- Toia te waka, tapotu ki te moana. Ma wa e to? Ma wai e to? Ma te whakarongo e to! Ma te titiro e to! Ma Te Hui ano hoki e to! Haumi e, hui e, taiki e. This week on The Hui ` wrongfully charged for causing the death of her aunt. Kura Wijnschenk and her whanau continue their search for justice. - He was wrong. He was wrong from the start. - Finally, some answers from the man in charge. - Is that justice? - And we catch up with the new CEO of the New Zealand Film Commission, Taima Annie Murray, to discuss the current challenges and opportunities in the sector for Maori. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 Te hunga kua riro i te tuaorangi, haere mai, haere. Tatao kei te hahatanga o te whanua. Tihewa Mauriora. And welcome back to The Hui. A botched investigation and, finally, an apology. A Waitara woman has fought for six years to expose flaws in former senior cops' findings after a car crash killed her aunt. The Hui has been with her through her harrowing journey and found she's not alone, connecting her with another whanau who are challenging the same investigator's findings relating to the death of her beloved husband and has endured similar serious errors by the same police officer. Ruwani Perera has the third instalment of Kura Wijnschenk's Fight for Justice. - The All Blacks descend on Otepoti for the final Bledisloe test, and anticipation is in the air. But arriving here is a test of a different kind for Kura Wijnschenk and her sister Chrissy. Hi. - Mwah. How are you? - The Hui we first met Kura and her whanau in 2018, a year after the camper van she was driving around Southland was hit by an oncoming car, killing her Aunt Cherie Bidois instantly. - It landed on the other side of the road facing that way on the right hand side. I just remember waking up, smelling fumes. EMOTIONALLY: It wasn't pretty. - Do you blame yourself, Kura? - I know I didn't cause it. But, you know, I was driving, and Auntie died. - We've brought her down to Te Waipounamu. It's the first time Kura's been back since the crash. It can't be easy for you to be back here in the South Island, eh? - Hard. Very, very hard. - No, no, no. - Very hard to come back in. - It's been, yeah, mammoth just to get on the plane, I tell ya. - Charged with careless driving, causing death, Kura's defence case would eventually expose serious errors in the police crash investigation. It left a judge with no alternative but to throw out the case against Kura. - I see that the charges are dismissed rather than withdrawn, because the evidence is not sufficient in this case. - It's been an emotionally fraught six years since. Six years. - Mm-hm. - You're back here. How does it feel? - Um... Still processing. Yeah, a bit numb, I think, is the word. There's a lot of emotions. (PERFORMS KARANGA) - In June this year, a hui was the first step towards healing. Police representatives came face to face with Kura and her whanau back home in Waitara. - It's a big day. Big day. Waiting a lifetime for this. - It's moving forward. And I appreciate youse journeying to come and have this korero with us. - This ordeal almost destroyed Kura, but her sisters and aunties have been there for her through it all. - It's been a hell of a journey. And I'm just pleased that we've finally come to the table with someone who's gonna acknowledge it. - I don't feel there's been justice yet for my auntie. That's something I carry. They say I'm not at fault; it was the other person who caused the accident, but no one can be charged. I mean, it doesn't make any sense. - Just last year, the coroner found the driver of the other vehicle responsible for Cherie Bidois' death ` a driver who can never be charged. - That man will never be accountable. That still doesn't sit right, eh. - The driver found at fault by the coroner got away scot-free because the charge of careless driving causing death has a six-month statute of limitation, meaning police have only six months to lay charges from the date of the accident. By the time Kura's charge was dropped, the time period had expired, which meant the man that caused the crash escaped prosecution. - The six-month limitation on this charge is too short. I don't think we're ever gonna get justice for this, eh. So I can only look at it that hopefully it'll change and never happen to another person again. - But it has happened. Kura's case isn't the only one this crash investigator has been involved in where his findings are being challenged. In 2013, Toby Waitokia was killed in a truck crash. 10 years on, his widow, Dale, struggles with her loss. - Oh, it still hurts every day. He was the love of my life, and there's not a day goes by I don't think about him, cos he's everywhere, you know? He's everywhere. - The same crash investigator who got it wrong in Kura's case provided the original report in relation to the truck crash. Dale feels there are still several aspects of his findings that are concerning. - He was wrong. And now finding out about Kura's case as well, I think, you know, what the hell are they doing? You know, families deserve the truth. Why do we gotta go through all of this for year after year after year to get to a truth? Why? Why can't it be done right in the beginning? Why can't they say, 'I'm wrong'? 'Well, maybe I have made a mistake.' - Crash investigator Alastair Crosland says he was finally exonerated in this case. But in 2021, police apologised to Dale for the deficiencies in his initial crash investigation, which blamed driver error. - How many other people in New Zealand have been given those crash reports, and they've known in their heart that the husband, wife, whoever is not responsible, but they've been blamed. - The injustice they have both endured has compelled Kura Wijnschenk make the painful trip back to Southland to meet Dale in Tapanui. - Hey. - I'm Kura. - I'm Dale. - I know who you are, Dale. - CHUCKLES: I know who you are too. - So sorry for everything you're going through. - Me too. - They bond immediately over the tragedies they have in common. - When you know something's not right, it's worth fighting for. People say to me, 'Let it go. Why don't you let it go?' - Yeah. - You can't. All we want is the truth. - The crash investigator left the force in 2020, but The Hui can now reveal that he has been contracted by police three times since then. How did you feel when you found out that he may no longer be with the police, but he's still reviewing other crash investigations? - I couldn't believe it. I cannot believe that. That was a shock moment for me. I just don't understand why that is allowed. Alastair Crosland needs to be made aware just what this has done, not just for me, but the many other cases he's done. - We've been trying to contact Alastair Crosland since 2018 and finally spoke to the retired crash investigator over the phone. He says he stands by his verdict that Kura caused the accident. Crosland says the third review into the crash agreed with his findings and has never been contested. He says is unaware of any dispute around his investigation. This is despite the charges against Kura being withdrawn by police. 'Coming up after the break `' This all happened under your watch. 'the cop in charge fronts up.' The man who caused the crash can never be charged. - That's right. That's right. - Is that justice? I'm the other Louis Hamilton, from Rotorua. Skinny hired me to tell you about their low-cost broadband. Get Skinny Unlimited Broadband for just 45 bucks a month when on a $27 or above mobile plan, plus get 2 months free broadband. - Kia ora mai ano. The last time The Hui met Kura Wijnschenk was in court, when police withdrew serious driving charges against her in 2018. After many delays, an inquest into her aunt's death last year also cleared Kura of causing the crash. And, finally, police accept our invitation to explain how this tragic case went so badly wrong. The crash investigator who blamed her for the fatal accident stands by his findings that Kura was at fault. Here's Ruwani Perera with the second part of her story. - In 2018, Kura Wijnschenk was charged for the accident that killed her aunt. But the crash investigator's report was seriously flawed. And this is not the only one to have been found with errors. District commander for the southern region Paul Basham was his boss. - It's all right. I didn't wreck your mic; that's the main thing. - No, no, (CHUCKLES) - It's only water. - He was the cop in charge throughout that time. This all happened under your watch. What do you have to say about that? - There was some action taken internally in regards to some of those matters that you've raised. I can't talk about that on camera, because I'm bound by the privacy aspects of that. But, clearly, we understand the concerns. But I'm here to apologise and express our regret where we got it wrong and provide a degree of reassurance that we're aware of these shortcomings, we were aware of some issues that were of concern. We did take action. - Do you have confidence in Constable Crosland? You worked with him for... over a number of years. - I'm told he is highly qualified and very experienced and that his peers have confidence in him. So I think you have to acknowledge he's highly qualified, but even qualified people make mistakes. I know Mr Crosland doesn't work for police any more, and so we don't have a relationship with him. - He was still contracted out for at least three more jobs after his retirement. So that shows that you have some level of faith still. - He wasn't contracted out from my district. - How would you rate his handling of Cherie Bidois' investigation? - Well, clearly, his report was found to have been wrong. There are two other experts that have found that his report was wrong. And, ultimately, the coroner has taken that view as well. - What were the greatest mistakes that were made in that case? - Timeliness. I think when the defence raised a concern, police took that seriously. We got another report. Obviously, we then had two other reports that were at odds with the original report, and we took the appropriate action at that point just to withdraw the charges. I think timeliness may have provided a better outcome. - But, unfortunately, for the whanau with the six-month statute of limitations, the man who caused the crash can never be charged. - That's right. That's right. - Is that justice? - Well, no, clearly it's not. And that's one of the things that we're here to acknowledge today and apologise for. It's not for me to talk about whether the law is appropriate; that's for the legislature and politicians and judges. We work within the law. Six months is quite a tight timeframe. - Police told The Hui they looked into trying to reopen Kura Wijnschenk's case to see if they could charge the driver of the vehicle responsible for the fatal crash. - The legislation, I'm advised, doesn't allow for that. - Have you looked into it? - Yes, taken advice on that. Yep, that's what I'm told. - He says significant changes have been made as a result of Kura's case. - We've taken a lot of steps to eliminate this kind of human error, the mistakes that can occur. By investing in more resource, we introduced a fourth investigator to spread the load. We have introduced a sergeant into that work group so that we can look to reduce and eliminate the mistakes or the errors that can occur, putting in more checks and balances so that we can make every effort to prevent this from ever happening again. - Do you think you actually know the harm, the level of trauma this has actually caused this family? - I get a sense of it, absolutely, in terms of understanding the impact of this and the significance of it. I'm willing to meet with the family and would like to take the opportunity to do that if that's appropriate. I think today is an opportunity for me as the district commander to provide further reinforcement of the deep regret that sits with police. Nga Pirihimana to the whanau and to the people that have been affected by this prosecution and the lack of the right outcome, so unequivocally express our regret and apologise to Kura, obviously, Cherie and their whanau for what has occurred. - Let's go to her legal aid bill. Over $40,000 ` tens of thousands of dollars she's left in debt. - Mm-hm. - Can you make that go away? - We're willing to sit down with the whanau and talk about how we might be able to come to some sort of resolution around that. I'm here today to acknowledge and express profound regret about what took place in the context of this prosecution and the part that the police played in that. So whatever we can do to reduce the profound sense of hurt and loss of trust in the police, I'm prepared to sit down and talk about that for sure. We wanna be better. We wanna provide a high degree of reassurance that we will be better. - District Commander Basham is yet to meet Kura. - My whanau want me to get the closure I need to move forward. I wish I could; I really do. I want to. And I don't want to be... consuming` it consume me. But I just am not satisfied yet. Cos my coroner's inquest` it took two and a half years to go into. - She's making a submission to the Independent Police Complaints Authority about the crash investigator's handling of her case. - It nearly killed me, then. - I can imagine the stress. - And now she has Dale alongside her. - My heart goes out to her. I feel we're connected. It means everything to know... gonna help her with her fight. And she probably will be there for our fight and that we can follow this journey together, you know, no matter where we live. - This final chapter... It's bittersweet, that's all. So I can only look at it that hopefully it'll change and never happen to another person again. It'll change that. This can not happen to anybody again. - Katahi na te purongo whakaharahara. After the break ` New Zealand Film Commission CEO Taima Annie Murray joins us live in studio. - Ko Te Hui tenei e tuhaha nei i nga take mohoah nui o te wa. She is the first Maori CEO of the Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga, the New Zealand Film Commission, and has only been in the job for almost two months. So what are the key challenges? And how do we grow further capability and capacity in the film sector to tell our stories to the world? Taima Annie Murray, he uri no Te Arawa, no Tuhourangi, joins me now. E te tuahine, Taima, tena koe. - Tena Koe, Julian. - Thank you for coming on the programme. Really appreciate it. How would you describe the current state of the New Zealand film industry, of the New Zealand film sector now? - We're in good shape. So, audiences are coming back after COVID ` still about 20% down on 2019 numbers, but coming back nevertheless. We've seen Muru win the best... the top film of 2022, top New Zealand film. We are seeing an increasing number of applications coming in ` really strong New Zealand stories. So I think we're in pretty good shape. - What about internationally? How appealing are we still as a place for international companies to come and make films? - We are incredibly appealing. Of course, there's the challenge of the strikes going on in Hollywood at the moment, so that has put a pause on production worldwide, so it's not just us. And just to put that in context, the last time there was a strike of that magnitude was 1960. So it is a really extraordinary time. So it has gone quiet in terms of the international pipeline. But since the review of screen sector funding was finally settled last week` sorry, the week before, the phones have been ringing again. So we now have certainty, we have an improved rebate, and we're a really attractive place for companies to come and make their films. - How concerned are you about how long the strike could take and the downstream effects of that ` of trying to get international companies? - Yeah, it's really hard to know when that's going to resolve, where these two really deeply entrenched sides, as there always is and any industrial action. So we can't predict how long it will take to resolve. But what I can assure you of is that we have solid interest from international companies who are really keen to make their films here, and they are keen to get in and make their advance bookings and get in ahead of the rush for when the strike does resolve. - We had heard reports that there was some concern about a quote unquote 'contracting New Zealand film sector', particularly given competition from places like Australia ` certainly geo-politically here. What do you make of that? Is that a threat and can that be assuaged, eliminated? Can we work on that, do you think? - There's a couple of things there. In terms of the rebate, the international players can get better deals elsewhere; we know that. But what they can't get elsewhere is our incredible crew who are` you know, there's many Academy Award-winners in our crew. They're very talented, passionate people. They can't get our stunning scenery. And we have really great studios that are really close together. So that's a package that's really hard to replicate in other places. The other thing is that we are very focused on the local side in terms of getting our stories up and out. So we will see a number of New Zealand films releasing quite soon. Some big, big films like The Convert, which is Lee Tamahori and Robin Scholes' latest project, premiering at the Toronto Film Festival. Also Uproar, which is a story based on the 1981 Springbok tour... - Ah, ah. - ...starring Julian Dennison, James Rolleston, Minnie Driver, Rhys Darby. So there's some awesome projects coming through, and there's more going into production quite soon. So we're very focused on our local pipeline and empowering those stories, getting them moving. - There was also some concern about skill shortages here in New Zealand. What's your response to that? - That is a really important area to focus on. - OK. - So, there's been a very big move in the last couple of years to focus on what's called workforce development, which is essentially looking at making sustainable careers in the screen sector. So there's an organisation called Toi Mai, which has been set up ` I was on the first board of Toi Mai ` to really look hard at how we are training our people to come into the screen workforce, to look at what whanau are telling us, which is that our rangatahi want to earn while they learn. They don't necessarily want to go away for three or four years, leave home, get a big student loan and come out with a tohu that may or may not be relevant to the industry. So there's a lot of work going on. - So is that things like micro-credentials? - Micro-credentials ` that's a really` that's a buzz word at the moment. Basically what that means is short, sharp, stackable qualifications so that in a three- or four-day burst, you can learn a particular skill, get a qual, get a tohu for that, and then you stack those up into a certificate or a diploma. But you're working and learning while you're on the job and getting paid. - And that's across the board, right? So that's not just actors and producers and directors. We're also talking about things like wardrobe, make-up, catering, all that kind of thing. - All that stuff. So, what tended to happen in the past was either going to a polytech or a film school and making that big commitment or knowing someone. So, you know, who you know became really important. And what that does is it tends to mean that people hire in their own image. So we weren't seeing a lot of diversity in our screen sector workforce, and that's been identified by Toi mai as something we need to address. - As I mentioned in the intro, you are Te Arawa. - Ae. - You are Tuhourangi. What is one of the key expectations you have on yourself, particularly seeing, hearing ourselves and our voices, our identity and culture represented internationally through film? - What's really important to remember is that of the top five New Zealand films of all time, four of those are Maori stories. So I can list them for you ` Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Boy, Once Were Warriors and Whale Rider. So four of the top five ` the other one is the World's Fastest Indian ` those are Maori stories. So, clearly, there's something in our culture that's really, really important both to New Zealanders and globally. So that's a really, really strong starting point. But what we need to work on now is lifting the scale and ambition of our storytellers. What I see when I look back at the last 32 projects that were funded out of the rebate, which is the higher budget subsidy that we offer, only two of those went to Maori-owned production companies. So we've got work to do in that space. - We've got work to do. I wish you all the best for the job. I know it's only been two months, so you probably feel like there's a lot to do. Me kia kaha ra i roto to mahi. Te tuahine, Taima, tenei ka mihi atu ki a koe. - Nga mihi nui ki a koe, Julian. - Kia ora mai ra. - Kia ora. - That was Taima Annie Murray, the CEO of the New Zealand Film Commission. Kia ahatia, kua taupoki ake ta tato hui ki konei i tenei wa. Ka mutu, kua taupoki ake te putanga toru rau o Te Hui iaianei. You can find all our stories on our social media channels or at newshub.co.nz. And tonight we take a look back, because this is our 300th episode of The Hui tonight. Thank you all for supporting the program over the years, and a special tribute to all of those who helped develop and worked on The Hui throughout the last 300 episodes. Kia mau ki te turanga o Taputapuatea. Haumi e, hui e, taiki e. - Many of the soldiers when they come back, the only people they talk to are the guys they were with. It's too harrowing. - What did you sing? - (EXHALES DEEPLY) - Is this the first time that you've opened up about what happened to you? - Yeah. To anyone. (INSPIRING MUSIC) - I'm sure you can ask any tangata whenua and go 'Is there racism in New Zealand?' Nobody's gonna say, 'Oh, no.' The same thing ` that same hatred that comes from racism goes into Islamophobia. (INSPIRING MUSIC BUILDS) - What about those who didn't get to live to see this day? - We walk alongside our ancestors. They are here with us. That's what makes us strong. - Are you ready for a big fight? - Yeah. Yes, we are. - Our tupuna came here 200 years ago. We've been here ever since. We're not going anywhere. (INSPIRING MUSIC CONTINUES) - It's defiant of those systems that were built to eradicate us. It is an example of what it means to be wahine toa. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) - How long are you planning to keep writing? - (LAUGHS HEARTILY) Until my hands fall from the keyboard. Yeah. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 - Ko te reo te take. - Na Te Puna Whakatongarewa Te Hui i tautoko.