ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on February 4, 2026.
You spin some, you lose more: how Albanese’s gambling rhetoric falls short
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rohann Irving, Research Fellow, Flinders University As a new parliamentary year resumes, politicians such as the ACT’s David Pocock have renewed their calls for legislation to tackle Australia’s gambling losses, which are the worst in the world per capita. When questioned about its lack of action on
An ‘AI afterlife’ is now a real option – but what becomes of your legal status?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wellett Potter, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of New England ziphaus/Unsplash Would you create an interactive “digital twin” of yourself that can communicate with loved ones after your death? Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has made it possible to seemingly resurrect the dead. So-called griefbots or deathbots –
What the RBA wants Australians to do next to fight inflation – or risk more rate hikes
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meg Elkins, Associate Professor in Economics, RMIT University When the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) board voted unanimously to lift the cash rate to 3.85% on Tuesday, the decision was driven by one overriding concern. It wants to stop the rising cost of living from becoming entrenched.
Big Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi delegation joins Māori in solidarity over Te Tiriti
Asia Pacific Report Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi, a Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawai’ian) initiative for self-determination and self-governance formed in 1987, has sent a 17-member Indigenous delegation to Waitangi to stand in solidarity with Māori in defence of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The delegation is present to “stand alongside Māori leadership, strengthen international solidarity, and affirm the
Why preferential voting is superior to first past the post
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The South Australian state election will be held on March 21. Preferential voting will be used to elect members for all 47 single-member lower house seats. This
Is NZ defence and intelligence policy aligning with AUKUS in all but name?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Macaulay, Senior Tutor and PhD Candidate, Centre for Defence and Security Studies, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University NZ Defence Force Across the Pacific and the Southern Ocean, New Zealand has been trying to strike a careful balance in its defence and surveillance approach. While
High Court defeat piles pressure on ’embarrassed’ Fiji PM Rabuka’s leadership, says academic
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor A court ruling in favour of Fiji’s dismissed anti-corruption chief has “embarrassed” Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, a New Zealand-based Fiji politics academic says. University of Canterbury distinguished professor Steven Ratuva told RNZ Pacific Waves that while the Fiji High Court decision on Barbara Malimali offered “clarity” on the separation
The fall of Peter Mandelson and the many questions the UK government must now answer
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martin Farr, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary British History, Newcastle University Peter Mandelson and Keir Starmer pictured in February 2025. Flickr/Number 10, CC BY-NC-ND No accident waiting to happen can ever have delivered on its promise so spectacularly as Lord Mandelson, with the continuous revelations of his ties
The rise and fall (and rise again) of gold prices – what’s going on?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David McMillan, Professor in Finance, University of Stirling i viewfinder/Shutterstock In late January, the gold price reached an all-time peak of around US$5,500 (£4,025). January 30 saw one of the largest one-day falls in prices, which sank by nearly 10% after hitting a record high only the
A brief history of table tennis in film – from Forrest Gump to Marty Supreme
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jeff Scheible, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies, King’s College London Table tennis and film have a surprisingly entangled history. Both depended on the invention of celluloid – which not only became the substrate of film, but is also used to make ping pong balls. Following a brief
Winter Olympic security tightens as US-European tensions grow
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Since the murder of 11 Israeli hostages at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, security has been fundamental for games stakeholders. The 2024 Paris games set new benchmarks for security at a mega-event, and now the
I studied 10 years of Instagram posts. Here’s how social media has changed
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By T.J. Thomson, Associate Professor of Visual Communication & Digital Media, RMIT University Antoine Beauvillain/Unsplash Instagram is one of Australia’s most popular social media platforms. Almost two in three Aussies have an account. Ushering in 2026 and what he calls “synthetic everything” on our feeds, Head of Instagram
Voluntary assisted dying isn’t available to all Australians. In 2026, this may finally change
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben White, Professor of End-of-Life Law and Regulation, Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology Voluntary assisted dying is now available almost everywhere in Australia. This means eligible adults can choose to end their lives with medical assistance. In November 2025, the Australian Capital
Potoroos digging for ‘truffles’ keep their forests healthy – but for how long?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emily McIntyre, PhD candidate in Ecology, The University of Melbourne Think truffles and you’ll probably think of France. But Australia is actually a global hotspot for truffle-like fungi, boasting hundreds of different species. Like culinary truffles, these truffle-like fungi produce underground sporing bodies rather than send up
New research shows Australians support buying local for different reasons – and not all will pay more
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Luckman, Professor of Culture and Creative Industries, Adelaide University We have now passed the annual Australia Day peak of calls urging us to “buy Australian” – especially lamb. The iconic green-and-gold “Australian Made, Australian Grown” logo, launched by then-Prime Minister Bob Hawke in 1986, turns 40
Olives have been essential to life in Italy for at least 6,000 years – far longer than we thought
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emlyn Dodd, Senior Lecturer in Classical Studies, Institute of Classical Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London; Macquarie University How far back does the rich history of Italian olives and oil stretch? My new research, synthesising and reevaluating existing archaeological evidence, suggests olive trees have been
Diabetes care in NZ: thousands of patient records reveal who’s being left behind
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lynne Chepulis, Associate Professor, Health Sciences, University of Waikato Getty Images For the tens of thousands of New Zealanders who live with type 2 diabetes, managing the chronic condition can start to feel like keeping score. A patient is given a list of numbers by their doctor.
Not an artefact, but an ancestor: why a German university is returning a Māori taonga
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael La Corte, Research Associate, Curation and Communication, University of Tübingen Restitution debates – the question of whether a cultural object should be returned from a museum or other collection to a person or community – often begin with a deceptively simple question: who owns an object?
‘Journalism is not a crime’ – US journalists arrested for covering ICE church protest
AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show looking at the arrests of two American journalists for covering a protest at the Cities Church [in the Minnesota Twin City of] St Paul, where a top ICE official serves as pastor. Former CNN anchor Don Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort from the Twin Cities were released last
OpenClaw and Moltbook: why a DIY AI agent and social media for bots feel so new (but really aren’t)
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Binns, Senior Lecturer, Media & Communication, RMIT University NurPhoto / Getty Images If you’re following AI on social media, even lightly, you will likely have come across OpenClaw. If not, you will have heard one of its previous names, Clawdbot or Moltbot. Despite its technical limitations,
