New Zealand sailor is likely to die in prison
Appeal by former Bay man found with record drug haul rejected
An ageing kiwi sailor caught in a record-breaking Australian cocaine bust will probably be in prison for the rest of his life, according to the judges who rejected his last-ditch legal appeal.
hamish Edmond thompson was at the helm of his yacht, Elakha, when the Australian federal police (Afp) found 1.4 tonnes of the drugs stowed away on the 13m vessel in february 2017.
the haul of plastic-wrapped 1kg packages was conservatively valued at around $500 million.
“that would . . . be probably about twice the amount that i was told that there would be on that boat, okay, eh,” thompson told Afp officers.
“i had no idea at all, even i was shocked.”
thompson was later found guilty of conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of cocaine and in 2020 received a life sentence with a nonparole period of 22 years.
But in 2023, thompson appealed on a number of grounds — including an allegation that his trial lawyer was incompetent.
last year, the nsw supreme Court ruled that while the conduct of thompson’s lawyer was “professionally unsatisfactory”, there was no miscarriage of justice.
thompson is now 70 but his advancing years and deteriorating health were also not deemed a reason to reduce his prison time.
“Consideration of [thompson’s] age, which carries a likelihood that he will not see another day of freedom, cannot be permitted to justify the imposition of an unacceptably inappropriate sentence,” the supreme Court wrote.
“the imposition of a life sentence in [thompson’s] case was almost inevitable, given the scale and brazen nature of the criminality involved.”
the supreme Court judgment also revealed that thompson and five coaccused had been under surveillance by law enforcement for three years.
there had been two previous attempts to import drugs into Australia in 2014 and 2015.
on each occasion, the Elakha was under surveillance sailing from new zealand and across the pacific ocean to various ports in the islands.
in the third attempt in 2017, thompson left new zealand on the Elakha and around january 17, 2017, took a delivery of 1.4 tonnes of
Never mind The Block — more cash-strapped first-home buyers are spurning doeruppers to seek homes with “everything done . . . or no issues”, a Tauranga agent says.
Tall Poppy Real Estate Tauranga owner Janet O’shea said she believed that could be due to tougher lending restrictions for homes that required more than minor renovations.
“Buying something you can fix over time has always been a great starting point for younger buyers but structural or consent issues are now factors in finance deals falling apart, and limiting options for buyers.”
Her comments come as national data shows more first-home buyers are getting on the property ladder with banks offering mortgage cashbacks of up to $5000.
O’shea said an example of how tough it was for young people to save a deposit was a professional Tauranga couple in their 30s, who lived with family for nine years before buying their first home.
She said the cost of living was “very expensive in Tauranga”.
First-home buyers now tended to be older and some parents were co-owning homes with their children.
“I’ve got one on the market at the moment, which is a four-bedroom property in the mid-$900,000s, and I’ve had a family come to look at that as a good investment long-term. Their son could live in that [and] they would have a shared ownership, you know, with him so we are seeing a little bit of that as well.”
The market was difficult to predict at the moment, but she hoped to see more confidence returning come spring.
Tremains Bay of Plenty managing director Anton Jones said interest rates remained the biggest issue, despite the increase in first-home buyers entering the market.
He said buyers were contemplating if they could afford to service the debt but there were incentives, including Ka¯inga Ora’s first-home loan scheme and Kiwisaver. House prices had also fallen. “It is a good time to be looking as the investors aren’t in the market too much.”
He expected investors to return due to changes to interest deductibility and the bright-line test reducing.
“They tend to play in the same field as first-home buyers so there will be more competition coming.”
Heath Young, Bayleys and EVES Realty Waikato/bay of Plenty/taranaki chief executive, said for the past four months there had been more sales and new listings. Auction numbers had also improved.
He agreed first-home buyers had been active due to less investor competition.
“It is still a great time for first-home buyers, although upcoming changes in the bright-line test and interest rate deductability will mean a return to the market for investors, which will mean more competition for first-home buyers.
“The property market has already shown subtle signs of improvement and will tend to show greater activity with some of the introduced government changes, along with a softening of interest rates.”
Brooke Reynolds, Rapson Loans and Finance financial adviser and coowner, said its first-home buying clients were aged from 18 to 62.
The number of first-home buyer applications had increased and people were getting creative. “First-home buyers are buying a house with a friend or work colleague who also wants to get onto the housing ladder and they are still taking on multiple flatmates to increase their income.”
The banks also viewed debt differently. Short-term debt was viewed less favourably as it showed instead of saving, the person had spent money. However, a student loan was not considered bad debt, as it was spent to increase knowledge and potential income.
Banks offer big cash incentives to lure first-home buyers
An ANZ spokeswoman said last year it had 9400 first-home buyers compared to 7500 in the year before.
Their average age was 35 and about 75 per cent took a fixed home loan.
“Lenders are required by law to capture and check specific information about a customer’s income and expenses before granting them credit. This can include debt owed on credit cards and Buy-now, Pay-later schemes.”
First-home buyers could qualify for a $5000 cash contribution
Helen Ryder, Westpac NZ consumer banking and wealth acting general manager, said the bank held firsthome buyer seminars about alternative ways to get on the property ladder, including Ka¯inga Ora’s first home loan scheme.
Mortgage applications were assessed case-by-case.
“This means assessing incomings and outgoings, which may include debt repayments, student loans and credit cards.
First-home buyers with a home loan of $250,000 or more may be eligible for a $3000-plus contribution.