THIS LATE-EDITED ITEM WILL BE CAPTIONED LIVE.they WE INTERRUPT OUR REGULAR PROGRAMMING NOW TO BRING YOU BREAKING NEWS OF A SIGNIFICANT THREAT TO OUR FOOD CHAIN. POLICE HAVE JUST BEEN REVEALING DETAILS OF A BLACKMAIL THREAT TO POISON INFANT MILK FORMULA. OFFICIALS SAY FEDERATED FARMERS AND FONTERRA RECEIVED LETTERS IN NOVEMBER THREATENING TO PUT 1080 IN MILK POWDER AS A PROTEST AGAINST CONTINUED USE OF THE POISON. THE LETTERS CONTAINED WHITE POWDER, WHICH TESTED AS HIGHLY POTENT 1080. THE THREAT IS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT, NOT INDIVIDUAL COMPANIES. OFFICIALS SAY IT COULD BE A HOAX, BUT BECAUSE IT'S INFANT FORMULA, IT'S BEING TREATED AS SERIOUS. THE BLACKMAILER WARNED OF GOING PUBLIC WITH THE THREAT IF GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS DIDN'T. POLICE ARE APPEALING FOR HELP FROM THE PUBLIC, AND EXTENSIVE EFFORTS ARE BEING MADE TO SECURE THE FOOD SUPPLY. 50,000 TESTS HAVE BEEN CARRIED OUT. A NEWS CONFERENCE HAS JUST BEEN HELD IN WELLINGTON. JOINING US NOW IS REPORTER REBECCA EDWARDS. Fonterra received a November containing the sample of 1080. ORE CAN YOU TELL US? The threat is real. It is a protest who has concern for the environment. They will take further steps if the government doesn't do anything by 27 March. Obviously the health and safety of the nation's children is paramount. WHAT IS THE BIGGEST ISSUE IN ALL THIS? SECURITY OF THE FOOD CHAIN? Our mancturers have extremely robust systems. The security on our plantsis safe. Our systems are secure. THIS NEWS WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE WORLD QUICKLY. HOW CAN YOU MITIGATE THE DAMAGE? What we need to do is see it in context. It is going to spread. Tthis is not the first issue we have had around infant formula and dairy products in this country. The only way of mitigating it is giving an absolute guarantee of New Zealand's processors. This is a protest who is prepared to play politics and damage New Zealand's reputation. They are willing to put at risk exporters out of New Zealand. Potentially this is a hoax. There is no confirmation. Your advice to consumers? Terrorism can exist around food, around water. Somebody has chosen to play a game around food. New Zealand consumers should be aware. I am giving a guarantee on the robustness of our systems. My message is that New Zealand product is safe. People should feel safe about this? What is the cost? This is billions of dollars. But it is also New Zealand's reputation. That is the risk when someone is trying to use politics as a means of meeting the ends. POLITICAL EDITOR CORIN DANN HAS BEEN AT THE NEWS CONFERENCE ON THE INFANT MILK FORMULA THREAT AND JOINS US NOW. CORIN. The message from places that they are looking for help to try and locate this individual. Fonterra and Federated farmers both received letters it was confirmed it was 1080 in the letters. The end of March was the deadline given in those letters. If they didn't stop using 1080 as a pest control they would contaminate New Zealand infant formula. The message for parents and caregivers is to continue to use the formula. They have done 40,000 tests. They have strengthened a lot of procedures around the supply chain. They have made sure nothing can be tampered with. This is a major industry for New Zealand. It highlights the vulnerability around the food supply. Everybody is taking this extremely seriously. The collateral damage is potentially huge for our key exporters. Shares in Fonterra have been halted on the Nzx this type of information, once it leaves our shores and is picked up in places like China, there may be an instinctive reaction in those markets. Huge effort has gone on over the last few months to assure our suppliers that this is a hoax. You can understand why they have been cautious with this one. With what is at stakethey need to have the utmost concern. The social media offshore is what drove the stories we had to deal with. At this point a being proactive? We are being proactive at this point. We have spoken with our major trading partners. What we need is the help to get that message out, because social media will become the carrier of the message when it comes to big markets like China. How do we stay head of that? The some of the small exporters in New Zealand will be sitting back and waiting to see what the reaction in our major markets is. We have been working with the government. Have you seen any reaction from overseas? If you look at the manufacturing in New Zealand and the plants in New Zealand the conversations have been had. The government have been proactive. I think that is going to help us mitigate the damage. Had you have a look at some of the major food companies around the world, they have a way of handling these things. New Zealanders looking closely at the way other nations have handled these issues. Corin, one of the measures that can be taken to secure the food chain? Measures have been taken over the last few months to strengthen security. There have been security measures undertaken in stores. There has been a new 1080 testing programme. There has been increased vigilance. They don't want to take any risks. They can't afford for even one container of milk formula to have been contaminated in a shop or anywhere like that. It already is a big deal but that would make it more of a big deal. They are appealing to the public for help to catch this perpetrator. The threat was that the government had to stop using 1080 by the end of March. Consumers need to be aware to look for evidence of tampering. That is the message, that you should keep using infant formula, but you should be vigilant and look for any tampering of the containers. If you're slightly worried the new should be calling into Plunkett to make sure you absolutely certain. The message is clear, keep using the infant formula but be vigilant. The letters were in November. It was very specific about the timeframe. They probably felt this was a hoax. 1080 protesters have been pretty vocal in doing what they do. They must have felt it was a hoax but they simply couldn't take the risk. It is about the safety of New Zealanders but also reputation issues. They have taken enormous effort and quite some cost. It is quite extraordinary that we haven't known about it for sometime. They have taken every step necessary to protect consumers. We are complying with the threat that is being made. The government is to go public by March or they would. They don't want the perpetrator to have the ability to conduct the eco-terrorism on our milk supply. The police would argue that from the moment they got the spirit they swung into action. Huge amounts of resources have been used to try to catch this perpetrator. They have had to make this public today because they cannot eliminate that it is a hoax. THANKS FOR WATCHING THIS ONE NEWS SPECIAL. WE'LL BRING YOU MORE ON THIS DEVELOPING STORY ON ONE NEWS AT 6 AND ON OUR WEBSITE, ONENEWS.CO.NZ 10 March 2015 Coming up on Te Karere... Te Iti Kahurangi speak out over having their haka cut on Maori TV's online coverage of Te Matatini. Mana Whenua have added their voice to the protest against the felling of a 500 year old kauri tree. Due to the live nature of Te Karere, some segments will not be subtitled. Tena koutou katoa, and welcome to Te Karere. A haka Maori Television didn't want you to see has just been reinstated. For more than 24 hours, the controversial haka - critical of the broadcaster - was edited from the online coverage on Maori TV's website. But the about turn seems to have come from the groundswell of criticism against the censorship. Today, the composer of the haka and the leader of Te Iti Kahurangi spoke exclusively to Raniera Harrison. This haka was wiped by Maori Television, perhaps giving credit to its message. Still up in the air is the male leader of Te Iti Kahurangi, Kingi Kiriona. Even though Te Matatini has finished for another year, talk is rife about his team's haka that captivated the country. And Kiriona remains uncertain as to why Maori Television would do something like this in the first place, Laying down challenges in front of the nation, the Maori world and its many skilled composers are renowned for this behaviour. A leader sheltering his performers from the media storm that has been cast upon them. The words of this haka have proved prophetic. Maybe more will come of this story, further digging Maori Television in to a hole. Raniera Harrison, Te Karere. We've had a lot of feedback on our Facebook page. Here are some of your thoughts. Kapa haka exponent, lawyer, kaihaka for Te Waihirere, and TV rights holder to Te Matatini footage, Willie Te Aho joins us now. We're unable to provide subtitles. Willie Te Aho, thank you for your time. After the break, A mission to save a 500-year-old kauri tree has been going for over 24 hours now. Developers have been granted consent by the Auckland Council to fell the kauri and a 300-year-old rimu, but as mana whenua tell Te Karere, it was given without any consultation with the local iwi, Te Kawerau a Maki. Mana Whenua look on in disbelief toward the Kauri marked for felling. Te Kawerau a Maki has mana whenua over this area and a Resource Management Statement that stipulates their stance in accordance to native flora and fauna. The Minister of Culture and Heritage now. 10,000 people have signed a petition against felling the tree so far, and the support is growing. A 300-year-old rimu tree has also been marked for felling, but some are dispelling the age of the kauri. But Len Brown and his Council have shut their ears on the issue saying it's now a matter between the community and the developer to sort. Peata Melbourne, Te Karere. A teenager accused of murder who skipped bail has been remanded in custody after appearing in the High Court at Auckland today. Beauen Wallace Loretz was found by police yesterday following a four-day manhunt after he removed his electronic monitoring bracelet and fled his bail address. The 17-year-old and another teenager are accused of killing Ihaia Gillman Harris in an Epsom motel late last year. He'll remain in custody until the trial in November. That's all we have for today. In breaking news, as many of you would have heard, it's just been revealed that police are very concerned about a baby formula blackmail threat. Kia ora tatou katoa. Captions were made possible with funding from Te Mangai Paho. Copyright TVNZ 2015. NEW zEALAND MILK PRODUCTS AND FORMULA ARE SAFE TO USE. It's important to check when you're at the supermarket for signs of tampering on the containers. Where other questions thrown to the police or the ministry representatives fear? There are a lot of questions about whether our foreign or overseas buyers know about this. As far as we are awareour Chinese buyers don't know about it. Other buyers have been toldthe products are safe. Prof of retail and at AUT. Have we had a threat like this before? No, we haven't had a threat like this. It could be quite a big threat once the media get hold of that in China. Who is going to take responsibility for educating consumers? Because this is a threat to national industry, the government needs to take the lead. I think we will soon see a downturn in baby formula sales. What other options do parents have? Over the next few days I think there are going to be a lot of very scared mothers. They are going to want to know what the alternatives are. They are going to look at imported brands. That is going to hurt us. Reassurance needs to come out really really quickly. People need to know they are on the track of who is doing this. If they are not able to get on to that quickly, what do you perceive as the effect on the industry? It is billions of dollars in export products. Overseasthe brand is going to be associated with all of the brands under the Fonterra umbrella. Back to Kristin Hall who has been added news conference in Wellington. What police and MPI have emphasised is that the products are still safe to use. When parents or other consumers are at the supermarket they should be checking formula for signs of damage or tampering. All supermarkets in New Zealand have been advised of this. Police are emphasising that this is possibly a hoax but they are still taking it seriously at this stage. The damage to the industry as a whole is going to come back to New Zealand. The fact is we are known for having safe food. Infant formula, products from the same manufacturers, what about dairy? I don't think they will necessarily associate the products. Most of the brands overseas aren't obviously Fonterra brands the delay from when the information was first heard is going to affect the credibility of these assurances. There has been a lot of testing done. But mothers will still be concerned about their children. You need to check whether there has been any tampering when you are in the supermarket. I asked Michael Barnett what are the biggest issues here? We need to get the message to consumers from our manufacturing processes that we have very robust processes for testing. The next step is to say that the security in our plants and on the processes, they should feel safe that our systems are secure. Testing has been carried out and is ongoing. This news is going to spread around the world quickly and will cause a lot of damage. What we need to do? It is going to spread. This is not the first issue we have had around infant formula. The only way of mitigating it is giving guarantees about our processes. This puts small exporters at risk. It is a game of politics that is unacceptable. Do you agree with that approach? It is vital. If nothing happens in the next few days most consumers will bounce back. The threat was made back in November. Consumers will react immediately as long as nothing happens, they will settle down. Should we be complying with terrorist threats? When it comes to anything to do with food, absolutely not. There was a great example about 30 years ago. Daniel Stanbury is it at a Fonterra media conference. The Fonterra press conference is still going on behind me. They called it a despicable act of blackmail against the whole country. Fonterra is doing everything it can to help in the investigation and assist police. The priority is to consumers. They are saying the product is safe. Since November they have done about 35,000 tests. They have found no trace of the cubicle anywhere. They have increased the safety standards. Overseas markets have been informed and this might have a financial impact. Is this how you would expect Fonterra to handle this? Yes. They are saying it is safe and at this point it is. You anticipate that the will still be a backlash? This consumer group is vulnerable. There is an obvious weakness herebecause of the product category. There is going to be a backlash. Put yourself in charge of this. What would you do? First you need to catch the person or the people and remove any doubt whatsoever. You need to be open about the processes that are going on to ensure transparency. I think the Prime Minister is about to speak. We are responding to the threat and ensuring the ongoing safety of our food products. The ministry of Primary Industries and others have been working closely across the supply chain to ensure utmost safety. We're confident every measure has been taken to ensure the safety of the food system. We are highly confident that our products are safe. We have a world-class system. We are advised it is extremely unlikely anyone could deliberately contaminate formula during the manufacturing process. There is no evidence that this has ever occurred. As you know from police the blackmailer had threatened to go public at the end of March. The first priority for police was to carry out a thorough investigation and work with the industry to ensure every step was taken to protect the supply chain before the public was informed. The states included the development and implementation of a specific testing regime. Official advice was to be very cautious about making this threat public until appropriate measures were in place. There have been a number of media queries my message to New Zealanders and parents in particular today is that while it is very likely this threat is a hoax, we as a government have to take this threat seriously and we can assure you we are. As you will be aware, in late November 2014 Fonterra and can Federated farmers received a threatening letter containing small traces of 1080 next on infant formula. There was a criminal investigation set up by the police. This is a criminal blackmail that is absolutely appalling. It is eco-terrorism. I am extremely disappointed. What we have done since late November, as the whole of the government, there are a lot of government departments that have been working closely what we have done over this period of time is a lot of work. We have called in the 20 manufacturers, predominantly located here in New Zealand, some international, we have set up a testing regime 1080, we have done over 40,000 tests. Nathan Guy outlining the details of the street.