Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2024 - Tonight on Sunday ` small town, big problem ` how to grapple with gangs. - We've heard claims that the Mongrel Mob runs this town ` would you agree with that? - I'd say yes. - Police are struggling to keep them in check. - The community, thank goodness, hasn't had an inkling about what's going on really behind the scenes with their policing ` and it's time they learnt. - So will this crackdown... - We're not gonna let gangs wear their gang patches. - If they want a war, that'll start a war. - ...end up in a backdown? - It's unworkable with the numbers. It just will not work. - And has the rock and roll lifestyle finally caught up with this icon? - You thought you were... done? - Yeah, I thought I was dying. I thought I was gone. - What is the prognosis if untreated? - Oh, it's fatal. - Why Jimmy Barnes is very lucky to be alive. - Would you show me your new battle scar? - My battle scar is good. - Wow! - Kia ora. I'm Miriama Kamo. No gang patches, no branding, no gang gatherings in public ` that's what the coalition government is promising to crack down on crime. This morning's announcements are tough talk, but who's going to do the cracking down? In small towns where gang members way outnumber police, locals are wondering how it'll work. And here's the worry ` police officers are wondering that too. Tonight in this special investigation, Kristin Hall is speaking with cops breaking ranks to speak out. (SERENE MUSIC) - KRISTIN HALL: A tale of two towns. - We have lots of beautiful beaches, lots of outdoor activities to do. There's really no excuse to get bored here. - There's the Opotiki many locals know ` quiet, friendly, unpretentious... - Kia ora. - How've you been? - Good, good. - Kia ora, kia ora. - Busy? - BOTH: Yeah. - I really love Opotiki. It's a neat little town. - ...and the Opotiki that makes headlines. (ENGINES REV LOUDLY) - There's only one law here, and that's us. - We have gang members going berserk at pubs, running riot over town, chasing each other in cars, shooting each other, shooting up houses. - The new government's solution ` a bold and forceful crackdown. Can you deliver on this policy? (UPBEAT ACOUSTIC MUSIC) - This is a beautiful new library that we've got in town. - Opotiki mayor David Moore loves this place. - Bit quiet. Actually, the town's quiet today, eh. - Yeah, yeah. - It's part of who he is, even though it's very different to the home he knew growing up. - It really had everything. We had a dairy factory, so the town was thriving. I was working in the BNZ locally in the share market crash of '87, and the dairy factory closed soon after that, so things declined quite rapidly. - He's been a beekeeper, a banker and a cop, working at Opotiki station in the early 2000s. - Oh, look, this station, it was fully staffed up until about 2013. You were able to have a good handle on who was... needing to maybe be go and be spoken to, and people would come forward and speak to the local police officers. (HIP-HOP MUSIC) - Now fewer police and new gangs on the scene. It's estimated there are more than 1400 gang members across the Bay of Plenty to just 800 frontline cops. In Opotiki alone, there are the original gangs ` Black Power chapter Mangu Kaha, and the Opotiki Mongrel Mob. - Growing up in the '70s and '80s... pretty much they all worked. I played rugby with a few of them, so yeah, they just... they were just part of our community. They've been here for a long time. - Hey! - Kia ora. - Hey! Thanks for leaving! - They're all good ones. - Ah! (BOTH LAUGH) - He was a gang member wasn't he? - Maybe. - Maybe? (LAUGHS) - No, no. - Red car, facial tats, bit of a giveaway. - No, no, one of our friendly locals just saying hello. (ALL PERFORM HAKA) - In the 2010s, the Mongrel Mob Barbarians arrived, a younger, more volatile chapter, whose leader, Steven 'Tiwana' Taiatini was run over and killed last June. Those responsible still haven't been found. How big of a part do the gangs play in the distribution of drugs here? - I... I don't think you buy methamphetamine from the corner store. - Because a lot of them say, We don't do P. We kick our members out who do P,' but it's gotta be coming from somewhere, right? - Yeah, I'm not` I'm not that naive, but I wish that was the case, and the easiest way to check is checking our water samples ` it doesn't lie. - It was the tangi for the slain Barbarians boss that led to opposition claims Opotiki was being held hostage. - I wanna talk about the situation we've had in Opotiki recently, with the Mongrel Mob deciding that they'd come out in numbers and take over the town. - Gang tension in the town raged on ` a blaze at the crime scene where Taiatini was killed, then a shooting that seriously injured a local woman in October. - Because you're a mob member, that involves you. - Police came from out of town to carry out search warrants on Steven Taiatini's son Mikhail, the new Barbarians leader, and his family. - What the hell?! (BLEEP) You can't do that! - Those strong-arm tactics haven't exactly quashed gang activity. - Sieg heil! Sieg (BLEEP) heil! - Police sources say young Barbarians associates were involved in this attack at a local festival last month. (GRUNTING) Now the long arm of the law is set to come down even harder ` a ban on gang patches and insignia, no more gang gatherings in public, and new rules that will stop gang offenders from associating with each other. (ENGINES REV LOUDLY) Opotiki locals are sceptical. - I think it's laughable to even attempt to do such a thing. - The police just wanna leave the gangs alone and let them do their own thing, eh. - But it's police on the frontline who have to enforce it, so we asked them. - My name's Pete King. I'm a senior constable stationed at Opotiki Police Station. I've been in the job 40 years working for the New Zealand Police, 33 of those working in Opotiki. - What attracted you to the police force in the first place? - Helping other people I think was sort of the main attraction. I've been involved in or been responsible for serious crime mainly ` serious drug offenders, rape offenders. Working in a rural area, you cover the entire spectrum of policing from intentional damage right through to homicide and everything between. - It's rare for serving police officers to break rank and speak candidly to media, risky too, because Pete, a self-described true-blue community cop, is not holding back. - Our staff here are just overwhelmed with work; they just cannot do it all. It's as simple as that. We have to prioritise our work to the point where a lot of crime is just getting left. It's just tossed aside, pretty much. We just haven't got the staff to deal with it to the point we're making our staff sick. - The Opotiki District is large, and the Te Kaha Station is only partially manned right now, meaning Opotiki officers have to help cover that area too. Some are on long-term leave, and a couple are off to Aussie. The station must now rely on just two permanent frontline police officers; there should be 12. Can you tell us how often it is that police in Opotiki are sent out by themselves to hostile situations? - Every day. Firearms incidents, domestics, street disorder ` those are the ones where you're likely to strike violent offenders who are high on drugs and alcohol. Eh, two old dogs sitting together in the sun. (CHUCKLES) - Pete is one of those on long-term leave. He was diagnosed with major depression three years ago. The cause, he says, was his job. - I was in a pretty dark place for quite some time, had a major effect on me, my family, um... yeah, and, again, I wouldn't want any of my colleagues to go there, I seriously wouldn't. Bloomin hair everywhere, eh. - On his doctors' advice, Pete's not yet gone back to work. - It's not just me saying this; this is my psychiatrist and my GP. If I return to the situation such as it is now, my health will deteriorate, and I'll go downhill back down the hole where I've just come from. - Given how often you are working on your own and the large number of gang members in this town, what do you make of the government's policy that would see you enforcing a patch ban? - Theoretically, um, a good idea, um... but I'll tell you, it's unworkable with the numbers we haven't got at the moment. It just will not work. Here in Opotiki, you know, all those gang members, their whole families are gang-affiliated or, you know, in the gangs themselves. We can't attend all our domestics properly, never mind that. - Pete King was the only officer willing to go on camera, but he's far from alone in his concerns. We've spoken to a dozen current and former Opotiki police officers about staffing and the government's new gang policy. We've agreed to keep their identities secret, so these are not their faces, but this is what they've told us. (SIRENS WAIL) - Police HQ insists officers aren't expected to put themselves at risk, and those working alone are able to delay their response until they have back-up. At the moment, back-up is being sent from Whakatane ` 40 minutes away. - Whakatane cops don't wanna be here, and they'll tell you that. - A lot of people in the community will be pretty horrified to hear some of these stories. - The community, thank goodness, hasn't had an inkling of what's going on really behind the scenes with their policing in this town for a long time ` and it's time they learnt. - So with a crackdown looming, how will gang members respond? - They got the uniform, the police, and we got our uniform. This one here overrules their one. - If they want a war, that'll start a war. - That highlights exactly why we need to clamp down on the gangs. (ENGINES REV LOUDLY) (HIP-HOP MUSIC) - Opotiki, in the sunny Eastern Bay of Plenty, doesn't like to think of itself as a gang town, though there are certainly signs... - Look in the window. - Bulldogs. - ...and some gang members, like 74-year-old Wairata Te Oneone, descendant of the original Hapu Oneone people, believe they have ultimate authority, not police or the government. We've heard claims that the Mongrel Mob runs this town ` would you agree with that? - I'll say yes. - Why is that? - We are the people of the land. I'm saying that's the Mongrel Mob. They're the tangata whenua. - Mm-hm. - Wairata's a life member of the Mongrel Mob. First affiliated more than 60 years ago, he says his days of committing crime are over, but he's not giving up his patch. If police are on the street saying, 'Take your patch off,' what do you think would happen? - It won't happen. You got to sit down to talk about these things. You can't just go there and force these things on people. - They also want to ban gang members gathering in public. - We can say the same thing ` we want to ban you too. - They would argue that they have more authority, though. - Where do you get your authority? We know where we get our authority ` from this ta moko. - Dion Waikato, another life-long mobster, predicts any new laws around gang patches or gatherings will lead to a stand-off of epic proportions. - Mongrel Mob ain't the only gang in this country. We've got enough fellas to kick up. If we added every Black Power chapter in New Zealand, every Tribesman, every Highway 61, Head Hunter, and on they go, yep, we've got a pretty even balance. - So a government crackdown on gangs will lead to conflict or violence? - Of course, of course, of course, definitely. What do you think? I'm being real. It's no use me sitting here piss-arsing around with youse and telling you bullshit. - And even the Police Association, which represents officers, has its doubts about how the policy will be enforced. So if you're an officer working by yourself and you come across a group of patched gang members, would it pass a police risk assessment to seize those patches or arrest those gang members? - Unlikely to. If you apply risk assessment, you'd look at, you know, the threat they pose, Well, they're only wearing patches. If they're not doing anything else, what's the necessity to act? You have to engage and, if they resist physically, remove them ` is that necessary? - So by police's own rules, this legislation would appear to be unenforceable? - I think it would be a mistake for New Zealanders to think that if a police officer driving down the street sees patched gang members, they're immediately going to stop and be able to take those patches off them. It's just not going to work in a lot of circumstances. (BROODING MUSIC) - The lack of local cops hasn't gone unnoticed by those living in Opotiki. Do you think the town has enough police officers? - No. You see them going through town. They don't live here. No one wants to live here. The police don't want to live here; the police come from Whakatane. They come out` from out of town. So what's the point of them coming in their cars and zooming past us? If they don't make contact with us and try to get to know us as a... as a hapu, as a society, what's the point? - How concerned are you about the staffing situation in Opotiki? - I think it's very concerning, but wider than that, I worry that that's rural policing across New Zealand going forward. We've got the same problem in` Te Kuiti I talked about. I was back there recently, only two officers were living in the town anymore. The rest didn't live there; struggling to get staff to work in Gore now. Wairoa is another example ` that's always been a struggle to attract officers to Wairoa. But those rural communities really need these officers. So we're gonna have to do something to change that. - Enter former cop and new Police Minister Mark Mitchell, ready to stake his reputation on his way being the right way ` banning gang regalia as a first move. - We looked at Western Australia, and it's been very effective in Western Australia, virtually the gangs disappearing from view and the public not having to see them or deal with them or be intimidated by them. - What evidence do you have that it will work in New Zealand, given your only example is in Western Australia, where the bikies just moved to a different state? - Well, I believe that we've got a world-class police service who are highly motivated and want to protect the communities. So I think that that's going to be very effective in terms of dealing with gangs. - He says police will have the power to confiscate patches and gang regalia on the spot and destroy them, with charges for anyone who resists, and gatherings like gang tangi could result in mass arrests. Do you have the numbers in the police force to be able to arrest your way out of a gang tangi with hundreds of gang members? - Well, I don't think we're going to have to arrest our way out of this. I think that the gangs are understanding that they had a very easy run under Labour for six years. I think the gangs understand that there's a different government in place now. - So you're saying gang members who are pretty famous for not following the law respect your government more, so they're going to listen more? - I don't care whether they respect us or not. They will understand that we've got zero tolerance for their nonsense, and we're clamping down on it. - Tough talk, but is that all it is? Remember, in Opotiki there are just two permanent frontline officers when there should be 12. The Police Association says other small stations have similar staffing problems, And it's going to take at least two years to train and deploy the 500 new cops that have been promised. It's going to be hard to get the 500 within the two years ` you acknowledge that? - Well, it's gonna be a stretch, but I think we can do it. - Mm-hm. So it's a challenge. And you've also acknowledged that police are being poached from Australia, and you've also acknowledged that there's a large number of police who are retiring. - I'm on the record of saying this... - Yes. - ...several times, yes. - Yeah, yeah. - So I'm putting to you ` given those challenges, do you not accept that is going to be very difficult to bring in these new laws, which are going to require resources? - No, not at all. They are two completely separate things. I mean` - How are they two completely separate things? - Because you're putting to me that you don't believe the police are able to enforce the laws. - We're putting to you that police don't believe they're able to enforce` - Well, no, no, no, that's not true. - It is true. I've spoken to them. - That's a mischaracterisation, is that you're talking about two police officers that you've spoken to in Opotiki. - No, I've spoken to 12, current and former. - OK, so some of them said that they are looking forward to the powers, but it's going to be very difficult to apply them. They are talking from their lived experience in Opotiki, where last year you had the Mongrel Mob come in and take over the town. Well, there's a new government in place. We're not tolerating that. - Why should two permanent frontline police officers in Opotiki expect it? - I've addressed that. That's nothing new in this country. 10 years I worked by myself. It's nothing new. - So your response to police concerns about understaffing is ` well, it's always been that way, and you can manage. - Each station will have an operational number that they try and operate with and stick to. That is an operational matter for the area commander and the district commander. - The minister wouldn't commit to ensuring more police officers for gang towns like Opotiki. He also wouldn't comment on Pete King, the outspoken veteran cop who received an update on his employment from police shortly after we approached them for comment. (PHONE LINE RINGS) - PETE: Hi, Kristen. How are you? - Good. How are you, Pete? - Good. - Things have been developing quite quickly, haven't they? - Yeah, they certainly have been. I received a phone call from my association rep. She's just received documentation from police hierarchy terminating my employment on medical grounds ending on the 13th March this year. - How do you think they've been able to come up with an assessment of your mental and physical state given they haven't seen you for seven months? - That's a good question. - Pete predicted this might happen when we first spoke in December. He showed us years' worth of correspondence to police, the IPCA and WorkSafe, pleading for safer work conditions. - I want people to see that I'm doing this because it's a last resort. I've done everything in my power low-key and formally to try and result this amicably and off record so it doesn't come into public spotlight. Come on. (CALLS CHICKENS) - Still recovering from major depression, Pete and his doctors say it's unsafe for him to return to the frontline if the staff shortages at his station aren't fixed. Police say they're comfortable with the process around his medical discharge, but Pete's fighting it. Do you want to go back to work? - Yeah, I do, yeah. I love my job, love my community. I've still got a lot to offer. - Opotiki mayor David Moore loves his community too, but he wants those making decisions in Wellington to take note. What do you think will happen here if police numbers aren't increased? - My biggest fear is the community, if they had to take the law into their own hands ` and that's not what you want in any society. If the support isn't there from the police, that's actually what will happen. That's my biggest fear. - Well, Mark Mitchell called this morning's press conference alongside Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith just days after our interview. They announced courts will be able to issue orders which stop gang offenders from communicating or associating for up to three years; and for wearing a patch in public, a fine of up to $5000 or six months in prison is possible. The legislatoin will be introduced over the next two weeks, then go to select committee, and is expected to be passed into law later this year. As for Pete King, the Police Association says it's reviewing his medical discharge to make sure the right process has been followed. E whai ake nei ` from screaming on stage to screaming in pain, Jimmy Barnes' brush with death. - There was a point where I was lying, and I was just going` and I said to Jane, 'I don't think I'm gonna make it this time.' - He said, 'I think I'm gonna die.' - 'I think I'm dying,' and that was the thing we were like, 'What?!' - This is not a routine operation; it's a serious one. - ALL: Hooray! - Hip hip! - Hooray! - Happy birthday, mate. - It's your bowel screening test. I've done mine. - WOMEN: Me too! - Uso, you've got this! # Pull the stick from the test. # Put it in the poo. Just follow the pictures... - Koro. You can 'poo' it! - # Put it in the pottle. Put on the date. # Don't delay or procrastinate. (ALL CHEER) # Early detection can save the day. # - Hoki mai ano. Jimmy Barnes has well and truly lived the rock-and-roll lifestyle, and he'd be the first to admit he's done plenty that isn't conducive to a long life. But that's not why Jimmy's thankful and very lucky to be alive today. As Sylvia Jeffreys reports, Barnes' brush with death has led to a major reckoning. - This really is heaven down here, isn't it? - It's a good spot, innit? - Yeah. It's beautiful. - Oh, you know, as soon as we seen it, we knew we were going to live here. - In the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Jimmy Barnes' tranquil country property has long been the perfect antidote to a full-throttle life on the road. What do you see in the river? - There's geese, and there's ducks. It's sorta gentle, and it's rolling... - It's a sanctuary that, since Christmas, has also been a place of healing as he recovers from open-heart surgery. Would you show me your, uh, new battle scar? - My battle scar? It's good. Mm. - Wow. - Yeah, it's a big cut. - That's a big cut. - They literally jack you open with, like, a medieval-looking carjack. And it's sort of a reminder of, you know, what you been through and a reminder of your own, sorta, mortality, really. (CHUCKLES) - Mm. It's not the first time Barnesy's has been reminded of his mortality. - # Well, the last plane outta Sydney's almost gone. - Back in the '70s and '80s, the hard-living rocker routinely punished his body beyond its limits by consuming stupid amounts of alcohol and drugs. - # Got your first letter just the other day. - But now at 67 and having been clean, sober and healthy for several years, this latest run-in with death has easily been the most frightening for Jimmy and wife Jane. Were you afraid at all? - Uh, you know what? There was a point where I was lyin' and I was just goin'` I said to Jane, 'I don't think I'm gonna make it this time.' - He said, 'I think I'm gonna die.' - Mm. - And it's very difficult to hear that from somebody you love, suffering like that, and that's a scary sort of thing to contemplate. - I just had this horrible, morbid feeling, because I'd just never felt this sorta sick before. - You thought you were... done. - Yeah, I thought I was gone. (BAND PLAYS 'NO SECOND PRIZE') # Oh, yeah! - This was the moment that almost became Jimmy Barnes' final curtain. It was last November and a celebration marking the 50th year of Mushroom Music. - # ...tried to warn him. - Looking at it now, the agony on Jimmy's face is all too obvious, but back then, there was no way he was going to miss the tribute to his good mate and promoter, the late Michael Gudinski. The show went on, but the truth is Jimmy was so ill that night, he barely remembers being on stage. - Yeah, I was really bad, and even though I felt like I could hardly walk, I just had to get there. And I got outta bed; I remember bein' backstage, and I was sweating. You know, I had a fever. - Was there pain? - There was a lotta pain. My back was really sore by this point, you know. I was strugglin' to walk, so, you know, I don't know how I got through it. And as soon as I came off, I, sort of, virtually collapsed. - The next morning, Jimmy was scheduled to fly overseas for a gig, but he was so crook, he thought hospital in Sydney was a smarter destination. That decision truly was a 'thank goodness' moment. - So we're supposed to be at the airport at 6, and I think 4 in the morning, I got outta bed, and I c` you know, well, I tried to get out bed. - And he could've easily said, 'Oh, I'll just sleep on the plane. I'll sleep it off.' - Mm. - And if he had done that this time, I don't know that he'd be with us. - Yeah. - So what stopped you from getting on that plane? - Well, I got out of bed, and I was in so much pain, and so much wheezing. You know, I had a fever. You know, so` - Said, 'You can't go.' - 'I just can't do it,' and in hospital` you know, cos I didn't know what was wrong with me. I knew, yeah, I'd had a bad back on and off for years, but this was excruciatin'. - Their dad is no hypochondriac. So when daughter Mahalia and son David heard Jimmy was off to the emergency department... - It takes a lot to stop him... - ...they knew it was serious. - And for him to pull the plug and to be like, 'I'm going to the hospital,' is a big deal. - I mean, I've been worried about him at many points, but I don't think I've been more worried for him and for all of us, you know, as I was, you know, through December. - Yeah. Like, I called Jane, and she was like, 'This is not good. 'He doesn't feel good at all.' And so he'd gone from feeling like, 'I'm letting people down,' to, 'Something's wrong, and I don't know what's happening with my body.' - Yeah. - And it was starting to... - Scare him. I think he was scared. Yeah. - ...scare him. I think he was scared. And he said it was the clo` 'I think I'm dying.' (SOLEMN MUSIC) - What condition was Jimmy in when he first arrived here? - So, yeah, he was sick. You know, he was talking and putting on a brave face, but we knew that something was brewing. - What was brewing was a deadly blood infection, the source of which had to be found urgently. - But he was constitutionally very sick. Now, I know... - The team at St Vincent's Hospital ` - There was something about him that meant that he wasn't fighting infection properly. - which included cardiologists, neurologists, haematologists and infectious-disease experts ` set about investigating why Barnesy's body wasn't singing like it should. - I had these specialists around me, and they were just really, like, working off each other, and they weren't gonna let it go until they found it, which was incredible. You know, really, it's the reason I'm alive today. - Initially, the experts thought the infection was centred around Jimmy's spine, but after operating on his back, instead of getting better, the patient continued to deteriorate. - What became evident was there was still infection somewhere in his body, and so the next place to look was the heart. - It was a tense time, but in cardiac surgeon Dr Paul Jansz and his colleagues, there could have been no better help. Eventually, a PET scan revealed endocarditis, a life-threatening inflammation of the heart. The doctors then discovered the infection was attacking a prosthetic valve Jimmy had received 15 years ago. It meant now there was only one option ` emergency open-heart surgery. With endocarditis... - Yeah. - ...what is the prognosis if untreated? - Oh, it's fatal. Yeah. I mean, and if he doesn't die of the infection, he would've died from the heart failure from the whole valve falling apart. - Mm. What would that infection have been doing to his heart? - Essentially, just sort of eating it away. You see an abscess cavity forming around the valve, and that would've just grown and grown and grown. - Paul Jansz came to see me before the surgery... and I said, 'Well, can't you do laparoscopic?' He said, 'No. We have to open you up.' And I said, 'Exactly what are you gonna do?' And he said, 'I don't know until we get in.' - By the time he got to theatre, which was within a matter of hours, he looked very unwell, and he probably had a matter of hours to days, yeah. - The surgeons always understood the job ahead of them was going to be tricky, but when they saw his heart, they realised his condition was worse than expected. The infection had caused a complication in another one of Jimmy's valves. It was leaking and had to be fixed. - Um, this is not a routine operation. It's a serious one, yeah. - And were you concerned for him at that point, when you opened up and saw how severe that case was? - Oh, yeah. I was concerned all the way through, you know, from the minute I met him, because they're difficult operations. But what you don't know you're going to get is how much the infection has eaten into the heart tissue. - They put me in the room for the surgery, you know, and I know I was goin' out. I thought, 'Well, I wonder, you know, if I'll I wake up,' you know. I just didn't know if I'd wake up. And I didn't see any lights. Nobody was calling me from the other side. (BOTH LAUGH) I didn't go to the light. I thought I heard a few voices from down low like, 'Hey, you.' (CHUCKLES) - 'We're ready for you.' - 'We're waitin' for you.' But... - (CHUCKLES GENTLY) He might be able to laugh about it now, but seven hours of surgery took a toll. When it was finally over, Jimmy entered a whole new world of hurt. - Waking up in ICU, you know, that's all really blurry for me, and I remember just being in pain. I remember trying to move and being in pain. - Describe the pain. - Uh, you can't describe the pain, literally cos, you know, when you think about it, you know, that scar ` it's like you've been ripped in half. And your best friend is a pillow. You know, you can't cough. If you cough, it's just agony. - When you sneeze. - If you breathe too deep, it's agony. - Mm. How was he when he came to? - The first night, you know, you get worried about bleeding. And you're operating on the blood vessels that go up to the brain, so you're worried about stroke. And so thankfully, he woke up, and he looked pretty good the next morning, and, yeah, my anaesthetist went up there and made sure he knew the words to Khe San, so it was... (BOTH LAUGH) - And everyone breathed a sigh of relief. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right, yeah. (CHUCKLES) - CHUCKLES: That's great. But no one was more relieved than Jane Barnes. Waiting rooms outside operating theatres can be lonely places, where minds are prone to wander. Jane, did you contemplate life without him? - Hmm. At the last moments of the surgery, I started thinking, 'Oh my goodness,' but you can't think too much about it. - Mm. - It can happen at any time. - It can happen to anybody. Anybody can go, and like when I contemplated dying, you know, before surgery, you know, it could've been my time, and I just think you have to savour those moments. And have I told my children that I love 'em enough? Have I told Jane? You know, that's what` you gotta do it. - We all go, 'Oh, stop it.' - The people you love ` Make sure you tell 'em. - (CHUCKLES GENTLY) Just cut the leaves off, and pull the leaves off. - Pull the leaves off. - Two months on and back at home in their vege patch... - Tuscan kale. - Tuscan kale, yeah. - ...Jane has taken charge of getting her husband better. - You just never know. You might need me. - (CHUCKLES) - That's enough, innit? Good ` feast. (THEY PLAY 'WORKING CLASS MAN') Jane's role is vital and one Jimmy's fans are counting on, because as you'll see, it includes helping to get this Working Class Man working again. - E whai ake nei ` he might be outta the woods, but is Jimmy back to his old self? - # Dance! Dance, little sister. # Dance. # I can still peel the paint off walls. (LAUGHS) - We can hear you. - (CHUCKLES) - Now, I need you to stop now. (BOTH CHUCKLE) - I want every minute to count. (STARTLES) Shhh. (SOFT GRUNT) You've had a big day, Dad. VOICEOVER: Imagine if instead of the kids wearing you out... (SNORING) ..you wore them out. Get AIA Vitality and start thriving. - # Dance! Dance, little sister. # Dance. # - SYLVIA JEFFREYS: Jimmy Barnes is a hard man to silence. - And my heart rate normally gets up to somewhere around 105 and stays there unless I start singin', and then it starts peakin' out soon. So it's good. - It's early days, but his recovery is on track. His broken heart is slowly healing, while his voice ` - Dance! - well, it's never had any trouble speaking for itself. Guiding Jimmy through his rehab is his wife, Jane ` - Now, I need you to stop now. (BOTH CHUCKLE) - ever vigilant her high-octane husband doesn't overdo it. - Normally, I'm singin' along with the Rolling Stones, and they're really loud, so I can sing` but Jane heard me from the other house, which is a bit of a worry, so... - (CHUCKLES GENTLY) - I can still peel the paint of walls. (LAUGHS) - We can hear you. - (CHUCKLES) - That's my job, is to peel the paint off the walls. (CHUCKLES GENTLY) - So, you know, we can't stop anything. - Jimmy might be an impatient patient... - Two sets of these... - ...wanting to get better as quickly as he can. - Don't curl your spine. - Oh, you mean this?' - Yes. - But he knows the reality is recuperation will take months, maybe longer. And to good health. Other parts of his life, though, have returned to normal. - All the best. - Cheers, kids. (LAUGHTER) - At Sunday lunch with his family... - Just thought that was a good toast ` for good health ` considering what we've just been through. (CHUCKLES GENTLY) - I think so. That's all that matters, really. It's not lost on Jimmy. how lucky he is to even be sitting at this table. - It's good, good. So it's really, really nice to be here and have them all here and be lookin' forward instead of, you know, panicking. Yeah. (GENTLE CHUCKLING) (CHATTER) - So has this changed you? - I think it's made me stronger. You know, I wanna be better than I was. I wanna be` You know, I've got all this new life from this that I've been given, and I wanna make the best of it. I want every minute to count. From the moment news of Jimmy's surgery was announced, the well wishes flooded in. - BOTH HARMONISE: # When somethin' is wrong... He's been touched by all the support, but it was a call from his friend John Farnham ` another legend who's been doing it tough ` that really lifted his spirits. ('WHEN SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH MY BABY' CONTINUES) - And John rang me, and I'd been worried to death about John, you know, and sending messages to him. And John rang me, and I'm sorta like, 'Oh, you know, I think I'm gonna be OK.' And as John does, he was trying to make jokes to make me laugh and forget about it, and he's going, 'Maybe we should redo the film clip for When Something is Wrong With My Baby 'in hospital gowns.' I'm sayin', 'Oh, overexposure, I think, John.' (BOTH LAUGH) - I think the nation would disagree. - (SIGHS) - But just things like that ` you know, people that even we haven't seen for a while were just reachin' out to us, and it was really very special. - You couldn't have more support. (CHEERING) - # And all the... - BOTH: # ...flame trees... - As they say, the show must go on, but while Jimmy's reluctantly had his feet up, his fans haven't been missing out. - # Nothin' else could set fire... - 13-year-old granddaughter Ruby has proven the strength of the Barnes singing genes, standing in for Jimmy at performances. - # ...change, there's no... - Mum Mahalia and Uncle David couldn't be prouder. - So I said to Ruby, 'What would you sing? What would you be able to do?' And she said, 'Oh... 'Flame Trees.' - Oh, yeah, start at the top. - Oh, just take the biggest song of the show. Sure. - Sure, take that song. - # Number three is never say her name. (AUDIENCE SINGS ALONG) - And I'm like, 'That's her song now, mate. That's it. - Yeah. 'Hand it over.' - 'You better hand that one over.' - But the family aren't getting too big for their boots just yet. There's only one Jimmy Barnes. And they know from experience that reproducing his energy on stage is next to impossible. Does it feel like a second chance for him? - I think so. - I don't know how many more second chances this guy needs. - Yeah. Seventh chance? - He's got nine lives. - Eighth chance? Yeah. Nine lives, yeah. - I reckon he's on seventh or eighth. - Yeah. - CHUCKLES GENTLY: Yeah. - And that's good. - And this was sorta part of my rehab ` comin' up here, because I couldn't wait to get up. - Only weeks ago, Jimmy struggled to climb the few stairs up to his rose garden. - But once I could run up the hill, we'd sit here with, you know, breakfast or a cup of tea, smell the roses first thing in the morning. - The smell is beautiful. - Yeah, it's just gorgeous. - But now he bounds up here every day, clipping flowers for Jane. It's a small step in his recovery, but there is a much bigger one just around the corner. - There you are. That's a good little start. - When are you getting back on stage? - My first show is gonna be on the 31st of March ` the Bluesfest, which is great. - Easter Sunday ` - Easter Sunday. - the day of... - BOTH: ...resurrection. (ALL LAUGH) - I haven't got a Jesus complex, but I'm comin' back. (ALL LAUGH) Yeah, no, and it'll be great, because I miss bein' on stage, you know. - You have to. You have to. It's part of your essence. - I have to. I have to do it. I don't have a choice. You know, I need to get up there and sing, and it's not about, you know, havin' people scream and` It's about` It just clears the emotions outta me, you know? - There have been a lot of emotions to work through these past few months. - # And the words you spoke like melody... - But one stands out more than the others have. Jimmy Barnes' near-death experience has been a valuable reminder nothing is more important than a love of life and family. - ALL HARMONISE: # And if I always # dream of you, # it'll be all right # with me. - Without a doubt, the fact that my family were there and Jane was there ` I wasn't going anywhere. You know, I wanted to be` I wanted to spend, you know, every breath I could, you know, spend with Jane, and if that meant fightin' to live longer, I was gonna do it, you know. - Mm. - Yeah. - For Jane. - For Jane. (BOTH CHUCKLE GENTLY) - It's all for Jane. - Yeah. No, really. - We have a good time. - Yeah. We're having a good time. - CHUCKLES: We enjoy life. - Don't get all misty on me. - Yeah. (ALL CHUCKLE) # Oh, it'll be all right... # ...with me. (HOLDS NOTE, VOCALISES) (MUSIC ENDS) (GENTLE CHUCKLING) - Well, Jimmy and Jane will soon head to their second home in Thailand to focus on his recovery before he returns to the stage in late March. He's also working on two new books. Stay with us. It was down in the dumps; now it's, 'Up the Wahs.' How did the Warriors turn their fortunes around? - Nau mai ano. The Warriors staged a comeback like never before with one of their best-ever NRL seasons last year. 'Up The Wahs' was the catchphrase. But what's next for the team? Can they keep up momentum in the months to come? Next week we've got special access to the cream of the team as they look to nail another mighty run. - ALL CHANT: We are the Power. We are the Speed. We are the spirit... - Come on! - ALL: Up The Wahs! - Their passion is pretty indescribable. - It's all about how they're gonna win it. The bar has been raised right up. - You know, 'Up The Wahs,' call it a movement. - Up The Wahs! - Whoo! Up The Wahs! - ALL: Up The Wahs! - We're in it together. It was without doubt the hardest time that I've experienced. - Was there ever any kind of freak-out point where you thought, 'Oh, maybe the club might not survive?' - Yeah, there were definite questions around that. - No one understands it, because they weren't there. - In! (ALL INHALE DEEPLY) Out! (ALL EXHALE DEEPLY) - Until you're in the trenches with them fighting, you don't actually understand what people are made of. (EPIC MOMENTOUS MUSIC) Are we the underdog? Are we the little guy? We don't care. Yeah, we're just going after it up. - Up The Wahs, baby. - So what have they got up their sleeves? We'll have the behind-the-scenes lowdown next week. Thanks for joining us this evening. We'd love to hear from you either on social media or send your story ideas to sunday@TVNZ.co.nz. Plus, you can find our stories on the Sunday page at TVNZ+. We will see you next week. Nga mihi nui, hei kona.