ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 16, 2025.
How a drone delivering medicine might just save your life
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Centaine Snoswell, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Health Services Research, The University of Queensland Flystock/Shutterstock Drones can deliver pizza, and maybe one day your online shopping. So why not use them to deliver urgent medicines or other emergency health-care supplies? Trials in Australia and internationally have shown
Why it’s important young, unemployed Australians get a good job instead of just ‘any’ job
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Churchill, ARC Senior Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Sociology, The University of Melbourne Lightfield Studios/Shutterstock We often hear young people need to get a job – any job – but what if the problem isn’t whether they’re working or not, but the kind of job
Why do some autistic people walk differently?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Rinehart, Nicole Rinehart, Professor, Clinical Psychology, Director of the Neurodevelopment Program, School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects how people’s brains develop and function, impacting behaviour, communication and socialising. It can also involve
How to approach going to the cinema like a philosopher
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alain Guillemain, PhD Candidate in Philosophy, Deakin University Philosophy is the study of fundamental questions about reality, knowledge, and values. One “does philosophy” when they respond to such questions in ways that engage critical thought and inquiry. Many of us will often respond philosophically to the world
Australia’s census is getting a stress test – keeping it going is good for everyone
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Allen, Demographer, POLIS Centre for Social Policy Research, Australian National University GoldPanter/Shutterstock The Australian Bureau of Statistics will roll out a large-scale census test next month. About 60,000 households will take part across the country to stress test the bureau’s collection processes and IT systems, ahead
How safe are the chemicals in sunscreen? A pharmacology expert explains
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide aquaArts studio/Getty Last week, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) released its safety review of seven active ingredients commonly used in sunscreens. It found five were low-risk and appropriate for use in sunscreens at their current concentrations. However, the
Control fire and ferals in Australia’s tropical savannas to bring the small mammals back
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alyson Stobo-Wilson, Research Adjunct in Conservation Ecology, Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University Alyson Stobo-Wilson In remote central Arnhem Land, finding a northern brushtail possum is encouraging for the local Indigenous rangers. Though once common, such small native mammals are now rare. Many
Florida is fronting the $450M cost of Alligator Alcatraz – a legal scholar explains what we still don’t know about the detainees
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Schlakman, Senior Program Director, The Florida State University Center for the Advancement of Human Rights, Florida State University Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leads a tour of the new Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention facility for President Donald Trump and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
As house prices drop, will the retirement nest egg still be such a safe bet?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Dale, Research Fellow, the Pensions and Intergenerational Equity (PIE) research hub, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau MonthiraYodtiwong/Getty Images Changes to KiwiSaver, global economic uncertainty and predictions house prices could drop by as much as 20% by 2030 all mean retirement is looking very different to
Fiji govt offers NZ$1.5m settlement to former anti-corruption head for ruined career
By Margot Staunton, RNZ Pacific senior reporter The Fiji government looks set to pay around NZ$1.5 million in damages to the disgraced former head of the country’s anti-corruption agency FICAC. The state is offering Barbara Malimali an out-of-court settlement after her lawyer lodged a judicial review of her sacking in the High Court in Suva.
Federal Court rules Australian government doesn’t have a duty of care to protect Torres Strait Islanders from climate change
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Hicks, Lecturer in Law, The University of Melbourne Australian Climate Case The Federal Court has handed down its long-awaited judgement in a four-year climate case brought by Torres Strait Islanders. Elders Uncle Pabai Pabai and Uncle Paul Kabai took the Australian government to court on behalf
No more card surcharges: what the Reserve Bank’s proposed changes mean for your wallet
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Angel Zhong, Professor of Finance, RMIT University That extra 10c on your morning coffee. That $2 surcharge on your taxi ride. The sneaky 1.5% fee when you pay by card at your local restaurant. These could all soon be history. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has
President Xi Jinping tells Albanese China ready to ‘push the bilateral relationship further’
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Chinese President Xi Jinping has told Anthony Albanese China stands ready to work with Australia “to push the bilateral relationship further”, in their meeting in Beijing on Tuesday. During the meeting, Albanese raised Australia’s concern about China’s lack of proper
Tyranny is an ever-present threat to civilisations. Here’s how Classical Greece and China dealt with it
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shannon Brincat, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, University of the Sunshine Coast We’re just a few months into US president Donald Trump’s second term but his rule has already been repeatedly compared to tyranny. This may all feel very new to Americans, and to the
A person in the US has died from pneumonic plague. It’s not just a disease of history
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Jeffries, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Western Sydney University Corona Borealis Studio/Shutterstock A person in Arizona has died from the plague, local health officials reported on Friday. This marks the first such death in this region in 18 years. But it’s a stark reminder that this historic
Supermarket treatments for depression don’t require a prescription. But do they work?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jon Wardle, Professor of Public Health, Southern Cross University Australians have long been some of the highest users of herbal and nutritional supplements that claim to boost mood or ease depression. These include omega-3s (found in fish oil), St John’s wort, probiotics and vitamin D. In fact,
Tyranny is an ever-present threat to civilisations. Here’s how Ancient Greece and China dealt with it
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shannon Brincat, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, University of the Sunshine Coast Panasevich/Getty Images We’re just a few months into US president Donald Trump’s second term but his rule has already been repeatedly compared to tyranny. This may all feel very new to Americans, and
After a hopeful start, Labor’s affordable housing fund is proving problematic
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Raynor, Director of the Centre for Equitable Housing, Per Capita and Research Associate, The University of Melbourne When the Albanese government announced the A$10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund in 2023, the news reverberated through the housing sector. A new funding facility to help build 30,000
The southern hemisphere is full of birds found nowhere else on Earth. Their importance has been overlooked
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthias Dehling, Researcher, School of Biological Sciences, Monash University Matthias Dehling The snow petrel, a strikingly white bird with black eyes and a black bill, is one of only three bird species ever observed at the South Pole. In fact, the Antarctic is the only place on





