Two a penny

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Prime Minister John Key says a review of New Zealand’s intelligence services is part of an overall efficiency drive that involves all Government departments. .

The identity of the owner of the notebook has not been revealed but RNZ reported the person was a high level public servant.

The review of the way the Security Intelligence Service (SIS) and the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) work was revealed in a notebook found by a Radio New Zealand (RNZ) reporter.

“It’s very high level.

Mr Key confirmed the review was being carried out by former foreign affairs secretary Simon Murdoch.

The notes set out options for the way the security services operated and one was a merger, RNZ reported. He will report back to me, it’s too early to tell whether there will be any changes,” Mr Key said.

Asked whether that concerned him, Mr Key replied: “It does in that this is a very serious area.

The notebook was found in a Wellington street by reporter Julian Robins…

“We’ll ask some questions, but people do make mistakes.it sounds like human error, it’s dropped out of a jacket pocket or someone left it behind.

He said he would give it back to its owner.”

Robins said the notebook contained information across a range of issues, not just the review of the security intelligence services.

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A man has been fired for a second time for sending offensive emails to work colleagues after the Employment Court overturned an earlier Employment Relations Authority ruling.

Philip Walker was working for Safe Air in Blenheim as a purchasing officer when he was dismissed in February.

Mr Walker argued he was one of a number of people who sent lewd emails and it was part of a culture among staff and that no offence was likely to be caused.

His employer found he had forwarded sexually explicit emails to work colleagues.

It said Safe Air would have been entitled to discipline Mr Walker, but his actions did not amount to serious misconduct or justification for a dismissal.

The ERA investigated and questioned whether Mr Walker could have been expected to have full knowledge of the company’s email policy.

The company was also ordered to pay him $1000 for humiliation and loss of dignity.

It considered Mr Walker could be trusted if reinstated and ordered Safe Air to do so.

However, Safe Air appealed the decision in the Employment Court.

Mr Walker did not return to Safe Air but the issue of compensation for lost wages and costs was to be discussed between the two parties.

Some of the emails included racist, misogynistic text and were denigrating of women, he said.

In his decision released today Employment Court Judge Tony Couch said Mr Walker’s dismissal “was what a fair and reasonable employer would have done”.”

Safe Air general manager Heather Deacon said the firm was satisfied with the latest decision.

“A particularly offensive example of the latter was a poster depicting a young woman walking down the street being watched by a group of five men with the title `Gang rape, five out of six people enjoy it’.

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Police have praised the quick actions by neighbours of a rural Waikato property which left four alleged burglars with nowhere to hide today.

Police said a Whatawhata resident noticed a suspicious vehicle parked at a neighbour’s property about 3.15pm and responded by parking his ute across the driveway.

”He and other neighbours then observed from a safe distance,” said acting Waikato police communications manager Tony Sasso.

When he went and looked inside the offending vehicle he noticed a firearm inside, which he took and threw into long grass before returning to his home to call police.

Before the AOS arrived, the group of four voluntarily walked out of the house, followed instructions and gave themselves up. .

Three men aged 18, 20 and 21 will appear in Hamilton District Court over the incident tomorrow, while a 14-year-old will appear in the Youth Court.

Sergeant Vic Snedden praised the actions of the locals responding to the incident and said they ”did everything absolutely right”.

Police said the firearm in the offending vehicle was from the property being targeted.

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The suspected terrorists arrested today in Melbourne allegedly intended to become martyrs in an attack on Holsworthy army base in New South Wales.

The Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard police believed there was a conspiracy to use weapons to fire upon Australian military personnel.

Prosecutor Nick Robinson, SC, alleged the men intended to keep shooting until they were killed or arrested.

The court heard only one man had been charged with terrorism-related offences while three other men remained in custody without charge.

Mr Robinson agreed with Magistrate Peter Reardon that their intention was to become martyrs.

One of the men, Saney Aweys, appeared in court handcuffed and flanked by two federal agents.

Investigators are seeking a court order to extend their questioning of the men for eight hours. He denied any connection with the men mentioned in court by Mr Robinson. .

Aweys, who has not been charged and who was unrepresented, said he was a boilermaker and needed sleep after being awake for the past 30 hours. “I want to have a rest.

“I want it to stop now,” he said. He adjourned today’s hearing until 2pm for further applications to be made by the prosecution and their defense.”

Mr Reardon granted the application for Aweys to be interviewed for eight hours from 6pm tonight.

Federal agent David Kinton told the court the telephone intercepts had recorded text messages exchanged about the Holsworthy base.

Federal agent David Kinton told the court the telephone intercepts had recorded text messages exchanged about the Holsworthy base.”

He said the men had attempted to find an Islamic sheik or religious authority to give them support to engage in violent attacks in Australia. It is easy to enter. “I’m waiting for your message,” one allegedly said in relation to the information about the Holsworthy base.

Mr Kinton said there had been other text messages sent between the men.

CCTV footage allegedly shows one of the men arriving at Holsworthy on March 28, Mr Kinton said.

“Can you give me the address of Australia and name of train station,” another text allegedly said.

Mr Robinson said that evidence would involve electronic and physical surveillance. He said one telephone discussion intercepted by police involved a man believed to be in Somalia who was engaged in violence there. He said he would allow the questioning of “such serious allegations” to continue.

In granting the application for the extension Mr Reardon said terrorism acts “strike at the heart of our democratic society”.

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials say they are doing what they can to help a New Zealander arrested in the Philippines on suspicion of being involved in a 2003 mutiny. . Newman had an expired tourist visa.
Police told local media that the seven were allegedly involved in a July 2003 bloodless uprising.
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A Ministry spokesman said the department was aware of the arrest of the New Zealand man who was facing immigration-related charges and had extended consular assistance to the man,
The man had appointed a lawyer and did not want any other information released

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Cabinet Ministers need a good overview of their portfolios, but Tertiary Education Minister Anne Tolley has gone to new heights with an $1800 helicopter ride to see how big Auckland is.

Labour is in a spin after Mrs Tolley accepted the ride from Auckland University of Technology at a time when the Tertiary Education Commission considered job losses to cut spending.
“The aim was to give the minister a greater understanding of the specific areas of population growth in the Auckland area and the distance from these growth areas to tertiary education providers,” the spokeswoman said.
Mrs Tolley has defended the ride, which she said, through a spokeswoman, was suggested by AUT officials. AUT confirmed it cost $1800. AUT paid for the ride, which took about 30 minutes and covered the greater Auckland area.
Maryan Street, Labour’s tertiary education spokeswoman, wondered if Mrs Tolley misunderstood what was meant by taking “a helicopter view” of the issue.
In Parliament, Labour leader Phil Goff branded it a “joy-ride” which flew in the face of Government calls for restraint in the public sector and the commission’s plans to axe more than 70 jobs. . Alternatively, she suggested Mrs Tolley was avoiding student leaders who had dubbed their efforts to speak to her “the great Tolley hunt”. “It’s done all the time . But he raised eyebrows when he told MPs it was perfectly normal for ministers to take helicopter rides…
National MPs refused leave.”
Labour MP Clayton Cosgrove sought leave to table a map so Mrs Tolley, who lives in Gisborne, could get an idea of Auckland’s size without leaving the ground.
– By MARTIN KAY,

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‘Idiot’ yacht thieves forced to row ashore

By JO McKENZIE-McLEAN – Thursday, 26 February 2009

A drunken joyride on a stolen yacht proved sobering for thieves who had to row ashore after drifting out to sea.
"Idiot" thieves stole a dinghy overnight on Tuesday from Lyttelton Harbour's Cass Bay, rowing it to a 34-foot yacht which they took to sea.
The thieves did not know to turn on the water to keep the engine cool and consequently it blew up.
"They are idiots," said Sumner Constable Richard Scott.
"Luckily, they tied the dinghy to the back of the yacht.
The yacht ended up drifting about 500 metres off the South New Brighton shore, Scott said. It was a cold night with a southerly blowing and they could have easily drifted into the deep sea. If that wasn't there they would have been stuck on the boat with nowhere to go. There are a lot of `what ifs'.
"They would have had no idea how to operate the GPS and they could have just disappeared.
"They [the thieves] had tried to take the radio, and bourbon bottles were lying everywhere."
A fisherman discovered the drifting vessel at South New Brighton early yesterday.
"They have obviously got to shore and done a runner pretty quickly."
A member of the public discovered the dinghy between the pier and the Waimairi Surf Club full of lifejackets, flares, and other items off the yacht.

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Quick-thinking woman nets thief

By JO McKENZIE McLEAN – Tuesday, 24 February 2009

A Christchurch woman who surprised two burglars managed to block their escape route and used her cellphone to take a picture of one offender.
Southern Area Commander Inspector Malcolm Johnston said the woman's Lower Cashmere home was burgled on Saturday one of dozens burgled during the weekend.
The woman, who lives in Hollis Ave, returned home about 6pm to find a car parked in her driveway, Johnston said.
The weekend burglary spree reflected a general spike in Christchurch home burglaries particularly in the police district's southern area over the past three months. She drove up behind it boxing it in and these guys tried to ram into her on their way out.
"It was fantastic work by the woman.
"It's an absolutely fantastic picture. She had the immediate presence of mind to take a picture of them on her cellphone."
One offender ran off, but police dogs found him hiding. The attending officers were almost immediately able to recognise a problem burglar.
Other burglary victims, who declined to be named, said they returned to their Huntsbury Ave home on Friday at 5. The other offender got away, but police knew his identity, Johnston said.
"In the bedroom they had been through the drawers; tipped everything out and gone through it all, maybe looking for jewellery.50pm to find a rock had been thrown through their lounge window and the house ransacked."
Stuffed inside the bags were items including a passport, bank statements and a digital camera. Then we noticed two booty bags, which the burglars were intending to take, but left when they got disturbed probably when we came home.
On Saturday after police had been taking statements and fingerprints, a burglar alarm went off at another neighbour's house, she said.
After inquiries in the neighbourhood on Friday, the couple discovered several of their neighbours had also been burgled. The burglar had wrenched the plasma TV from the wall, but had been disturbed by the alarm and fled.
"(Her partner) went to check it out and found the door had been jemmied open.
Senior Sergeant Stephen Kelly, of the southern police intelligence unit, said that since December the number of burglaries across the area was 50 per cent up on what they would expect."
The police district's southern area had 13 house burglaries last weekend, and 28 the weekend before.
"We expected about 120 to 130 for January but there were close toly 200.
"It started to peak in late December and went really high in January," he said.
"We are attributing the burglaries to about three or four groups operating in our area.
"We are attributing the burglaries to about three or four groups operating in our area. We are taking a number of steps in relation to addressing this problem, including increasing the number of police dogs available and increasing patrols in the most affected suburbs of Riccarton, Lower Cashmere, St Martins and Spreydon."

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Accusations snowball against wild couple

Thursday, 19 February 2009

More charges for Bonnie and Cylde

The couple at the centre of an armed standoff in Palmerston this month have appeared on a raft of fresh charges, including accusations they ill-treated children in their care.
Name suppression was yesterday lifted on the Palmerston North couple, Christopher Daniel Shaw, 25, panelbeater, and Stacey Estelle Snelleksz, 20, when they appeared in the Oamaru District Court before Judge Stephen O'Driscoll.
Each now faces a score of charges from the pursuit and the weeks leading up to it and the court was told more charges are likely. .
Snelleksz is facing 21 charges, including permitting her premises to be used for cultivating cannabis, possession of an offensive weapon and two counts of receiving stolen property.
Both were remanded without plea in custody to appear again in the Oamaru court on March 4.
They also face joint charges, including failing to stop, theft, driving dangerously, injuring a child, four counts of wilfully ill-treating two children, aged one and three, six counts of using a firearm against police and three counts of receiving stolen property. They were allegedly involved in an armed standoff with police after a North Otago chase on February 2.

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Father of Nia’s killers jailed for ‘inexplicable’ violence

The Friday, 13 February 2009

JAILED: William Curtis who was sentenced to four years in prison for abusing Rotorua toddler Nia Glassie.

LATEST: The father of convicted child killers Wiremu and Michael Curtis has been jailed for his part in the abuse of Nia Glassie.
William Curtis, 50, was sentenced to four years' imprisonment by Judge Phillip Cooper in Rotorua District Court this morning. .
He was found guilty in December of seven counts of assaulting a child under 14, and one count of assault with a weapon – a scarf.
The offending occurred while Nia lived at Curtis' flat in James Street with her mother, Lisa Kuka, her two sisters, Wiremu Curtis and his sister Hoani.
On each of the seven assault charges he was jailed for one year – with those sentences to be served cumulatively.
In sentencing Judge Phillip Cooper said the violence by Cutis towards Nia was inexplicable and incomprehensible.
Cutis wrapped a scarf around Nia's neck and held her above the ground for 10 secionds making her face go purple.
Curtis had a duty of care towards Nia who would have looked to him for protection.
Curtis showed no emotion when sentence was passed.
He also backslapped her making her lip bleed, pushed to the ground and towards a wall and threatened to stomp on her head if she didn't "f— up", Judge Cooper said.

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Two supporters of Curtis were present at the sentencing