Northland news in brief: Three new police officers; two Biosecurity Awards finalists

Northland is getting three new police officers from the latest wing to graduate from the NZ Police College.

Three new police officers

Three new police officers will start in Northland on Monday after the latest wing of recruits graduates from Police College today. Fifty-eight new recruits of the 358 Wing will be attested as constables and graduate from their initial training in Wellington today and start in their districts on Monday. The wing members will be deployed to all police districts in New Zealand. Police Minister Hon Chris Hipkins, Wing Patron Stacey Shortall and Commissioner Andrew Coster will attend today's ceremony. More than half the wing have bachelor, postgraduate or other tertiary qualifications and the vast range of academic qualifications sits alongside the variety of ethnicities, languages and life experiences.
Northland will get three of the new officers, and Wellington the most, with 10.

Biosecurity Awards finalists

There are two Northland finalists in the 2022 New Zealand Biosecurity Awards. Organisers say competition for all eight categories has been the toughest in the award's history.
"The awards judging panel has told us this year's entries were the highest quality ever seen in the six years of the awards, with close scores among the top applications in every category," Biosecurity New Zealand deputy director-general Stuart Anderson said. This year's finalists cover a huge range of Aotearoa's biosecurity challenges. In the New Zealand Biosecurity Kura (School) Award, Taipa Area School is one of three finalists for its Project Predator and in the AsureQuality Emerging Leader Award, Alessandra Smith, from Northland Regional Council, is one of three finalists. The winners will be announced at the New Zealand Biosecurity Awards event in Auckland on October 31.

Library, museum online launches

Far North District Libraries have launched a new local history database, called Rediscovery, which can be accessed free of charge at fndclibraries.recollect.co.nz. A new online collection highlighting the objects in Kaitaia's Te Ahu Museum collection has also been launched at teahumuseum.nz.

Event funding applications

The Northland Regional Events Fund will open for the third round of funding applications in October, focused on distributing event funding which drives visitation to Tai Tokerau Northland. Having previously allocated two rounds of funding in 2021, the fund has distributed $800,000 towards high-impact, innovative and sustainable event activity across the region. Applicants must demonstrate the positive impact on the local economic landscape by offering new experiences within the region, or additionally to existing events. Applications open on October 3 and close on November 4. A hybrid (online and in-person) workshop open to all prospective applicants will be held at The Orchard Business and Events Hub in Whangārei on Wednesday, September 21.