ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on August 14, 2025.
Postwar Japan at 80: 10 factors that changed the nation forever
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Avenell, Professor in Modern Japanese History, Australian National University Aleksander Pasaric/Pexels This year marks 80 years since Japan’s catastrophic defeat in the Asia-Pacific War. In 1945, the country lay in ruins. Millions had died in battle or in the devastating Allied bombings of Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki,
Small business, big pressure: why the backbones of the NZ and Australian economies need more support
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Fiedler, Senior Lecturer, Management and International Business, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Bevan Goldswain/Getty Images Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the Australian and New Zealand economies, employing 42% of Australia’s workforce and 31% of New Zealand’s workers. But rising costs, weak
Israel must allow independent investigations of Palestinian journalist killings – and let international media into Gaza
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Greste, Professor of Journalism and Communications, Macquarie University The New York-based media freedom organisation, the Committee to Protect Journalists, is scrupulous with its words. So, when the organisation described the killing of six Palestinian journalists in an Israeli air strike as “murder”, the word was a
Many parents – mostly mothers – lose family payments from the first dollar they earn. Here’s how we could fix it
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ana Gamarra Rondinel, Research Fellow, Faculty of Business and Economics, The University of Melbourne Roman Biernacki/Pexels, CC BY From paid parental leave to expanded childcare and free kindergarten, Australia has made positive changes over the past two decades to better support families. But for many parents juggling
For people with ADHD, medication can reduce the risk of accidents, crime and suicide
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Guastella, Professor and Clinical Psychologist, Michael Crouch Chair in Child and Youth Mental Health, University of Sydney Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects around 7% of children and 2.5% of adults. ADHD causes difficulties holding and sustaining attention over periods of time.
John Hobbs: New Zealand’s shameful stance on Israel
Aotearoa New Zealand once earned praise for its “principled” and “independent” foreign policy. Think nuclear-free Pacific, for example. Yet that reputation doesn’t hold true when it comes to Gaza and the Palestinian desire and right to self-determination. Under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, states must take positive steps to prevent genocide.
The discovery of an extinct shelduck highlights the rich ancient biodiversity of the remote Rēkohu Chatham Islands
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nic Rawlence, Associate Professor in Ancient DNA, University of Otago An artist’s depiction of the Rēkohu shelduck. Sasha Votyakova/Te Papa , CC BY-ND Islands are natural laboratories where evolution can run rampant as plants and animals adapt to new environmental conditions and vacancies in the ecosystem. This
If recreational vapes are banned, why are there still vape shops everywhere?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Martin, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Deakin University Recently, you may have noticed an increase in the number of shops selling tobacco in your area. Alongside cigarettes, these shops often sell vapes. In July 2024, the federal government banned the sale of recreational vapes nationwide. The only
The United States has changed. Australia hasn’t. It’s time to talk about where the relationship goes from here
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bruce Wolpe, Non-resident Senior Fellow, United States Study Centre, University of Sydney Seven months after Donald Trump was inaugurated for a second term as US president, we are facing the most important moment in Australia’s foreign policy since the Iraq war. Australia needs to have a national
Private health insurers want to fund more out-of-hospital care. But the Productivity Commission has other ideas
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yuting Zhang, Professor of Health Economics, The University of Melbourne Kseniya Ovchinnikova/Getty Australia needs to do better at preventing health conditions from arising and worsening, according to an interim report on delivering quality care more efficiently released overnight by the Productivity Commission. But the commission’s interim report
From childcare to aged care, here’s how to deliver safer, more affordable care for all Australians
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Angela Jackson, Social Policy Commissioner, Productivity Commission, and Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Tasmania MTStock Studio/Getty Too often in discussions about productivity, the care economy only gets mentioned as the problem child putting a drag on growth. This week, the Productivity Commission is seeking to change that
At 50, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is ‘imperfectly’ good (and queer) as ever
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Craig Martin, Lecturer in Screen Studies, Swinburne University of Technology Stanley Bielecki Movie Collection/Getty Images For half a century, The Rocky Horror Picture Show has lured costumed fans to cinemas for late-night screenings. Its raunchy mix of Broadway musical, science fiction and schlock horror was originally a
Nagasaki Day and Aro Valley Peace Talks recall nuke-free heyday
Asia Pacific Report It was a bit like the old days — the heyday of Aotearoa New Zealand’s nuclear-free movement in the 1980s, leading up to the Rarotonga Treaty for a nuclear free Pacific zone that was signed on 6 August 1985 just weeks after the Rainbow Warrior bombing. The New Zealand nuclear-free law followed
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Jim Chalmers wants roundtable to ‘crack open’ the challenge of slow housing approvals
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Reserve Bank’s rate cut this week will help relieve many mortgage holders, but it wasn’t all positive news from the bank. It also underscored the serious productivity and economic growth challenges facing the Australian economy. The Economic Reform Roundtable
Israel has ‘deliberate strategy’ of killing Palestinian journalists like Anas al-Sharif, warns UN expert
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González. Global condemnation is mounting over Israel’s assassination of one of the most prominent journalists in Gaza, the Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif, along with four of his colleagues at the network and another freelance journalist. UN Secretary-General António Guterres is calling for
Does penis size matter? And how do I know what’s normal?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keersten Fitzgerald, Lecturer in General Practice, University of Sydney Leonardo Iheme/Unsplash When it comes to penises, we seem unable to escape the idea that “bigger is better”. Popular culture and pornography constantly present us with unrealistic standards – that penises should be long, thick and hard. This
Israel deliberately obstructing aid, says former PM Helen Clark
Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark says she has witnessed Israel deliberately obstructing life-saving humanitarian aid into Gaza. Together with former Irish president Mary Robinson, Clark visited the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Palestinian territory this week. The two former world leaders are part of The Elders, an independent, non-government organisation of
Israeli PM has ‘lost the plot’, says NZ’s Christopher Luxon
By Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira, RNZ Māori news journalist in Parliament New Zealand’s Prime Minister says the war in Gaza is “utterly appalling” and Israeil Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “lost the plot”. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s comments came on a tense day in Parliament today, where the Green Party’s co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick was “named” for refusing
