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News of Zealand

News of Zealand: Legal Profession 'Rife' With Abuse

Plus the three strikes law is out, and why your power bill is looking so hefty...
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Everything you need to know about the world today, curated by 95bFM and VICE NZ.

LOCAL NEWS

NZ Law Society Report Slams Abuse in Sector
A new report released yesterday by the New Zealand Law Society shows the legal profession is rife with systemic abuse and bullying. The report outlines the results of a Colmar Brunton survey, which revealed that nearly one third of female lawyers have been sexually harassed, and more than half of all lawyers have been bullied. Around 3,500 lawyers responded to the survey out of the 13,500 lawyers in the profession. The report also showed that Māori, Pacific Island or Asian lawyers are more likely to be victims of workplace harassment. President of the Law Society, Kathryn Beck, told 95bFM the report highlights the extent of the problem. “We knew we had a problem, we didn’t know the extent of that problem, we do now, which means that we can go to the profession with some credible information and help them understand that we need to make some quite significant changes at the profession as a whole”. She was calling for a variety of reforms: “We need to see some changes in what we value and how we value it within the profession, how we organise ourselves, how free people feel to speak up, how hierarchical it is, and how people at the bottom of that hierarchy, whether they feel empowered to raise issues, all of those sorts of things need to change because at the moment—they don’t feel empowered.” Beck told 95bFM the NZ Law Society is setting up a specialist task force to tackle workplace harassment.

Energy Prices Soar
Recent cold weather has led to electricity prices soaring for residential consumers this week. The price spike is a result of energy utilities needing to use more coal, gas and diesel in response to increasing demands. Greenpeace Climate and Energy campaigner Amanda Larsson told 95bFM and fossil fuels are more expensive than renewable energy sources. “So what we saw particularly on Monday night was that power prices surged more than ten times the average.” The price surges are highlighting the need for answers about the disparity between residential and commercial electricity costs. Larsson says extreme price hikes like these are evidence of the need for New Zealand to quickly transition to 100 percent renewable energy.

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Three Strikes Law to Be Repealed
The Three Strikes Law, which was passed in 2010, is set to change. Justice Minister Andrew Little says he will take a proposal to Cabinet to repeal it. Three strikes was a three-stage system of increasing consequences for repeat serious violent offenders. On a third strike, the sentence must be the maximum possible unless the court considers it would be manifestly unjust. Little says the law had not successfully reduced serious crime, and had also not acted as an effective deterrent.

Funding to Clean Up Auckland Beaches
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff is pushing to improve the city's beaches and water quality. Goff is close to securing a $452 million boost to clean up beaches and harbours in his 10-year budget today. A public meeting is also happening to discuss a $44 million water improvement project, in the form of a tunnel that will combine stormwater and wastewater.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Russian Journalist Fakes Own Death
In the Ukraine, a Russian journalist thought to have been murdered on Tuesday has appeared alive, in what turned out to be an elaborate plot to foil a Russian assassination. Arkady Babchenko shocked the world when arrived at a news conference yesterday, less than a day after being reported dead. The man behind it all was the Head of Ukraine’s security services, Vasyl Hrytsak, who created the sting in order to catch hitmen employed by Russian Forces. At this stage one arrest has been made as a result.

Protests in Greece
Thousands of protesters have held a 24 hour strike in Greece's capital Athens against the government's ongoing austerity measures. The strike was organised by labour unions and put a stop to public transport throughout much of the country. Public services were paused for the day as subways and metros were halted, planes were grounded and shops, restaurants, schools and offices were closed. The protestors drew attention to issues of high unemployment and low wages, demanding higher wages and basic human rights for workers.

Australian Police Officers Fake Breathalysers
An internal report has found that Victorian police officers faked more than 250,000 random preliminary roadside breath tests over five years.The report claims that 1.5 percent of 17.7 million tests were falsified by officers. The officers are thought to have blown into the breathalysers themselves to meet quotas, in the process avoiding breath testing motorists. Victoria Police said yesterday they had let the community down, admitting officers would either place a finger over the straw entry hole or blow into the straw themselves.

Samoa Calls for Post-Riot Peace
Samoans are calling for peace and compensation for damage caused by a youth brawl on Savaii on. Fighting took place between the youths of two villages, Salelologa and Salelavalu, causing damage to cars, property and a local market. Local roads were blocked as a result of the violence, and church ministers were on the scene trying to calm down the situation. Locals are concerned that the fighting, which has been posted on social media, will affect tourism in Samoa.

Additional reporting by Leonard Powell, Lillian Hanly