ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on November 4, 2025.
Even if heads roll at Optus, we may not know much about their executive payouts
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anish Purkayastha, Senior lecturer, University of Sydney Optus has promised its staff will be held accountable for September’s Triple Zero outage – but only after “the dust settles” on current investigations. Three deaths have been linked to the outage. On Monday, the first day of hearings for
Cuts to key research facilities threaten Australia’s ability to be a global scientific leader
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Preuss, Professor of Structural Materials, Monash University; University of Manchester A view towards the particle injector of the Australian Synchrotron. Paul Moons/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA There has been much excitement since Australia signed a landmark agreement with the United States last month to expand cooperation on critical
People’s mission to Kanaky warns over ‘broken trust’ in France about decolonisation
Asia Pacific Report A People’s Mission to Kanaky New Caledonia says the French Pacific territory remains in a fragile political and social transition nearly three decades after the signing of the Nouméa Accord. It says the pro-independence unrest in May last year has “left visible scars” — not only in a damaged economy but in
A deadly European hornet has reached NZ – we can all help stop its spread
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Phil Lester, Professor of Ecology and Entomology, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington An Asian hornet (right) hunting honeybees as they emerge from the hive. Jean-Bernard Nadeau/Science Photo Library, CC BY-NC-ND The discovery of yellow-legged hornet nests in Auckland is frightening. There have been five
Is the Melbourne Cup losing its appeal? Here’s what the numbers reveal
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Charles Livingstone, Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University The Melbourne Cup, a 3,200–metre race for horses more than three years old, has long been called “the race that stops the nation”. Held each year on the first Tuesday in November at Flemington
The ‘doorman fallacy’: why careless adoption of AI backfires so easily
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gediminas Lipnickas, Lecturer in Marketing, University of South Australia Weichao Deng/Unsplash Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming commonplace, despite statistics showing that only approximately 7% to 13% (depending on size) of companies have incorporated AI into their regular business workflows. Adoption in specific business functions is far
Could a cheetah win the Melbourne Cup?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christofer Clemente, Assistant Professor in Evolutionary Biomechanics, University of the Sunshine Coast Every year on the first Tuesday of November, many Australians tune in to watch “the race that stops a nation”: the Melbourne Cup. Run at Flemington across 3,200 metres (two miles), the Melbourne Cup dates
Does fasting dull your mental edge? We crunched the data for the best advice
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Moreau, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Ever worried that skipping breakfast might leave you foggy at work? Or that intermittent fasting would make you irritable, distracted and less productive? Snack food ads warn us that “you’re not you when
Food insecurity affects 1 in 3 regional people – and it’s worse for those with poor mental health
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katherine Kent, Senior Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Wollongong VioletaStoimenova/Getty Images It’s becoming harder for many Australians to afford enough healthy food, especially in regional areas, our new research shows. We surveyed almost 700 adults across the Illawarra and Shoalhaven regions of New South Wales
Cabbage tree palm: a sweet-leafed Australian native that waits 150 years to bloom
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, The University of Melbourne Auscape / Contributor When you think of palms, you might be mentally transported to tropical islands and beaches. But palms are a diverse and interesting group of plants of roughly 180
Don’t dismiss kids’ sadness or anger. How to minimise family conflict over the social media ban
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Page Jeffery, Lecturer in Media and Communications, University of Sydney Cottonbro Studio/ Pexels In just over a month Australia’s social media ban will begin. From December 10, those under 16 will only be able to see publicly available content on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat,
Op-shopping, worm farms and cornstarch blood bags: how Australian theatre is staging a greener future
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grace Nye-Butler, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Performance and Ecology Research Lab, Griffith University Theatre has long gathered and connected communities through story and shared experience. The performing arts can educate, provoke and inspire climate action. Yet the industry grapples with its own environmental footprint. In response, the Theatre
Not enough known about seafloor to begin mining, says Cook Is scientist
By Caleb Fotheringham and Tiana Haxton, RNZ Pacific journalists Not enough is yet known about the seafloor to decide if deep sea mining can start in the Cook Islands, says an ocean scientist with the government authority in charge of seabed minerals. The Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority (SBMA) returned last week from a 21-day
View from The Hill: Unmoored Ley has the appearance of a dead woman walking
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is looking like a dead woman walking. The latest devastating Newspoll, which has Labor leading the Coalition 57–43% on the two-party vote and Ley’s net approval at minus–33, would be devastating at any time. Her net
Why do giraffes have such long legs? Animal simulations reveal a surprising answer
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roger S. Seymour, Professor Emeritus of Physiology, University of Adelaide If you’ve ever wondered why the giraffe has such a long neck, the answer seems clear: it lets them reach succulent leaves atop tall acacia trees in Africa. Only giraffes have direct access to those leaves, while
