Mike Hosking
Police say they are concerned for the mental wellbeing of a woman who lit fires on a Hauraki Gulf island to attract attention. About 13ha of grassland on Browns Island was destroyed before fire crews took control early yesterday. The woman was treated at Auckland City Hospital for dehydration and was resting at home last night. The last hotspots were put out yesterday, and crews left the island. The woman told police she became stranded on the island on Monday and started the fires to get help. Fifteen people have died on New Zealand roads in the past seven days, prompting road police to appeal for drivers to travel carefully. Two people were killed in separate Bay of Plenty accidents overnight on Thursday, taking the road toll to 278 for the year. At this time last year it was 264. “Every death on our roads is a tragedy and 15 families who have lost a loved one are now dealing with the aftermath,” road policing assistant police commissioner Dave Cliff said. The Malaysian diplomat convicted of indecently assaulting a Wellington woman has been deported after finishing his sentence, police confirmed yesterday. Muhammed Rizalman bin Ismail pleaded guilty to the charge a day before the trial was to begin and was sentenced to nine months’ home detention on February 4 this year. The sentence ended yesterday. A police spokeswoman confirmed he was escorted from Wellington to Kuala Lumpur by two New Zealand police officers on Thursday night. Environment Canterbury is the latest organisation to suspend use of Robinson helicopters after the deaths of two men whose helicopter crashed in Northland on Monday. The Department of Conservation this week decided to no longer use the helicopters, which have also been put on a Transport Accident Investigation Commission “watchlist”. Environment Canterbury’s finance and corporate services director Miles McConway said they wouldn’t allow staff to fly in Robinsons while they remained on watch with the Civil Aviation Authority. “Environment Canterbury undertakes a significant amount of helicopter work, often in testing terrain and conditions. We need to ensure that the safety of our staff is paramount.” Labour is expected to outline a package of support to retrain workers who lose their jobs because of changing technology at its party conference today. Labour’s finance spokesman Grant Robertson is set to make the announcement as he releases the final report of the “Future of Work” project at the conference in Auckland. Five New Zealand Defence Force personnel stationed at Camp Taji near Baghdad will periodically take part in training Iraqi armed police at another base, Taqaddum. That will spread New Zealanders across three bases: Camp Taji, Besmaya south of Baghdad where the Kiwis hand over Iraqi trainees for heavy weapons training; and Taqaddum 70km west of Baghdad. Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee said New Zealand trainers may in the future be sent to bases other than those three.