempts to make the blockade the permanent status quo, the strategic risk of inaction has become far greater than the risks of sailing.

This determination follows the return of Steering Committee members Saif Abukeshek and Thiago Ávila, who were released on May 10 after ten days of illegal detention and systemic abuse and torture at the hands of the israeli state as well as the beating and sexual abuse of flotilla volunteers who were illegally intercepted and detained in European international waters on 29 April. Their return is a testament to international mobilization, yet their release does not constitute true freedom while over 9,500 Palestinians remain trapped in a system of torture and impunity.

For the Flotilla, the moral imperative of direct action against the israeli regime far outweighs the risks of remaining silent in the face of ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing. In parallel with the maritime departure, a land convoy is currently staging in North Africa. Comprised of dozens of trucks and hundreds of participants from over 30 countries, this overland mission is moving through Libya toward the Rafah border crossing.

Defying the Machinery of Impunity

The mission has further evolved into a universal struggle for liberation. Representatives from the Rohingya community and other oppressed peoples have joined the fleet, framing Gaza as the tip of the spear in a global uprising against genocide.

A Direct Challenge to Global Complicity and State Piracy

Flotilla organizers explicitly condemned the complicity of the Greek government, the European Union, and other flag states whose silence allowed the IOF to carry out abductions in international waters, over 1,000 km from Gaza, with total impunity.

Parallel to technical preparations, international legal experts finalized a global accountability strategy at a legal symposium held last week. This includes immediate legal prosecution and potential proceedings at the International Criminal Court against the israeli state and governments providing diplomatic and logistical cover for these crimes; exploring legal actions in more than 30 countries; and continued demands for sanctions against and reparations from the israeli state for its ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.

GSF continues to demand formal accountability for the violence and sexual abuse inflicted on participants. GSF maintains that civilian maritime missions are firmly protected under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a framework the Israeli state and its allies are currently dismantling.

A Direct Challenge to Political Cowardice

The mission stands as a direct challenge to world leaders who have offered only calibrated statements and letters while witnessing the continued genocide and starvation of Gaza. While 14 UN Special Rapporteurs, the Prime Ministers of Spain and Brazil, and 19 members of the U.S. Congress have spoken out, the U.S. State Department has issued threats against its own citizens rather than defending them from attacks in international waters. This response is being documented as a legal and political fact.

In the absence of state intervention, people of conscience are acting as the physical barrier between military brutality and Palestinian lives. As the flotilla sets sail, movement and Palestinian civil society leaders are coordinating global protests on land, with over 400 actions planned across 47 countries on May 15 and 16. The horizon is not negotiable.

MIL OSI

The mother of a Canterbury baby who died of catastrophic head injuries has broken down in tears as she claimed she struggled to recall the morning her son was injured.

Soul Turany was less than four months old when he died in 2014.

No one has been charged over his death but police have said either his mother, Storme Turany, or her then-partner, Tony Farmer, is responsible.

Turany broke down in tears at an inquest on Thursday morning as she struggled to recall the events of the day Soul was grievously injured.

“I just want to be able to help as much as I can but I know I’m not,” she told the inquest, tearfully.

“I want the answers as much as you do.”

Coroner Ian Telford is examining the circumstances of Soul’s death during a two-week inquest in the Coroners Court at Christchurch.

Storme Turany returned to the court to give evidence on Thursday morning after spending all of Wednesday on the stand.

The coroner advised Turany of the privilege against self-incrimination before her evidence on Wednesday, though she is yet to invoke that privilege.

The inquest heard Soul was taken to hospital on the morning of 30 August 2014 after emergency services were called to the rural home near Darfield he shared with Turany and Farmer.

Doctors found Soul’s skull was broken in two places. He was bleeding in one eye and over a vast tract of his brain. The infant died in hospital early on 31 August.

After Soul was taken to hospital Turany told police the boy awoke between 3am and 3.30am and was unsettled.

Evidence showed she first called Healthline at 6.23am but hung up after 17 seconds.

The court has heard she then told Tony Farmer she wanted to go to the hospital.

Turany then made a series of unanswered phone calls to her sister Skye Lamborn.

Turany told the lawyer for police Kerry White she did not remember making those calls.

White put it to Turany she had been the only one with Soul since he woke up and the reason she was calling Healthline and wanted to go to the hospital was because she had injured the boy.

“The reason that you called Heathline and hung up and then told Tony Farmer you needed to get Soul to the hospital is because you knew Soul was terribly injured?” White put to Turany.

“No that’s not correct,” Turany responded.

“And you knew Soul was terribly injured because it was you that caused that injury?” White went on.

“No that’s not true,” Turany said.

The evidence showed Turany left a voicemail saying she was taking Soul to the hospital during the rapid series of unanswered phone calls to her sister.

She then called Healthline again and spoke to the clinician for about nine minutes.

White asked Turany if she was panicking.

“There was no panic from myself until he went limp. He was very much conscious when I was on the phone talking to Healthline,” Turany said.

Turany said she could not recall making the calls to her sister, but she did remember Soul was still alert when she was talking to Healthline.

“He was very much conscious, he was very much alert, he was very much still himself,” Turany said.

“Why then do you need to take him to the hospital?” White asked.

“Because he wasn’t settling that morning, he wasn’t himself. I was a good mum,” Turany said, tearfully.

“I was a good mum, I back that.”

White pressed Turany on why she would need to take Soul to the hospital if he was – in her words – fine and his normal self.

“When I say fine and his normal self, I mean limp,” she said before pausing.

“I need to be careful with my words,” Turany said.

“You don’t need to be careful with your words,” White offered.

“I do need to be careful – clearly I need to be,” Turany responded.

“He was looking at me, like I’m looking at you now,” Turany said, of her memory from the call to Healthline.

“He was still warm, he was still breathing.”

Turany told the inquest she went outside for a cigarette while talking to Healthline.

Farmer was holding the baby during that time, she said.

But the time she returned from the call Soul “was limp, he was gasping for air”, Turany said.

Turany earlier on Thursday told the inquest she knew what White was insinuating.

“I’m trying my best, I’m really trying my best. I have been questioned like this before. I’m not stupid, I know what we are getting to,” Turany said.

Turany told the coroner on Wednesday she knew what was at stake.

“I know how this comes across to the court and I know how this is potentially coming across to all of you. What this looks like. I get it,” she said.

“What does it look like?” Telford asked.

“Clearly one of myself or Tony has done something. One of us isn’t telling the truth. I understand that,” Turany responded.

Clinicians had told the inquest Soul was likely to have suffered the fatal injuries six to 12 hours before his first scan about 10.20am on 30 August at Christchurch Hospital.

Turany told the inquest she had spent much of that morning trying to settle her son and had given him paracetamol and a nasal spray to try to settle him.

When she called Healthline the second time, she reported Soul was unsettled and had a waxy substance coming from his ears.

Emergency services were called soon after as Soul was limp with firefighters and St John arriving at the property about 7.10am.

Turany told the inquest on Wednesday Soul was conscious and responsive when she called Healthline.

Farmer was holding the boy and she stepped outside during the nine minute phone call, she said.

“I have gone over and over this morning and the window that the police were talking about at the time that this could have happened seemed minute – as in how quickly this could’ve happened,” Turany told the inquest.

She suggested it was also possible Farmer inflicted the injuries while she was getting a nappy bag together to take Soul to the hospital.

Counsel assisting the coroner Jamie O’Sullivan questioned if there were any clues to Farmer hurting Soul while Turany was speaking to Healthline.

“You didn’t hear any noises – any banging, any sudden painful cry – during that Healthline call at all did you?” O’Sullivan asked.

After a pause of more than 10 seconds, Turany responded: “No I did not”.

Turany’s account of why she called Healthline was inconsistent.

O’Sullivan questioned if that was because the call was an alibi to divert from injuries Turany had already inflicted on Soul.

“You didn’t hear any screaming, any thud, notice anything while you were on that call did you?” O’Sullivan asked.

“No,” Turany replied.

“Is the reason you’ve been inconsistent with what you’ve said about the reason for calling Healthline because that was a reason that was manufactured?” O’Sullivan pressed.

“No,” Turany said.

“Is it possible that with Soul being unsettled and you dealing with him for an extended period of time that morning after a week leading up to that of limited sleep and struggling that for a moment, in the early hours of that morning, sometime around 6.20am you did something to Soul with enough force to cause the injuries that we’ve heard about?” O’Sullivan asked.

“No,” Turany said, again.

O’Sullivan questioned if Turany had any reason to lie to protect Farmer.

“If you’d seen Tony do anything to Soul, you would have told police about it and you would have told us about it?” she asked.

“100,000 percent,” Turany replied.

“So if you’re no longer in a relationship, you’d have no reason to cover for him?” O’Sullivan said.

“No, not at all,” Turany said.

The court heard Turany was considering leaving Farmer around the time of Soul’s death.

Turany told the court Soul did not like Farmer and Turany had not liked how he held the child throughout their relationship.

Soul was conceived following a one-night stand with a worker on the farm Turany’s sister and brother-in-law managed and where Turany had also worked at the time.

She was only 21.

The court heard she had struggled at times with being a young mother and isolated.

In messages to a close friend about a month after Soul was born, Turany confided she had baby blues.

“No shit just between me and you, the other day I couldn’t even look at Soul. I wanted to run myself into a car but I’m ok now it’s just some days,” one message from Turany said.

But the inquest has also heard from Turany’s midwife and a Plunket community health worker who said Soul was happy, healthy and well-cared for until his death.

They both said Turany was coping as well as could be expected for a young first-time mother.

Turany and Farmer met on the dating app Tinder just over a month after Soul’s birth.

The couple soon moved in together at Turany’s sister’s home before moving into a farmer’s residence on the dairy farm.

Turany and Farmer had been living with Soul at that home for only about a month when he was fatally injured.

Farmer will give evidence later on Thursday.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Chris Wood will captain the All Whites for their FIFA World Cup campaign in North America.

New Zealand head coach Darren Bazeley named his 26-player squad for the Cup, which will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada, starting on 11 June.

The squad is:

Goalkeepers: Max Crocombe, Alex Paulsen, Michael Woud

Defenders: Tyler Bindon, Michael Boxall, Liberato Cacace, Francis de Vries, Callan Elliot, Tim Payne, Nando Pijnaker, Tommy Smith, Finn Surman

Midfielders: Lachlan Bayliss, Joe Bell, Matt Garbett, Ben Old, Alex Rufer, Sarpreet Singh, Marko Stamenic, Ryan Thomas

Forwards: Kosta Barbarouses, Eli Just, Callum McCowatt, Jesse Randall, Ben Waine, Chris Wood (captain).

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

MIL OSI

MIL OSI

The mother of a Canterbury baby that died of catastrophic head injuries has denied any involvement in her son’s death.

Soul Turany was less than four months old when he died in 2014.

No one has been charged over his death, but police have said either his mother, Storme Turany, or her then-partner, Tony Farmer, is responsible.

Coroner Ian Telford is examining the circumstances of Soul’s death during a two-week inquest in the Coroners Court at Christchurch.

Turany gave evidence on Wednesday and denied ever having hurt Soul.

“Soul was everything to me – my kids are absolutely everything to me. Soul made me realise why I was put on this Earth and that was to be a mum,” Turany told the inquest.

Turany told her lawyer Allister Davis she loved Soul “with everything I have”.

Davis asked if she ever took her frustrations out on the boy: “Not once,” Turany responded.

Had she ever injured Soul? “Not once,” she responded again.

“Let me put this to you – did you have anything to do with Soul’s death?” Davis asked.

“No, I did not,” Turany answered.

The inquest heard Soul was taken to hospital on the morning of 30 August after emergency services were called to the rural home near Darfield he shared with Turany and Farmer.

Doctors found Soul’s skull was broken in two places. He was bleeding in one eye and over a vast tract of his brain. The infant died in hospital early on 31 August.

Turany’s sister Skye Lamborn last week told the court about an occasion when Turany “chucked” Soul down on a bed and then called her in tears.

That episode came to light when Turany was being interviewed by police about a fortnight after Soul’s death.

Lamborn was invited into the interview by investigators and told Turany to tell them about it.

But Lamborn told the coroner on Monday she offered the information as she wanted to get to the bottom of how her nephew died, and had no concerns about how her sister treated Soul or any other children, including her own.

Lamborn was adamant her sister was not involved in Soul’s death.

Turany told the coroner on Wednesday the incident was blown out of proportion and she did not chuck her son on the bed.

“It was not chucked – I was over-dramatic and over-protective,” Turany said.

“When I have put Soul down on the bed – I was so careful with Soul – so when I’ve put him down, it was firmer than I would have put him down every other time.”

The court heard she had been concerned on another occasion when a fly landed on Soul.

Soul had been unwell in the days before 30 August.

Asked about the morning Soul suffered the fatal injuries, Turany said Soul woke up about 3am and was unsettled. Turany said she tried settling him using paracetamol, nasal spray and by removing mucus from his nose.

When she could not get the boy to settle, she called Healthline about 6.30am. Soul was conscious when she called Healthline, Turany said.

Farmer was holding Soul when she made the call and stepped outside to speak to Healthline, Turany said. The phone call lasted about nine minutes.

“Tony had Soul for the entire duration I was on the call,” Turany said.

“Tony was now standing up to hand Soul to me. He was standing up holding Soul ready to pass him to me and he’s either said ‘Storme’ or ‘babe’, but it was in a very shocked voice.

“He looked really worried. As he’s handing him to me, Soul’s arms have gone completely limp. He’s completely limp by the time he’s handed him to me.”

The coroner heard the couple met on the dating app Tinder just over a month after Soul’s birth. The couple soon moved in together at Lamborn’s home before moving into a farmer’s residence on the dairy farm Lamborn managed with her husband.

Turany and Farmer had been living with Soul at that home for only about a month when he was fatally injured.

“Things were moving quite quickly,” Turany said.

Farmer will give evidence on Thursday.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Remnant wetlands are hard to come by in Canterbury.

Since the mid-1800s, nearly 90 percent of the area’s original natural environment has been lost, according to [file:///C:/Users/asatya/Downloads/Ausseiletal2008WONIwetlands_All_Final.pdf a 2008 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare research paper.]

Environment Canterbury’s principal biodiversity advisor for wetlands, Jason Butt, said Canterbury experienced some of the highest levels of historic wetland loss, largely due to drainage and land use change.

So when Baden and Judith Sommerville found naturally seeded snow tussock and mānuka on their Springburn farm, they knew it was worth protecting.

“It used to be summer grazing when the family first took over this farm in 2013,” son Campbell Sommerville said, looking out over the now six-hectare wetland.

“Come springtime… you do get woken up by the birds before you get woken up by an alarm around here.”

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The wetland discovery began the first of many long-term restoration projects on Somerview Farm, continued by Campbell Sommerville and his fiancée Sonja Vreugdenhil today.

Planting streams, carrying out monthly water quality checks, and culling pests are routine for the pair.

Hares are a major issue, making light work of native shrubs which have been planted in the wetlands and around streams, Sommerville said.

“If one farm does a good hunt, and gets rid of a lot, they just come in from neighbouring farms.

“That’s why the catchment’s working so hard on pests.

“If everyone’s doing it around [us] we’re more likely to get on top of them, and [protect] the investment we’re putting into the natives and the wetlands.”

Will Wright added: “The possum doesn’t know that your farm ends there and starts there.”

He is the facilitator for the Ashburton Forks catchment group, a collective of farmers working to manage and improve the health of their waterways, like the Sommervilles and Vreugdenhil.

Formed in 2023, the 28 group members manage 11,000 hectares of land within the Forks area, Staveley and Alford Forest.

Among the jobs Wright does is trap-setting on properties and facilitating water quality tests, such as nitrate tests or eDNA (environmental DNA) tests, which discern which creatures are present in certain waterways.

He also helps connect farmers who are newer to restoration work with those who’ve been doing it for decades – like Mark and Jenny McDonald.

The pair own Red Cow Farm, a unique milking shorthorn and friesian operation on the north branch of the Ashburton River.

They’ve been planting out their property’s streams and wetlands with native flora since 2008.

“All this was gorse and broom; the whole stream was sort of clogged up with weeds,” Mark said.

“I’ve always been interested in native trees, and I love a project.”

With native seedlings not often found at the garden shop in 2008, Mark found himself wandering the foothills to source his own. Almost 20 years later, the stream bed takes care of itself.

“It’s just a really nice feeling when you come down here now, with things established.”

The McDonalds’ efforts have brought back some native wildlife: eels and Canterbury galaxiids have been spotted in the wetland, and fantails often flit around the planting.

“We haven’t got natives back here, apart from the fantails and warblers. I look forward to the day when we get tui and bellbirds and maybe wood pigeons.

“That’ll take time, but I’m sure it will happen.”

That will come with more planting and continued pest control – assisted by automatic traps he secured through the catchment.

“We’ve got a couple of grandkids now, and every time they come out to stay, we have to come down and check the traps to see if there’re any, what do they call them? Dirty rotten scoundrels.”

Over its three years, the catchment has culled around 6500 pests.

Massive progress, but for Mark McDonald, this restoration work is only the beginning of a long environmental journey – one that will outlast him, and be passed on to future generations.

“Right back at the start, I planted a matai down in amongst the willows there,” he said. “A matai has a juvenile stage of about 60 years.

“I’m not planting for our own satisfaction, it’s for the future.”

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Wellington’s mayor has told a review panel “it is not your role” to consider whether the Golden Mile project to revamp transport in a corridor of the central city offers value for money.

In a council briefing on Tuesday, Andrew Little said he was concerned that the independent panel might be overreaching, after it presented its methodology for reviewing the project’s benefit-to-cost ratio.

He also twice asked about panel members’ ties to the Golden Mile project and to Let’s Get Wellington Moving, a now-defunct initiative which previously had oversight of the project.

But Jenny Chetwynd, Wellington City Council’s Chief Infrastructure Officer, said she was confident there was no conflict of interest with any panellists.

“One of the criteria in selecting the panellists was that they hadn’t been involved in the Golden Mile project, noting that some declared they had historical involvement with projects associated with Let’s Get Wellington Moving,” she said.

Wellington City Council voted in November to pause and review the project after cost estimates grew from $139m to $220 million.

Work had already begun at the intersection of Cambridge and Kent Terraces last year.

The upgrade of the Golden Mile, which stretches from the Lambton Quay to Courtenay Place, sought to remove cars from the latter during the day, widen foot paths, create a cycle lane and improve lighting.

It would also line the street with anti-slip pavement and new greenery, and replace old water pipes that are sitting under the throughfare.

The Transport Agency was expected to provide half of the funding for the transport aspects of the project.

The independent panel conducting the review, which was expected to cost up to $400,000, was instructed to tell councillors how much the project would cost to execute, and whether it was still viable.

‘Not redesigning the project’

In November, when the review was announced, Little said: “The review does not relitigate the benefits of the Golden Mile project.”

However on Tuesday Chetwynd told councillors the review was set up to “look at the value for money the project still represented and the strategic alignment the project still represented to your strategy and your goals”.

She insisted that the panel was “not redesigning the project”.

The panel’s presentation gave an overview of its methodology into assessing the project’s benefit-to-cost ratio and whether it could deliver on its objectives.

It said it would identify cost-saving opportunities or re-scope refinements in line with the project’s goals.

However, Little disputed that this was the panel’s responsibility, saying: “You seem to be going into highly value judgment-laden areas, which – with all due respect – is not your role.”

Little argued that finding the project to be good value for money would not be able to help the council if it still couldn’t afford to do the work.

Chetwynd said she had been clear with the panellists on the review’s terms of reference and scope.

“This was to look at if the project still represented value for money, it wasn’t to look at whether the project is affordable for Council. We appreciate the Mayor’s comments this afternoon and we’ll ensure elected members will have all the information they need to make their decision on how to progress.”

Councillor Nureddin Abdurahman concluded the briefing by asking the independent panel to consider the feedback it received, specifically over a possible conflict of interest over ties to the Golden Mile or Let’s Get Wellington Moving.

After the briefing, Little said: “The scope of the review set by councillors was to test, in the context of current economic conditions, whether the existing project remains viable and aligned with its original objectives in light of significant cost and risks escalation.

“During the meeting I raised a concern that there was an appearance of the review panel moving beyond that scope into the realm of making – or the perception of making – decisions that must remain with elected members.

“My expectation is that the review remains within the scope set by councillors and leaves political decisions to the council.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

The Auckland City Rail Link (CRL) is undertaking large-scale safety testing ahead of its opening later this year.

Volunteers have been taking part in a range of real-life simulations to test evacuation procedures.

Auckland Transport rail services group manager Mark Lambert told Morning Report the organisation has been working with emergency services to rehearse scenarios such as fires and other serious, and not so serious incidents.

“There’s obviously the emergencies, and tests such as fires, derailments in tunnels. Also, if a train breaks down in the tunnel, fires in stations as well.”

The tests involved around 400 people and lasted for around three hours. A large part of the testing was around evacuating passengers from inside the CRL’s tunnel network, which is 45 metres underground at its deepest point.

“We have some actors in the crowd as well, such as unruly passengers, or people with prams which really make it a real-life scenario for our staff.

“All the systems are being tested – the evacuation alarms, tunnel ventilation systems which push the smoke through the tunnels and out again. It’s really testing all those systems and our staff, so we’ve got a pretty good idea of how ready we’re going.”

No official start date has been announced for the CRL, and Lambert said that would depend on how the current tests played out.

“The City Rail Link has just entered into its testing commissioning stage. There are a number of different emergency scenarios that we’re testing over the next month or so, around 15 in total.”

No major issues had been encountered so far, but there had been a few smaller problems.

“The test on Saturday, one of the escalators didn’t work before we started the test, then there was another technical issue with one of the systems, so the staff are actually responding in real time to some hiccups,” Lambert said.

“That’s really pushing the boundaries for our staff.”

Pressed for a potential opening date, Lambert said there might be more to say in the coming weeks.

“The tests are pretty much the last stage before the contractor, Link Alliance, puts in its applications to the council. So we’re really, really close to construction completion.

“Let’s see how the next four weeks or so go around these tests. We’re hoping we can give a little bit more information at that point.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

A group of Hawke’s Bay growers is looking at whether it could take over the McCain vegetable processing factory and save the industry.

McCain is closing its frozen vegetable factory in Hastings, a decision that’s impacting more than 100 growers of peas, beans, corn and carrots.

The international company said it had reviewed operations at the site and ‘considered a range of options to strengthen the long-term position of the site’.

However, it said the business was ‘unable to identify a sustainable pathway under the current model’.

The decision is a huge blow to the industry in Hawke’s Bay, where the impact is being felt widely from growers to contractors, and mechanics to factory workers.

Alistair Setter has been farming in Central Hawke’s Bay for decades, and told RNZ the closure has come as a shock, and with no warning.

“I was like, oh gosh…have we really grown our last crop of peas? My father grew peas back in the 70s and it’s an important business for us but it’s also an emotional thing as well.

“It’s a great thing to be part of that pea growing business – you think you’re doing good for the world and everything else. As the days go by it kinda sinks in and it really feels like a loss on quite a few levels,” Setter said.

He owns 180 hectares near Ongaonga, growing crops over the warmer months and grazing cattle in winter. About a quarter of his income is from supplying peas to McCains – so the financial hit is substantial.

“It will be significant and we will have to think of alternatives… but they won’t pay as much and it will put risks on other cropping programmes… so yeah we’ve got challenges,” he said.

“There are wider issues at play here about how we handle food security as a nation.. when the industry’s go they’re very hard to get back,” Setter said.

One of the alternatives could be a group of growers taking over the current McCain’s factory site, and processing their crops themselves.

Since the closure was announced several meetings have been held between ministers, mayors, and growers to see if anything can be done to save the industry in Hawke’s Bay.

Setter said there were a lot of people keen to see the pea, bean and corn cropping industry survive.

“There’s a lot of desire among farmers like myself and other industry participants to have a go at trying to save it.

“It’s a big thing to try and organise, and it’s a big business, but there is a lot of will out there. The farmers we know around here, a lot of them are really capable business people so sometimes when there is a will and a need… maybe there is a way,” Setter said.

One of those farmers is Hugh Ritchie. He’s been growing peas for McCain for over 30 years and said for it to work, there must be more scrutiny of the food production chain. He said to understand why big companies like McCain can’t make it work, everyone’s margins, from growers to supermarkets, must be analysed.

“If we don’t solve this problem and really understand why it’s happening then it’s just going to be the start of a downward spiral on the domestic production of food,” said Ritchie.

Central Hawke’s Bay mayor Will Foley is also keen to find out the cause of McCain decision.

“It doesn’t seem right that we can’t produce that food and sell it locally and for export – all at a success. That’s why we want to get to the bottom of what is going on here and can we take it on ourselves,” he said.

However, the pressure is on because McCain is only using its Hastings factory until January; after that the machinery could be packed up and sent overseas.

“There is a lot of urgency because any businesses involved that are thinking there is no more business going forward, they are needing to dispose of their assets, otherwise it’s just a cost to them..

“And if we lose those assets and have to start again, the cost to start up will be so much more than if we can take over what is already there,” Foley said.

The Minister for Agriculture, Todd McClay, said he had a constructive and informative meeting with the region’s mayors last week.

“There is a huge amount of optimism in the region and the Minister is looking to meet with growers over the coming weeks,” he said.

McCain told RNZ it has received ‘potential interest in the plant and its equipment from several parties and is continuing discussions’.

‘Massive’ flow-on effect

Many growers, especially for crops like peas, beans and sweet corn, would normally get a contract in mid-year and then start planting crops through August and September.

The impact of McCain closing is rippling through the region, from growers to factory workers, to companies selling seeds and chemicals, contractors and machinery engineers.

Fogarty Spraying in Ongaonga sprays about 1500 hectares of McCain crops each season, and employs three people to help run the operation.

Owner Stuart Davies told RNZ that with McCain’s shutting up shop he’s looking at scaling down by cutting one worker and possibly selling one of his spraying machines.

He said while others were much harder hit than him, this was the kind of impact that was being felt widely in the region.

“That whole economical side of it. It’s all singing and dancing until all of a sudden the big red button’s been hit and that’s it – she’s all stopped. It has a massive flow-on effect,” he said.

Davies said luckily there was currently a lot of confidence in other farming sectors like red meat and dairy, but it would still be a tough time for growers.

The news came out of the blue for most, and Davies said McCain could have done a better job at communicating its closure, as there was no notice that it was even being considered.

“We didn’t quite expect the rug to be pulled just like that, it would’ve been nice to have some warning.

“That was the feel around the place – that the rug was pulled pretty abruptly rather than maybe a softly softly ‘hey guys this is happening in 18 months’,” he said.

McCain declined RNZ’s request for an interview, saying in a statement the business informed key stakeholders of the closure on the same day as its Hastings team was told.

“We indicated to our stakeholders that we are available to answer any questions about the closure and are also available to discuss the impact the closure may have on them.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

The Warriors have given star Luke Metcalf permission to talk to other clubs for next season, as they try to sort through their contract logjam among the halves.

The Auckland NRL outfit has been wrestling with its roster in recent weeks, with Tanah Boyd and Chanel Harris-Tavita – both off contract at the end of this season – preferred as the starting halves combination, despite the return of Metcalf from a hamstring injury.

Australian media is reporting Boyd’s contract has been extended through 2029.

Re-signing Metcalf was a priority for the club, after a knee injury ended his 2025 season prematurely, while he was sitting atop the Dally M Medal standings. He was subsequently extended through 2028.

During his absence, Boyd’s form has helped the Warriors to second on the competition table and made him a State of Origin contender for Queensland.

Last month, coach Andrew Webster tried accommodating both his star halves by playing Metcalf at five-eighth, but the move backfired, resulting in their only two losses of the campaign so far and ending with Metcalf’s hamstring tweak.

His management reportedly told the Warriors he preferred to play halfback and sought clarification on his future with the club.

Boyd’s apparent extension through 2029 has escalated that discontent to a request to allow him to find another home.

The Warriors have given Metcalf that permission.

“We will not make any further comment on this matter until a further update is provided by Luke and/or his management,” said Warriors chief executive Cameron George.

Meanwhile, Harris-Tavita has also been exploring his options beyond 2026, including a meeting with former Warriors coach Todd Payten, who is now in charge of North Queensland Cowboys.

Harris-Tavita’s management has reportedly told clubs he is only available for a one-year contract, suggesting he may be positioning himself to join expansion club PNG Chiefs, when they join the competition in two years.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Agriculture Minister Todd McClay today confirmed new Associate Agriculture Minister Mike Butterick’s key areas of delegated responsibility across the primary sector.

“Mike Butterick brings a deep understanding of farming and rural communities to his new role,” Mr McClay says.

Mr Butterick has delegated responsibility for:

• The organics sector
• Water security and storage
• The arable sector
• Māori agribusiness
• Catchment groups

“His appointments strengthen the coalition Government’s team of Ministers focused on backing New Zealand’s food and fibre sector,” Mr McClay says.

Mr McClay says Mr Butterick, as a sheep and beef farmer from the Wairarapa, has a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing rural communities.

“He will support the Government’s work cutting red tape for farmers and growers and driving productivity growth.”

Mr McClay has assumed responsibility for horticulture matters.
 

MIL OSI

The Highlanders have suffered a blow in their bid to make the Super Rugby Pacific playoffs with in-form centre Jona Nareki suspended for two weeks for a dangerous tackle.

Nareki was issued with a yellow card for the high tackle on Waratahs prop Jack Barrett midway through the second half of their match in Duendin on Saturday. It was upgraded to a 20-minute red card on review by the TMO.

The Highlanders played with only 14 men for most of the last 20 minutes, just hanging on to beat the Waratahs 31-26 in a frenetic finish.

Super Rugby Pacific’s Foul Play Review Committee found Nareki guilty of a dangerous tackle.

It said the tackle merited a mid-range entry point of six weeks or matches, but applied the full 50 percent reduction in sanction in view of Nareki accepting the charge, and his remorse and disciplinary record.

It then said a three-week sanction would be disproportionate to the player’s fault and the consequences, and reduced it to two weeks.

That would mean missing the Highlanders’ last two regular season matches – against the Chiefs on Friday and the Hurricanes on Saturday, 23 May.

But Nareki was also given permission to apply to take part in World Rugby’s Coaching Intervention Programme as a substitute for the final match of the sanction.

The Highlanders sit in seventh place on the points table and with the top six teams heading to the playoffs after the regular season, they will probably need to beat both the Chiefs and Hurricanes if they are to get through. They have the bye in the final round.

Crusaders charge goes to hearing

A judicial committee hearing will be held tonight over Crusaders winger Kurtis MacDonald’s red card in the game against the Blues on Friday night.

MacDonald initially got a a yellow card for dangerous play, when he contacted Stephen Perofeta who was leaping to catch a high ball. It was upgraded to red on review.

MacDonald opted to for a full hearing on the charge when it was considered by the foul play committee last night.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

MIL OSI

The owner of Wellington bar Red Square remembers celebrating her 21st birthday at the venue on the first weekend it opened.

Now, Sarah Bolton, who was passed down the business by her father and his business partner, said it was time to walk away.

“It’s been a great run, but like all good parties, it’s you’ve got to know when to walk away and I just want to leave on a high,” she told RNZ.

The move came as other long-standing hospitality businesses in the capital shut down, like Havana Bar and Spruce Goose.

Bolton said Red Square would not be closing for revenue reasons.

“I’d love to see Wellington do better, but for us it’s a very different reason why we’re closing,” Bolton said.

She said the Wellington hospitality scene had changed a lot in the past two decades, as had the bar.

What started as a lounge bar with a pool table, serving cocktails and food catering to people around 30, was now a nightclub for 18 to 21-year-olds only open on Friday and Saturday nights.

But the nightclub lifestyle did not fit with Bolton’s own anymore.

“One of the main reasons I’m stepping away is my kids have got Sunday sport and me getting home at four in the morning isn’t really viable anymore.”

Bolton said one of her favourite parts of each weekend was discovering what was in lost property – from someone leaving behind one shoe, to one crutch.

She felt like she had grown up in the place, as had her own kids.

She remembered celebrating her 21st on the first weekend the venue opened.

“It’s been in my family my whole life, so it will be sad standing or stepping away from it. But yeah, it is time.”

Jeremy Smith, director of Trinity Group which owns bars including Lulu and The Arborist, said the late night market had been particulary tough with challenges like “more homeless people, lack of investment, streets not always as clean as they should be”.

“I think there’s not many venues that are flying, most are hanging in there.”

Smith said in the past, one venue would close and another would open, with the number of venues staying roughly the same.

“What we’ve now seen in Courtney Place is that a place closes, and there’s no people putting their hand up to say, ‘Look, I’ve got a new idea, I’ve got a new concept, I’m willing to take the risk’.”

He said people were more cautious, leaving Wellington with more empty venues.

He hoped there would not be more closures on the horizon, and said owners were working together to find solutions.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

The aunt of a Canterbury baby who died of catastrophic injuries wishes she had told her sister to leave her partner, an inquest has heard.

Soul Turany was almost four months old when he died in August 2014, although how he came to suffer his injuries remains a mystery more than a decade later.

An inquest has heard Soul was taken to hospital on the morning of 30 August after emergency services were called to the rural home near Darfield that he shared with his mother Storme Turany and her then-partner Tony Farmer.

Doctors found Soul’s skull was broken in two places. He was bleeding in one eye and over a vast tract of his brain.

Turany’s sister Skye Lamborn told coroner Ian Telford on Monday that she was extremely close to her sister and nephew, and loved him like one of her own children.

“He was perfect,” she said.

“He was a good baby. We loved him from the time we saw the line on the strip. We were looking forward very much to him growing up with us.”

She said Turany and Soul had lived with her and her family before moving to a worker’s residence on the farm Lamborn managed with her husband.

Detective Superintendent Darryl Sweeney, who was in charge of the investigation, earlier told the inquest there were only two sensible possibilities as to who injured Soul – Storme Turany or Tony Farmer.

Lamborn told the coroner that Turany had told her Soul did not like Farmer.

“Tony didn’t have much at all to do with Soul,” she said.

Lamborn said Turany did not like the way Farmer held her son.

“She’d say that he would hold him with his head up, where he couldn’t breathe. She’d said that a few times. I don’t know why I didn’t listen more.”

When asked if there was any support she wished she had offered her sister, Lamborn said: “I wish I had listened about Tony more”.

“He was just nobody in our lives and in hindsight, I probably would have had a better talk to her about you not maybe being a bit fussier with your choice of partner,” she said.

Lamborn was asked if Turany had ever hurt Soul.

“Definitely not,” she replied.

On the morning Soul was injured, Turany called Lamborn.

Many phone calls from that morning were recorded and played at the inquest, but the conversation between the sisters was not.

When asked if her sister had disclosed injuring Soul during the call, Lamborn said no.

She was shocked when she discovered Soul’s injuries were not accidental.

“I didn’t think for a second that is what it was at that time, I thought they must have been wrong,” she said.

When asked if there had been any instance of anyone hurting Soul, Lamborn said there was an occasion when Turany raised concerns about Farmer’s treatment of her son.

“There was an instance when Storme came out of the bedroom. She was living with me. She was a bit shaken up and Tony had been in the bedroom with Soul and he’d put a cloth over his face and she’d gotten upset about this, so she’d come out and asked me if this was normal,” she said.

“I just remember saying ‘no, that is not normal’ and it gave me the willies ever since.”

Farmer had explained it was to help Soul sleep, Lamborn said.

The inquest also heard on Monday from a midwife and Plunket community health worker who said Soul was happy, healthy and well-cared for until his death.

The inquest will hear from Turany and Farmer later this week.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

• Volunteer fire-fighter Alex Scarrow died days before Christmas rafting the Mohaka River with friends
• A Coroner says it was misadventure and has put forward recommendations for a new safety code for recreational rafting
• They were told the rafting trip turned fatal because a knife wasn’t readily accessible
• Water Safety New Zealand says it will work to increase awareness of the proposed new code

The death of a man while rafting with his mates has spurred the Coroner to put forward a new safety code for people on the water.

Farm worker and volunteer fire-fighter Alex Scarrow was 31 when he and his friends set off for their rafting trip on the Mohaka River in Hawke’s Bay.

It was December 16 2023, and Scarrow’s partner described him as outgoing, a lover of the outdoors and someone who pushed limits while having fun.

He was no stranger to the Mohaka River and had rafted for about a decade, but this trip would be his last.

Coroner Ruth Thomas’ findings released on Monday said he and his friends all set off wearing life jackets.

They also had a box of Coruba rum and a box of Wooodstock bourbon, along with cheese and crackers.

“We were just enjoying the good weather and a day off work,” the findings show one friend as saying who also said they were not intoxicated.

Their mobile phones went into a dry bag, and a carabiner was used to secure a blue plastic barrel with a lid to the raft.

One of the friends put their knife belt and a personal locator beacon inside that barrel to keep them dry.

The Coroner said the friends described the first 90 minutes of their rafting trip as fun and that everyone was happy.

After stopping for a swim, Scarrow told the group they were nearing an area that can “get quite nasty”, the Te Hoe drop.

The group paused on a shingle bank to pump up the eight seater raft and went for another swim.

‘I just woke up on the side of a rock’

The findings said one of the friends said Alex Scarrow was sitting at the back of the raft.

“I just remember going down some small rapids, I was laughing at Alex for some reason, and then I just woke up on the side of a rock, past the raft.”

They said they never saw anything coming.

The Coroner said another friend said the group was t-boned by a large boulder.

“It happened so fast I don’t think anyone expected it to happen,” that friend said.

The findings detail how all four were thrown from the seats – two were swept downstream and managed to scramble out of the river.

The water was holding the raft against a large boulder, and the remaining friend could see Scarrow’s foot was trapped by a rope attached to the raft.

His head was just above the water, and the friend tried to find something to cut the rope with.

He tried one of the alcohol cans but that did not work.

“I didn’t have any knives on me as it was in the blue dry barrel with the locator beacon inside,” the findings show the friend as saying.

“The barrel was strapped to the boat, but the lid ripped open, and all the contents washed away.”

The friend tried getting a paddle to Scarrow but he could not grab hold.

The strong current meant they also could not use the paddle to keep Scarrow’s head above the water.

The friend lost his balance and fell from the raft into the water, by which stage Scarrow had sunk lower into the water and did not look like he was fighting any further.

The friend managed to tell the others that Scarrow was stuck – they ran back upstream but could not see a safe place to launch a rescue.

The knife, mobile phones and personal locator beacon were all washed away.

One of the friends walked away from the river to get help.

A Search and Rescue team flew to the scene at 1.40am and saw the raft wrapped against a large rock in the middle of the river.

It was too unsafe to access, and in the morning a helicopter dropped local rafting guides who worked with SAR to free Scarrow’s body.

One of the guides cut the bow rope wrapped around his foot and pulled him to shore.

A pathologist said Scarrow’s blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit for driving, but added it was impossible to determine the degree of intoxication.

Expert says life could have been saved

A swiftwater rescue instructor who reviewed the evidence noted all four friends were drinking while rafting.

They noted the group all had lifejackets but that none was wearing a helmet.

There was also no other knife apart from the one that was in the blue barrel before its lid came off and its contents got washed away.

The expert said there was no evidence of a pre-launch safety briefing about capsizing, entrapment, hand signals or whistle signals.

Some of he group had rafting experience but none had swiftwater or river rescue certifications.

Scarrow was thrown in the water when the raft wrapped around the rock, and the rope tightened around his foot and stopped him getting out himself.

The expert’s opinion was the group did not show situational awareness of the prominent rock and had not formally scouted the rapid beforehand.

They also noted there was no evidence about how the bow rope had been stowed and said a well secured bowline would have significantly mitigated the risk of entrapment.

The lifejackets were a generic brand designed for marine use rather than for whitewater use, the expert said.

It meant that while the lifejackets could hold a river knife and sheath, it was “sub-optimal” because the sheath could snag on other objects.

“Had a dedicated river knife been carried on the PFD (personal floatation device) of at least one crew member it is more likely that the rope could have been cut early in the incident before the entanglement became unrecoverable,” the expert said.

“The entrapment was avoidable if the group had maintained situational awareness, and survivable in principle but became fatal due to the absence of an immediately accessible knife, and a lack of suitably trained and equipped peer rescuers.”

The Coroner said they were satisfied Scarrow could have survived if the group knew more about the hazard, had a discussion beforehand, and had a river knife on at least one of their lifejackets to cut the rope that had trapped him.

“When the lid came off this barrel they were left with no effective means to cut the rope entrapping their friend,” Coroner Ruth Thomas said.

“There is no requirement for a knife sheath and river knife to be attached to a recreational river rafter’s PFD. However, had any member of the group had a river knife attached to their PFD on that day, they would have been better equipped to try and cut the rope to free Mr Scarrow.”

Thomas said it would be a benefit to all recreational river users to be more aware of how carrying a river knife on a lifejacket could safe lives.

She also highlighted there should be at least one person unaffected by alcohol who was experienced and attuned to hazards in rivers.

“The group’s lack of situational awareness of the hazard, lack of access to a river knife, and their decision to drink alcohol while rafting are all factors that compounded and contributed to the fatal outcome,” the Coroner said.

While extending her sincere condolences, Thomas made a formal finding Scarrow drowned because of misadventure.

Code of conduct

Coroner Thomas said more safety information being publicly available could help prevent similar deaths.

There is information, but the benefits of a river knife attached to a lifejacket is not included in the list of safety equipment on the Department of Conservation website.

The expert swiftwater rescue instructor has drafted a Recreational Rafting Safety Code (see below).

The Coroner has recommended the Department of Conservation consider including a river knife on its recommended safety list.

They further recommended various groups review the proposed code and engage with each other on how to increase public awareness.

One those groups, Water Safety NZ, said it supported the code.

“The Coroner was quite clear that having access to a knife, and one of the experts, would definitely have helped instead of it being tucked away elsewhere and was lost when the accident happened,” chief executive Glen Scanlon told RNZ.

“Also having a plan for how to deal with these complicated sections in the Mohaka River, it appears there wasn’t one, although Alex himself did identify there was some rough water coming up,” he said.

Scanlon said the code that had been drafted was “a really god idea”.

“So it’s just a matter of hopefully us and some of the other organisations mentioned, the New Zealand Rivers Association, getting together and hopefully just starting it out and working a way out that we can effectively get those messages to people,” Scanlon said.

He said people needed to take such messages to heart and put them into practice.

Scanlon also expressed condolences to everyone who knew Scarrow.

The New Zealand Rivers Association responded to the Coroner that it supported the recommendation to review the draft Recreational Raft Safety Code.

The Department of Conservation responded that water safety management required coordinated actions with various parties and that it would engage with these.

Whitewater New Zealand and New Zealand Land Search and Rescue did not respond to the proposed recommendations, the Coroner said.

Recreational Rafting Safety Code

Two boats are always better than one

Always paddle with at least two boats so you have options to effect rescue and seek assistance.

Have the right skills

Make sure you have undertaken a river rescue course and can navigate the difficulty of river being paddled.

Know the skills, abilities and limitations of your group.

Have the right equipment

Ensure everyone has a PFD and helmet.

PFDs need a whistle and river knife to be complete.

Ensure you have means of emergency communication.

Every raft needs a wrap kit and rescue throw bag.

Alcohol and paddling do not mix

Be free of the effects of alcohol and drugs.

Even one drink can impair decision making in critical situations.

Have a plan and test it

Have a plan including what if things go wrong.

Each boat needs a skipper who is responsible.

Tell someone about your plan.

Have a safety briefing and practice emergency drills before you set out.

Check before you go

Check the weather forecast and river flow levels.

Make sure your raft and equipment is cleaned, dried and checked to prevent the spread of didymo and other biosecurity risks.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

While Super Rugby Aupiki has evolved significantly from its early three-round amateur format, many players are still balancing the demands of professional rugby with work and family commitments.

With non-Black Fern players earning about $17,000 for the season, tough choices remain part of the reality for many athletes.

For Hurricanes Poua fullback TeRauoriwa Gapper, that balancing act has been part of her life for more than a decade.

A rugby player, teacher and mother of three, Gapper’s experience reflected the challenge faced by many Aupiki players.

“It’s hard work,” she says. “It’s a choice to do what you want to do and you’ve got to know your why.

“My children are the reason why I do what I do.”

Based in Christchurch, Gapper has previously travelled between cities during Aupiki campaigns, but this year will base herself full-time in Wellington.

That decision was made only with the blessing of her children, aged 17, 14 and 8.

“When I spoke to the kids and said, ‘If I have to move full-time, I probably won’t go’, they were like, ‘No Mum, you can’t give up opportunities like that’. That makes me feel a bit better about going, because I know that I’m showing them to follow your dreams.

“I’m glad that the boys are willing to let mom go for a few months and my daughter’s getting there. I was very proud.”

Gapper says the women’s game has changed significantly, since the early days of her career.

“My first season with my daughter, she was 8 months old, when I was playing Farah Palmer Cup, and I had to give up breast-feeding, because I couldn’t pay to take her with me. Now we’re allowed, under a certain age, to bring a child with you, but we just didn’t have the support back then.”

With such allowances, Gapper takes pride in pioneering the progress.

“Now the support around us is massive and it’s pretty exciting that we’ve got mothers that are Black Ferns. We’ve got the right systems in place for people to feel supported, and be able to be a professional athlete and a mother at the same time.”

However, Gapper admits it won’t be easy spending the season away from home.

“I move up on Saturday, which is going to be a bit sad,” she says. “I don’t think the boys will be too worried – I’m going to feel it more than they do – but my daughter’s definitely going to.

“It’s going to be pretty pretty tough to be away.”

She said the whanau had adopted a well-oiled system, allowing Gapper to balance, work, training, matches and family life.

“We’ve got a great Google calendar going on, I’m thankful for my family, for my tribe for helping me out.”

Alongside the demands off the field, Gapper had also dealt with the physical toll of a lengthy rugby career or, as she put it, “been through the ringer a bit”.

“I’ve broken my jaw twice, broken my collar collar bone twice and had quite a few nasty concussions, but I just love rugby so much that I’m willing to put my body on the line.

“There was no thought of stopping because of injury.”

Poua have endured a tough start to Aupiki, finishing last in all but the inaugural season, when they were runners-up with just one win.

“I know it’s been bit rough for us the first few years, hopefully get a few wins on the board this year, if not the biggest win.”

She says the franchise has recruited some top talent.

“There’s so much new blood, really exciting new blood, too. They haven’t tapped into the potential that these girls can reach.

“Having this competition, where they’re playing week-in, week-out rugby, getting to train like a high performance athlete is just going to do wonders for their development.”

After fighting through so much adversity on and off the field, Gapper is simply happy to still be lacing lace up the boots.

“I’m at the point in my career where I want to make the most of every minute, every second. We are wanting to shift the needle, and get fans and the public excited.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Age Concern Auckland said it’s seeing a rise in financially motivated elder abuse, due to the cost-of-living crisis.

Chief executive Kevin Lamb said referrals to the organisation involving elder abuse had risen by 20-30 percent over the past year, with a growing proportion linked to money troubles within families.

He said the combination of financial stress and elder abuse was creating an extra burden for vulnerable seniors, particularly as living costs continued to rise.

”We are hearing from older people who are literally panicking… ‘Do I turn the heating on, or do I go and buy myself proper decent food for today?’

“Older people are facing a double whammy. They’re really seeing this struggle in terms of financial hardship on themselves, but also being more vulnerable to those who would take advantage of them.”

Lamb said the problem was driven by financial hardship, with some families struggling to make ends meet and older relatives becoming a source of financial support.

”It could be someone taking the Eftpos card of their older relative, and offering to help go and get groceries, and then taking some money for themselves, without that older person being aware of that… all the way through to someone being coerced into literally giving up their house.”

Lamb said up to 10 percent of New Zealanders over 65 experienced abuse or neglect at some stage.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand