A 64-year-old Samoan New Zealander has been arrested and charged after allegedly bringing Samoans to New Zealand to work illegally in the horticultural industry since the 1990s.
Allegations made by the victims include not being paid for work completed, having their passports taken, and being subjected to physical assaults and threats.
The victims also allege that their movements were closely monitored and controlled by the man, and there were restrictions on both where they went and who they had contact with.
Immigration NZ assistant general manager Peter Devoy says some of the victims were under the man's control for some years.
He says this is the fourth time Immigration NZ has changed someone with human trafficking, but it is the first time the police have been involved.
Detective Inspector Mike Foster described the man as "a respected member of his community in Samoa" who had targeted vulnerable people with limited education and literacy.
He says there are 10 alleged victims so far, but he doesn't know if there could be more, and so he is appealing to the public for more information.
Anyone being forced to work here illegally for less than the minimum wage and/or excessive hours can contact Immigration NZ or the Labour Inspectorate, which is promising their concerns will be handled in a safe environment.
People can also contact CrimeStoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
For more on this story, click here
A review on sexual harassment and bullying in the legal profession has found female lawyers have been subjected to "sexual objectification" for decades and new rules are needed to address unacceptable behaviour.
The New Zealand Law Society is planning changes to reporting and is taking action on the issue following the comprehensive report.
Recommendations include new rules for lawyers which specifically require high personal and professional standards with specific reference to sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination and other unacceptable behaviour.
The report also called for specific prohibition of victimising people who report unacceptable behaviour, and a specialised process for dealing with complaints.
The working group found sex discrimination and sexual objectification of women lawyers was not new, and had taken place in the New Zealand legal profession since at least the 1950s.
In a national survey in 1992, 38 per cent of women lawyers reported sexual harassment.
The working group was established in mid-April following widespread allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination within the legal profession, combined with a culture of silence and under-reporting of such misconduct.
Former staff members of top law firm Russell McVeagh had spoken out about sexually inappropriate behaviour by lawyers towards summer law clerks, and controversy also arose around the Otago University law camp following a series of allegations of nudity and jelly wrestling.
Justice Minister Andrew Little had been advised of the report's recommendations and is likely to meet with the Law Society about them in the new year.
For more on this story, click here
Crown Law has been asked to consider an appeal after a teen girl who killed an Air Force cadet in a drunken hit-and-run, was sentenced to home detention.
Air Force cadet Nathan Kraatskow was killed when learner driver Rouxle Le Roux hit him at an Albany intersection on May 18.
The 19-year-old, who had drunk wine and smoked cannabis earlier in the day, then took off in the Mercedes she was driving.
Last Friday, she was sentenced by Judge Nicola Mathers to 11 months' home detention, alongside 250 hours of community work and disqualified from driving for 2.5 years.
After the hearing, however, Kraatskow's mum Charlene Kraatskow started a petition on Change.org calling on prosecutors to appeal Le Roux's sentence and seek a harsher penalty.
Today, a spokeswoman for Crown Law told the Herald the case had been referred to the Solicitor-General's office to consider whether an appeal should be filed.
She could not comment further while the process was under way. The appeal period is 20 working days.
Charlene Kraatskow was overwhelmed and emotional when the Herald told her about the possible appeal, bursting into tears.
She said it was amazing, unexpected, and a step in the right direction.
For more on this story, click here
The Government has announced $1.4 billion of funding to make dangerous roads safer over the next three years.
The Safe Network Programme will make 870km of high-volume, high-risk State Highways safer with improvements like median and side barriers, rumble strips, and shoulder widening.
New Zealand's high road toll has been under scrutiny as the number of fatal and serious injuries has escalated, with deaths increasing 50 per cent in four years.
Once complete, these improvements are expected to prevent 160 deaths and serious injuries every year.
For more on this story, click here
Semi-automatic guns sold by the Defence Force to the public in the 1990s, are turning up in the hands of gangs and organised criminal groups.
More than 170 military-style, semi-automatic guns had been seized by police in the past five years.
More have been taken in each of the last three years than in any year in the past decade.
In a briefing to the Minister last year police said they were concerned that they had seized the guns from gangs and organised crime groups during searches.
They said gangs were starting to use a different type of firearm - the high-risk guns used in massacres in the US.
The director of the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, Kevin Clements, it's a hugely concerning find.
For more on this story, click here
A major development over the weekend, with delegates from almost 200 countries agreeing to a global climate change rulebook which would put the landmark Paris Climate treaty into action.
The decision comes after days of tense negotiations in Poland's COP24 conference.
The new agreement establishes the rules on how to limit greenhouse gas emissions, to keep global temperature rises below two degrees.
Green Party co-leader James Shaw says it's a "breakthrough", which will help "galvanise action" as it puts every country in the Paris agreement on the same playing field.
He says the Paris agreement said what we wanted to do, but didn't say how.
So creating the rules on how to do it should increase momentum towards climate targets.
For more on this story, click here
But not everyone is happy with the result.
Many scientists, and even those at the conference, say the agreement falls short of what is needed to stave off the worst of climate change.
Greenpeace NZ Executive Director, and former Green Party co-leader Russel Norman says although the rulebook was agreed, there was no clear collective commitment to enhance climate action targets.
The landmark Paris deal doesn't have binding targets, which many say isn't good enough considering the stakes are so high.
Climate scientist Dr James Renwick says the new rulebook lacks urgency, and a plan for serious action.
For more on this story, click here
A pamphlet's being launched in Wellington today to advise sex workers on how to respond to a sexual assault.
The New Zealand Prostitutes Collective and Police have collaborated on the project.
The pamphlet's believed to be the first of its kind globally.
Prostitute's Collective national coordinator Dame Catherine Healy says they're starting in the Wellington region, but there are plans to distribute it around the country.
For more on this story, click here
People who have KiwiSaver or life insurance trust their providers the least when it comes to meeting their needs.
That's the latest from a survey by the Financial Markets Authority, which found that just 67 per cent of people who were in KiwiSaver said they trusted their provider to do what they needed.
That was vastly different to people who had an investment portfolio managed by an adviser of which 86 per cent said they trusted their financial provider to meet their needs.
FMA director of strategy and risk Simone Robbers says the difference could reflect the views of different generations.
Half of those surveyed with an investment portfolio were over the age of 60 while KiwiSaver membership was more skewed towards people aged between 30 and 50.
Robbers says the older demographic may have had investments for a longer period and understand the ups and downs of the market.
For more on this story, click here
Incredible GoPro footage accidentally captured by an Auckland spearfisherman, shows the moment when a shark locked on to his leg.
On Sunday December 9th Anton Oleinik was out fishing at Ti Point, north of Auckland.
The fisherman had been swimming alone along the coastline when he found a school of kingfish.
The 50-year-old took aim and snared his target - but as he was pulling in a kingfish a large bronze whaler shark about 2.5m long swam up and grabbed on to his leg.
Oleinik says he suddenly felt a squeeze on his knee, and thought it was a strong kingfish. But when he put his head down, there was a big shark with his jaws around my leg.
He managed to push off the shark, abandoned his gear, and swam to some rocks about 10 metres away.
The fisherman says it was a close call that could have gone horribly wrong, and the lesson is not to go diving alone.
Oleinik says if he'd had a buddy they would have seen the situation developing.
For more on this story, click here
That's the Front Page for today, Monday December 17, making sure you're across the biggest news of the day. For more on these stories, check out The New Zealand Herald, or tune in to Newstalk ZB.
You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple podcasts here, iHeartRadio here, and Stitcher here.
If you like to stay up to date on social media, you can find host Frances Cook on Facebook here, Instagram here and Twitter here.
