About 40 schools and early childcare centres have closed, or planned to, because of the contamination fears.
MBIE’s product safety spokesperson Ian Caplin said the ministry and other agencies were proactively testing samples from other similar products available in New Zealand.
“We are expecting to receive further results later this week and will update our partners and New Zealanders as they are received,” he said.
“In the meantime, our advice is that when in doubt, take a cautious approach and dispose of sand in accordance with the guidance on Health NZ and WorkSafe’s websites.”
Caplin said anyone who found sand products positive with asbestos after independent testing should send copies of the test report to recalls@mbie.govt.nz so the ministry could begin the recall process.
It comes after a West Auckland school notified families its play sand had tested positive, after previously saying they did not have any of the products on the recall list.
Matipo School in Te Atatu Peninsula wrote to parents saying it was testing other types of sand used for art activities as a precaution.
The school set out steps including independent testing, isolating and temporarily closing affected class rooms, and ensuring there was no access to the sand until it was confirmed safe.
However, Principal Jonnie Black wrote to members of the school community to say a small number of samples tested had returned positive results.
“I want to reassure our community that there is no immediate risk, and we are following all recommended Ministry of Education and health and safety procedures,” he said.
“Affected classrooms have been temporarily relocated while we complete air-quality testing and arrange professional decontamination of those spaces.”
Students were safe, well supervised and settled in alternative learning areas, he said.
Black said they had asked the families of specific classes to seal and return any sand-based artwork, so it could be disposed of safely and appropriately.
“This step is part of the national precautionary process to ensure full compliance with safety guidelines.”
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The Firearms Safety Authority was established following the Christchurch mosque attacks in 2019.123rf.com
A comprehensive review of Te Tari Pūreke Firearms Safety Authority found risks for the authority and police in relation to financial oversight and conflict-of-interest management across police.
RNZ earlier revealed a “health check” of the police agency had begun following concerns over its workplace culture, including intimate relationships as well as financial practices.
The review came after an “internal employment process” at the firearms regulator which was established following the Christchurch mosque attacks in 2019.
Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz
Police’s Chief Assurance Officer Mike Webb told RNZ the health check of the Firearms Safety Authority (FSA) was completed last month.
“It sought to identify whether disciplines around corporate hygiene and internal controls are widely understood and consistently applied in the FSA,” Webb said.
“The FSA was found to have operated in accordance with police policies in almost all cases sampled from December 2022 to June 2025 and the review identified a number of strengths in its corporate practices and controls.”
The review also made recommendations to “support improved police policy and practice”.
Three recommendations related to the FSA and 19 relate to wider police.
“Of note, the health check report highlighted some operational and governance risks for FSA and Police in the areas of financial oversight, lack of specificity in the sensitive expenditure policy at the time, and conflict-of-interest management across wider police.”
Webb said the FSA’s executive director, Angela Brazier, had accepted the findings and recommendations in the report and “acknowledged there is always opportunity for improvement”.
The report was considered by the police’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT) in late-October, as well as the independent Assurance and Risk Committee in mid-November.
“The Police SLT endorsed action to address the report’s non-FSA-specific recommendations, as well as tracking work on the recommendations.
“Several recommendations have already been actioned – for example, making updates to the sensitive expenditure policy, which are due to take effect from 1 December 2025.”
Brazier was one of several senior leaders within police criticised by the Independent Police Conduct Authority in its scathing report in relation to how police responded to allegations of sexual offending by McSkimming.
The IPCA said Brazier told them she had known McSkimming for about 20 years.
When the Public Service Commission approached her for a reference check on McSkimming in the appointment process for interim commissioner in October last year, she knew McSkimming had an affair, that he was being “harassed” with emails from the woman and that Deputy Police Commissioner Tania Kura had informed McSkimming that she had to investigate him as part of the police response.
However, Brazier told the PSC she had nothing relevant to disclose. She told the IPCA she did not think her knowledge was relevant to PSC’s question.
“Ms G’s disclosure was inadequate in light of her knowledge at the time,” the IPCA said.
A lawyer for Brazier earlier said she was challenging the IPCA’s findings in relation to her.
The lawyer confirmed to RNZ on Tuesday that Brazier was currently on “pre-planned leave”.
Last week, the government announced a new specialist firearms regulatory agency will be created, replacing the FSA. It will be headed by an independent chief executive appointed by the governor-general who would report solely to the firearms minister.
The new regulator would continue to sit within police, but without sworn police officers involved.
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Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse.RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
Pike River families say their meeting with the Workplace Safety Minister was “a complete waste of time”.
Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse sat down with Workplace Safety Minister Brooke van Velden at Parliament on the 15th anniversary of the Pike River disaster.
“I don’t know, I’ve come out of there still feeling really unhappy because there’s just no guarantees that people who go to work are going to return home safely,” Obsorne said.
“She seemed to be focusing all the time on the employers and I sat and listened to it for a little while and then I just couldn’t stand it,” Rockhouse said.
Both women went into the meeting wanting to share their concerns that the minister’s workplace reforms were weakening safety laws and risking another disaster.
Rockhouse said she doesn’t feel reassured.
“She gave a slip service, she listened, but didn’t really say anything. You know, that sort of thing when somebody’s talking but they’re not really saying much? That’s how it felt,” she said.
“I walked out of there thinking man that was just a complete waste of time.”
Workplace Safety Minister Brooke van Velden.Marika Khabazi
The pair support the introduction of a corporate manslaughter charge and said they had found support for the idea with opposition parties and New Zealand First.
“In New Zealand, it’s real easy to pass the buck. It’s not not one person’s fault, it’s another’s, you know,” Osborne said.
“So, we just need somebody with some balls who’s prepared to really put their heart and soul into getting this health and safety legislation and the reforms working properly for all New Zealanders,”
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters on Wednesday described the Pike River mine as “a murder scene” and hinted at his dissatisfaction with relevant workplace safety settings.
He met with Osborne and Rockhouse and promised to advocate for progress on what he described as “the most unsatisfactory circumstance”.
“[The meeting went] very, very well. We laid out a plan of action and work for us to do privately, myself and my team,” Peters said.
“We were the ones that demanded an inquiry, the only party that did at the time. We think we were dramatically let down by the way the inquiry was run and we don’t give up on this. We think this is a murder scene.”
Peters would not disclose any details of his plan but his office later confirmed he was working with Pike River families on the idea of introducing a corporate manslaughter charge.
Asked if he was happy with the current workplace safety settings, he said no.
“Not on this matter, most definitely not. And I intend to make that known.”
Van Velden has been overhauling workplace safety with a mind to shift WorkSafe’s focus from enforcement, to advice and guidance.
She said there were too many people dying at work and helping businesses follow the law – as well as backing a record number of workplace inspectors – was the best way to tackle this.
She didn’t accept Osborne and Rockhouse’s concerns history may repeat itself, despite having no evidence her approach will result in fewer workplace deaths.
“You can’t really point to any particular one industry or group or bit of evidence to say this is what would end up happening in the future.
“What we have as a health and safety system, is a lot of individuals getting up every day, providing jobs and doing a lot of actions on the ground.
“There are accidents that will happen. What I’m wanting to focus on is, how do I improve the overall economy and the situation that businesses and workers find themselves in?”
Van Velden said she did not support introducing a corporate manslaughter charge, instead preferring to focus on “upfront guidance” for businesses.
“I’m asking all businesses, workers and the regulator to focus on critical risk, which is actions that could lead to death and serious injury and illness, and to stamp those out and focus our efforts there, rather than sweating a lot of small stuff.
“We know there are a lot of companies out there really fearful of what it means to comply with the law but they’re ticking boxes and I’d like people across the country to focus on action on the ground to reduce deaths on the ground.”
Justice Minster Paul Goldsmith said there were no current plans to introduce a corporate manslaughter charge as the government had a very busy legislative agenda in the justice space.
Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori all support a corporate manslaughter charge.
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Māori business leaders are feeling upbeat about their performance.RNZ
Māori business leaders are feeling upbeat about performance, driven by a stronger primary sector.
The latest edition of accounting firm BDO’s Pūrongo Pakihi Māori, the Māori Business Sector Report, showed nearly two thirds of Māori business leaders were positive about current overall business performance – second only to the agricultural sector.
BDO Māori business sector leader Solomon Dalton said the upbeat sentiment reflected the strong presence of primary sector firms amongst Māori businesses.
“A lot of our businesses are in the primary industry, which has had strong performance over the last few years,” Dalton said.
“Managing cash flow remains a key priority for Māori business leaders,” Dalton said. “However, we’re seeing cautious optimism about the future.”
“What will be key over the next six months is more certainty around economic conditions in helping unlock potential business growth by encouraging more Māori business leaders to invest in their people and resources – helping stimulate the wider economy.”
Dalton encouraged firms to look at cash flow as they navigate challenging periods and work in 12 week cycles.
He said firms could also look to make investments that could save money long-term.
“Our BDO Pakihi Māori team are seeing a growing adoption of solar technology and the transitioning of business fleets to EV vehicles, not only bringing cost efficiencies for Māori businesses but also supporting their climate responsibilities,” Dalton said.
Māori business leaders felt least positive about external economic factors, followed by financial performance and climate risk.
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The third quarter ASB Investor Confidence Survey indicates a clear divergence of strategies between investors over 60 and those under 30 years of age.RNZ
Investor confidence is improving, with a clear divergence of strategies between investors over 60 and those under 30 years of age.
The third quarter ASB Investor Confidence Survey indicates an overall 9 percent improvement in confidence, with a net positive investor confidence rate of 10 percent, compared with 1 percent in the last quarter.
“While confidence has edged up, the underlying drivers of uncertainty, like global events, policy changes, and a sluggish property market, remain, ” ASB senior economist Chris Tennent-Brown said.
“Looking ahead, the overall message is one of cautious optimism.
“Markets have recovered since the volatility we had earlier in the year, and that’s impacting sentiment positively now, but the flat housing market and lower term deposit rates continue to weigh on the mood.”
He said investor confidence was highest in Auckland at more than 16 percent, compared with the rest of New Zealand at 7 percent, with the South Island was at 8 percent and Lower North Island at the bottom with just 3 percent.
“Perceptions about housing being the place to generate the most wealth are very low for under 30s, who may still be trying to work out how to get into the property market, a stark but understandable contrast to the over 60 participants, whose wealth may be tied up in property,” Tennent-Brown said.
He said there was a clear difference between the investment strategies of young and old.
Perceptions of a home as the best returning investment had dropped to the lowest level since first measured in 2015, with under 30s driving the shift to other investments.
“We expect the older age brackets, 60 plus, to have more exposure to property, more exposure to term deposits. They still feel downbeat about term deposits, upbeat about housing,” he said.
“It’s a really diverse bunch of answers when we split it by age and stage of life.”
He said the under 30s surveyed were focussed on other investments, particularly the share market, where confidence had lifted significantly over the past quarter, jumping to 21 percent compared with 13 percent in the previous quarter.
Overall, managed investments were steady at 14 percent and just under KiwiSaver, which had overtaken rental property and term deposits in perceived return.
Public shares were also gaining favour, with perceptions increasing to 12 percent.
Other options such as rental property, term deposits, and bank savings accounts remained stable, but were no longer seen as the stand-out choices they once were.
Global outlook
Global political instability or uncertainty remained the top concern for investors, with 90 percent citing it as a key factor, though there had been a notable drop in those ‘very or extremely concerned’, with fewer investors looking to adjustment their portfolios.
“Investors are adapting to a constantly changing global backdrop, and while the mood is more positive than last quarter, it is far from buoyant,” he said.
“In fact, 53 percent of those with concerns are now choosing not to make any changes – an improvement from last quarter.
“What we’re seeing is that investors are becoming more accustomed to uncertainty. Based on our customers’ behaviour, most are choosing to stay the course and not make changes to their portfolios, even as global headlines continue to shift.”
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Former senator Hollie Hughes has gone on a verbal rampage to defend Opposition leader Sussan Ley, accusing “the boys” who want her job of using prominent female colleagues in their efforts to undermine her.
Hughes this week resigned from the Liberal Party, saying as she no longer had the ability to support Ley in the party room, she believed she could best support her from outside the party.
She lashed out at Ley’s critics. “To be honest, I threw up in my mouth a little bit when I saw that big right-wing conservative group walking into the net zero meeting together [on Wednesday last week].
“And they shove [forward] three women, one who no one’s ever heard of, and two who are being used, quite frankly, by the boys who want a challenge but don’t have the gumption to go out and say anything themselves.
“So [they] are pushing Sarah and Jacinta out there to make these undermining comments to Sussan and I just, I think it’s disgusting.”
The three women who headed the conservative group going into the meeting were Sarah Henderson, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Jessica Collins. Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie, who both aspire to the leadership, were directly behind them.
Hughes is a long time friend of Ley. She is also a fierce opponent of Taylor, who successfully promoted Collins in a NSW preselection battle before the last election. Hughes was relegated to an unwinnable position on the Liberal Senate ticket.
Price hit back at the suggestion she was being used,
“It’s always been the argument by raging lefties […] that I can’t think for myself, that I have to be used by others,” she said.
“Just because we were walking down the hallway, in front of our colleagues, somehow we’re being used”. It was a “ridiculous notion,” she said, adding that Hughes was “clearly bitter”.
Ley described Hughes as “a dear friend” but sought to avoid being drawn further into the controversy.
Meanwhile Ley, while on a round of selling the opposition’s energy policy, is continuing to try to get ahead of her critics by flagging positions on other issues. She has said she will soon release an immigration policy. On Thursday she will deliver an address on defence.
In the speech, released ahead of delivery, Ley says there needs to be immediate investment in defence capabilities in three areas. These are
an integrated air and missile defence system
a greater ability to rapidly build, deploy and resupply unmanned and autonomous weapons systems – whether aerial drones or undersea weapons systems, or systems to defend against them
a greater sovereign capability for satellite connectivity.
Ley warns that Australia’s fuel security “is so poor that we don’t even need to be directly involved in a regional crisis or conflict to be dangerously impacted.
“All that needs to occur is for regular shipping to be disrupted from reliably flowing to Australia, and the normal functioning of our society will grind to a halt,” Ley says.
“What a responsible government needs to do is make sure we have sufficient access to essential fuels to get us through the initial shock to ‘normal’ supply chains so that society continues to function.
“This is why the previous Coalition government passed the Fuel Security Act in 2021 to begin introducing minimum stockholding obligations that will eventually bring us closer to our 90-day supply obligations.”
She accuses the Albanese government of letting momentum fall away on this.
“Most importantly, we need the government to send positive demand and regulatory signals to stimulate more investment in the domestic production of fuel here in Australia.
“This should include biofuels and efuels which can help diversify our liquid fuel supply whilst also being low emissions.”
Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The UN Security Council passed a regime change resolution against Gaza on Monday, effectively issuing a mandate for an invasion force to enter the besieged coastal enclave and install a US-led ruling authority by force.
Passing with 13 votes in favour and none in defiance, the new UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution has given the United States a mandate to create what it calls an “International Stabilisation Force” (ISF) and “Board of Peace” committee to seize power in Gaza.
US President Donald Trump has hailed the resolution as historic, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has stood in opposition to an element of the resolution that mentions “Palestinian Statehood”.
In order to understand what has just occurred, it requires a breakdown of the resolution itself and the broader context surrounding the ceasefire deal.
When these elements are combined, it becomes clear that this resolution is perhaps one of the most shameful to have passed in the history of the United Nations, casting shame on it and undermining the very basis on which it was formed to begin with.
An illegal regime change resolution In September 2025, a United Nations commission of inquiry found Israel to have committed the crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip.
For further context, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the most powerful international legal entity and organ of the UN, ruled that Israel is plausibly committing genocide and thus issued orders for Tel Aviv to end specific violations of international law in Gaza, which were subsequently ignored.
Taking this into consideration, the UN itself cannot claim ignorance of the conditions suffered by the people of Gaza, nor could it credibly posit that the United States is a neutral actor capable of enforcing a balanced resolution of what its own experts have found to be a genocide.
This resolution itself is not a peace plan and robs Palestinians of their autonomy entirely; thus, it is anti-democratic in its nature.
It was also passed due in large part to threats from the United States against both Russia and China, that if they vetoed it, the ceasefire would end and the genocide would resume. Therefore, both Beijing and Moscow abstained from the vote, despite the Russian counterproposal and initial opposition to the resolution.
It also gives a green light to what the US calls a “Board of Peace”, which will work to preside over governing Gaza during the ceasefire period. The head of this board is none other than US President Trump himself, who says he will be joined by other world leaders.
Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who launched the illegal invasion of Iraq, has been floated as a potential “Board of Peace” leader also.
Vowed a ‘Gaza Riviera’ On February 4 of this year, President Trump vowed to “take over” and “own” the Gaza Strip. The American President later sought to impose a plan for a new Gaza, which he even called the “Gaza Riviera”, which was drawn up by Zionist economist Joseph Pelzman.
Part of Pelzman’s recommendations to Trump was that “you have to destroy the whole place, restart from scratch”.
As it became clear that the US alone could not justify an invasion force and simply take over Gaza by force, on behalf of Israel, in order to build “Trump Gaza”, a casino beach land for fellow Jeffrey Epstein-connected billionaires, a new answer was desperately sought.
Then came a range of meetings between Trump administration officials and regional leaderships, aimed at working out a strategy to achieve their desired goals in Gaza.
After the ceasefire was violated in March by the Israelis, leading to the mass murder of around 17,000 more Palestinians, a number of schemes were being hatched and proposals set forth.
The US backed and helped to create the now-defunct so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” (GHF) programme, which was used to privatise the distribution of aid in the territory amidst a total blockade of all food for three months.
Starving Palestinians, who were rapidly falling into famine, flocked to these GHF sites, where they were fired upon by US private military contractors and Israeli occupation forces, murdering more than 1000 civilians.
The ‘New York Declaration’ Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and France were busy putting together what would become the “New York Declaration” proposal for ending the war and bringing Western nations to recognise the State of Palestine at the UN.
Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, here came Trump’s so-called “peace plan” that was announced at the White House in October. This plan appeared at first to be calling for a total end to the war, a mutual prisoner exchange and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza in a phased approach.
From the outset, Trump’s “20-point plan” was vague and impractical. Israel immediately violated the ceasefire from the very first day and has murdered nearly 300 Palestinians since then. The first phase of the ceasefire deal was supposed to end quickly, ideally within five days, but the deal has stalled for over a month.
Throughout this time, it has become increasingly clear that the Israelis are not going to respect the “Yellow Line” separation zone and have violated the agreement through operating deeper into Gaza than they had originally agreed to.
The Israeli-occupied zone was supposed to be 53 percent of Gaza; it has turned out to be closer to 58 percent. Aid is also not entering at a sufficient rate, despite US and Israeli denials; this has been confirmed by leading rights groups and humanitarian organisations.
In the background, the US team dealing with the ceasefire deal that is headed by Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff has been juggling countless insidious proposals for the future of Gaza.
Even publicly stating that reconstruction will only take place in the Israeli-controlled portion of the territory, also floating the idea that aid points will be set up there in order to force the population out of the territory under de facto Hamas control. This has often been referred to as the “new Gaza plan”.
The disastrous GHF As this has all been in the works, including discussions about bringing back the disastrous GHF, the Israelis have been working alongside four ISIS-linked collaborator death squads that it controls and who operate behind the Yellow Line in Gaza.
No mechanisms have been put in place to punish the Israelis for their daily violations of the ceasefire, including the continuation of demolition operations against Gaza’s remaining civilian infrastructure. This appears to be directly in line with Joseph Pelzman’s plan earlier this year to “destroy the whole place”.
The UNSC resolution not only makes Donald Trump the effective leader of the new administrative force that will be imposed upon the Gaza Strip, but also greenlights what it calls its International Stabilisation Force. This ISF is explicitly stated to be a multinational military force that will be tasked with disarming Hamas and all Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip.
The US claims it will not be directly involved in the fighting with “boots on the ground”; it has already deployed hundreds of soldiers and has been reportedly building a military facility, which they deny is a base, but for all intents and purposes will be one.
Although it may not be American soldiers killing and dying while battling Palestinian resistance groups, they will be in charge of this force.
This is not a “UN peacekeeping force” and is not an equivalent to UNIFIL in southern Lebanon; it is there to carry out the task of completing Israel’s war goal of defeating the Palestinian resistance through force.
In other words, foreign soldiers will be sent from around the world to die for Israel and taxpayers from those nations will be footing the bill.
‘Self-determination’ reservation The only reason why Israel has reservations about this plan is because it included a statement claiming that if the Palestinian Authority (PA) — that does not control Gaza and is opposed by the majority of the Palestinian people — undergoes reforms that the West and Israel demand, then conditions “may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood”.
A keyword here is “may”, in other words, it is not binding and was simply added in to give corrupted Arab leaderships the excuse to vote yes.
Hamas and every other Palestinian political party, with the exception of the mainstream branch of Fatah that answers to Israel and the US, have opposed this UNSC resolution.
Hamas even called upon Algeria to vote against it; instead, the Algerian leadership praised Donald Trump and voted in favour. Typical of Arab and Muslim-majority regimes that don’t represent the will of their people, they all fell in line and bent over backwards to please Washington.
It won’t likely work As has been the story with every conspiracy hatched against the people of Gaza, this is again destined to fail. Not only will it fail, but it will likely backfire enormously and lead to desperate moves.
To begin with, the invasion force, or ISF, will be a military endeavour that will have to bring together tens of thousands of soldiers who speak different languages and have nothing in common, in order to somehow achieve victory where Israel failed.
It is a logistical nightmare to even think about.
How long would it take to deploy these soldiers? At the very least, it’s going to take months. Then, how long would this process take? Nobody has any clear answers here.
Also, what happens if Israel begins bombing again at any point, for example, if there is a clash that kills Israeli soldiers? What would these nations do if Israeli airstrikes killed their soldiers or put them in harm’s way?
Also, tens of thousands of soldiers may not cut it; if the goal is to destroy all the territory’s military infrastructure, they may need hundreds of thousands. Or if that isn’t an option, will they work alongside the Israeli military?
It is additionally clear that nobody knows where all the tunnels and fighters are; if Israel couldn’t find them, then how can anyone else?
After all, the US, UK, and various others have helped the Israelis with intelligence sharing and reconnaissance for more than two years to get these answers.
How do regimes justify this? Finally, when Arab, European, or Southeast Asian soldiers return to their nations in body bags, how do their regimes justify this? Will the president or prime minister of these nations have to stand up and tell their people . . . “sorry guys, your sons and daughters are now in coffins because Israel needed a military force capable of doing what they failed to do, so we had to help them complete their genocidal project”.
Also, how many Palestinian civilians are going to be slaughtered by these foreign invaders?
As for the plan to overthrow Hamas rule in Gaza, the people of the territory will not accept foreign invaders as their occupiers any more than they will accept Israelis. They are not going to accept ISIS-linked collaborators as any kind of security force either.
Already, the situation is chaotic inside Gaza, and that is while its own people, who are experienced and understand their conditions, are in control of managing security and some administrative issues; this includes both Hamas and others who are operating independently of it, but inside the territory under its de facto control.
Just as the Israeli military claimed it was going to occupy Gaza City, laying out countless plans to do this, to ethnically cleanse the territory and “crush Hamas”, the US has been coordinating alongside it throughout the entirety of the last two years. Every scheme has collapsed and ended in failure.
It has been nearly a month and a half, yet there are still no clear answers as to how this Trump “peace plan” is supposed to work and it is clear that the Israelis are coming up with new proposals on a daily basis.
There is no permanent mechanism for aid transfers, which the Israelis are blocking. There is no clear vision for governance.
How a US plan envisages Gaza being permanently split into two sections – a green zone and a red zone. Image: Guardian/IDF/X
‘Two Gazas’ plan incoherent The “two Gazas” plan is not even part of the ceasefire or Trump plan, yet it is being pursued in an incoherent way. The ISF makes no sense and appears as poorly planned as the GHF.
Hamas and the other Palestinian factions will not give up their weapons. There is no real plan for reconstruction. The Israelis are adamant that there will be no Palestinian State and won’t allow any independent Palestinian rule of Gaza, and the list of problems goes on and on.
What it really looks like here is that this entire ceasefire scheme is a stab in the dark attempt to achieve Israel’s goals while also giving its forces a break and redirecting their focus on other fronts, understanding that there is no clear solution to the Gaza question for now.
The United Nations has shown itself over the past two years to be nothing more than a platform for political theatre. It is incapable of punishing, preventing, or even stopping the crime of all crimes.
Now that international law has suffocated to death under the rubble of Gaza, next to the thousands of children who still lie underneath it, the future of this conflict will transform.
This UNSC vote demonstrates that there is no international law, no international community, and that the UN is simply a bunch of fancy offices, which are only allowed to work under the confines of gangster rule.
If the Palestinian resistance groups feel as if their backs are against the wall and an opportunity, such as another Israeli war on Lebanon, presents them the opportunity, then there is a high likelihood that a major military decision will be made.
In the event that this occurs, it will be this UNSC resolution that is in large part responsible.
When the suffering in Gaza finally ends, whether that is because Israel obliterates all of its regional opposition and exterminates countless other civilians in its way, or Israel is militarily shattered, the UN should be disbanded as was the League of Nations. It is a failed project just as that which preceded it.
Something new must take over from it.
Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specialising in Palestine. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle and it is republished with permission.
Regional student journalists at the University of the South Pacific have condemned the Samoan Prime Minister’s ban on the Samoa Observer newspaper, branding it as a “deliberate and systemic attempt to restrict public scrutiny”.
The Journalism Students’ Association (JSA) at USP said in a statement today it was “deeply concerned” about Samoan Prime Minister La’aulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt’s ban on the Samoa Observer from his press conferences and his directive that cabinet ministers avoid responding to the newspaper’s questions.
“The recently imposed suspension signals not merely a rebuke of one newspaper, but a more deliberate and systemic attempt to restrict robust public scrutiny,” the statement said.
“The JSA is especially concerned that these attacks are eroding youth confidence in the [journalism] profession.” Image: JSA logo
“It raises serious concerns about citizens’ right to information, as well as the erosion of transparency, accountability, and public trust.”
“We also note reports of physical confrontations involving journalists outside the Prime Minister’s residence, which are deeply troubling. This is an alarming trend and signals a reverse, if not decline in media rights and freedom of speech, unless it is dealt with immediately,” the JSA said.
“With its long-standing dedication to reporting on governance, human rights, and social accountability issues, the ban on the Samoa Observer strikes at the heart of public discourse and places journalists in a precarious position.
Not an isolated case “It risks undermining their ability to report freely and without the fear of reprisal.”
Sadly, said the JSA statement, this was not an isolated case.
“Earlier this year, the JAWS president Lagi Keresoma faced defamation charges under Samoa’s libel laws over an article about a former police officer’s appeal to the Head of State.
“Samoa’s steep decline in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index further highlights the ongoing challenges confronting Samoan media.”
JAWS’ recent statement highlighting government attempts to control press conferences through a proposed guide, further added to the growing pattern of restrictions on press freedom in Samoa.
“These recent incidents, coupled with the exclusion of the Samoa Observer, send a chilling warning to Samoan journalists and establish a dangerous precedent for media subservience at the highest levels,” said JSA.
“Journalists must be able to perform their work safely, without intimidation or assault, as they carry out their responsibilities to the public. These incidents raise serious questions about the treatment of media professionals and respect for journalistic work.
“As a journalism student association with many of our journalists and alumni working in the region, we are committed to empowering the next generation of journalists.
“The JSA is especially concerned that these attacks are eroding youth confidence in the profession.
“We believe strongly in defending a space where young people can enter a field that is critical to democratic accountability, public oversight, and civic engagement.”
The Victorian government has announced it will send social workers to 20 of the state’s schools to try to reduce violent youth crime.
It will spend A$5.6 million on “targeted” schools next year. The aim is to “intervene early in the lives of children who are heading down the wrong path […] drifting towards violence, crime and anti-social behaviour”.
This is a positive idea, but it requires careful implementation. And will need support from police, teachers and health professionals to work.
What has been announced?
The government says the social workers – called “early intervention officers” – would work within schools and help teachers, principals, wellbeing coordinators and school nurses. They would:
identify children who are most at risk of drifting towards anti-social behaviour and violent crime
keep a constant eye on troubled children, supporting them through a case management approach
focus on improving their school attendance and sense of belonging, and their relationships with peers
support schools in monitoring the status and movements of students who are suspended.
The social workers will not work with what the government terms “the worst youth offenders”. They will target children most likely to become youth offenders if there’s no intervention.
In support of the social workers plan, the state government reported new data from Victoria’s Council on Bail, Rehabilitation and Accountability which shows 70% of Victoria’s worst alleged youth offenders were chronically absent from school before they turned to crime. Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny said the data shows
disengagement from school to be a big factor pushing children, particularly those with limited support at home, down a pathway towards violent crime.
This is supported by other studies, which emphasise the importance of education in crime prevention.
The social workers announcement also follows more punitive recent policies aimed at reducing violent crime in Victoria. This includes adult sentences for young people committing violent crimes, such as home invasions. This approach has been criticised by legal experts and advocates as unlikely to reduce offending.
Victoria already has social workers in schools as part of “student support services”. They work with kids, families and teachers to address barriers to learning and wellbeing.
But they are area-based. They might be spread across a number of schools so their capacity to be on the ground with teachers can be limited.
On the face of it, Wednesday’s announcement is a good idea. We can see this as a positive, proactive attempt to help children’s wellbeing and socialisation. We know young people need to have enough education to be employable and included in our society.
How could children be identified?
Teachers are generally able to identify children who are at risk.
These will be children who are not regularly coming to school (provided there is no illness or other reason invovled), who are chronically late, tired, hungry, not producing homework and not engaged in the classroom. Perhaps they are also disruptive and getting into fights.
What is missing?
The Victorian government says it is borrowing from a Scottish model, which set up a “Violence Reduction Unit” in Glasgow in 2005.
However there are a couple of key differences with the Scottish system. The first is, Scotland is dealing with children who had already been referred to the justice system for offending behaviour. It is trying to divert children from prosecution.
So, working with social workers is required for Scottish children and their families. If they did not, they faced sanctions, such as supervision measures. In extreme circumstances, the child might be placed in alternative care, if the parents lacked capacity to care for their child.
At this stage, the Victorian model does not talk about what it expects from children. If it’s all voluntary, there’s no compulsion on the part of the child or family to really engage with it.
Are we looking at the root causes?
The Scottish system also sees social workers as part of a broader team of health professionals, teachers and police, all of whom had expertise with children and youth justice. It takes a broad perspective – to understand the root causes of a child’s behaviour and needs.
This is why we should be careful not to just plonk social workers into schools with no further supports.
Perhaps there are issues around poverty, homelessness, family dysfunction, mental health or learning disabilities that make it difficult – or impossible – for a child to attend school. Perhaps a child has low literacy levels or needs speech or hearing support.
We have to widen our scope beyond school attendance to why a child isn’t able to engage with school.
Don’t forget role models
Research also tells us children need positive role models in their lives. They need to be able to see what going to school could look like, and what that might mean for their lives.
As well as positive peer relationships, they need to have adults closely involved who can mentor the child and show them there are other ways to behave than being dysfunctional or disruptive.
Ultimately it’s about ensuring children and young people feel like they are part of the community.
Rosemary Sheehan receives funding from Australian Research Council.
New data show wages have risen by a bit more than inflation, but overall real wages are still languishing near 2011 levels.
Over the year to September, wages rose 3.4% in seasonally adjusted terms. That’s according to the latest wage price index data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), released on Wednesday.
That’s slightly more than the rate of inflation over the same period – 3.2% – meaning real wages are up by 0.2% over the year to September.
For the Reserve Bank of Australia, it means an interest rate cut in the near term remains unlikely. However, overall wages growth is nowhere near enough to make up for the huge decline in real wages over the past five years.
What is the wage price index?
The wage price index measures the average change in Australian wages and salaries every quarter. To do this, it tracks a fixed “basket” of jobs across a wide range of industries in both the public and private sector.
It doesn’t include bonuses, and it doesn’t include wage growth that comes about from people getting promoted, switching to better-paid occupations, or moving to other regions.
To illustrate, imagine a world where half of all workers were labourers and the other half were managers.
If the labourers’ hourly wage increased from $30 to $33 (a 10% increase), and the managers’ hourly wage increased from $80 to $84 (a 5% increase), the wage price index would increase by 7.5%. That is the average of 5% and 10%.
It’s an important index, but it doesn’t tell us everything. For example, it doesn’t give us the full story on wage growth, because many people grow their incomes by moving to better-paid jobs or occupations.
In our example, if an individual labourer became a manager, their wage would increase from $30 to $84 – an obvious improvement. But this change is not counted in the index.
It doesn’t tell the full story
The wage price index doesn’t give us the full story on labour costs either.
The Reserve Bank is tasked with setting interest rates to keep annual consumer inflation in a target range of 2–3%, as measured by the consumer price index.
Labour costs aren’t directly included in the consumer price index. But the Reserve Bank still keeps a close eye on wage growth, because higher wages can lead to higher costs for employers and create inflation.
But productivity growth – the continual improvement in our ability to produce more output from the same inputs – reduces labour costs relative to the amount of income a business can generate.
The chart below shows over most of the past three decades, labour costs have fallen, because productivity growth has been stronger than wage growth. The uptick in labour costs since 2023 shows wage growth has been stronger than productivity growth for the past two years.
Have we really had a pay rise?
It feels good to get a pay rise, and governments and employers enjoy the optics.
A joint statement from Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth noted annual real wages have now grown for eight quarters in a row:
the longest period of consecutive annual real wage growth in almost a decade.
But how healthy are Australians’ earnings really?
When wages grow faster than consumer prices, wage earners are able to get more bang for their buck. Until June 2020, this was the case over most of the past few decades.
But when consumer prices grow faster than wages, even if wages are rising, consumer purchasing power goes backwards. This has been the case from mid-2020 until very recently.
As the above chart shows, after accounting for inflation, Australians’ wages have roughly the same purchasing power now as they did back in 2011 – when the iPhone 4 was state-of-the-art and a Donald Trump presidency was a mere thought bubble.
The post-COVID decline in real wages is by far the largest in recent history, but it’s not the only one. In 2000, when the goods and services tax (GST) was introduced in Australia, a jump of almost 4% in the CPI led to a steep dip in real wages, which took about four years to unwind.
A lost decade
A horror stretch starting in 2020 saw an entire decade of real wage growth reversed in just three years. Today’s result consolidates a cautious return to real wages growth.
We will need to wait until the gross domestic product (GDP) figures come out next month to see whether the growth is supported by productivity gains.
While workers will welcome growth in real wages, we must be careful about what we wish for. When wage growth is not supported by productivity growth, employers will often reduce costs by laying off workers.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is currently 4.3%, a low level historically, but it is trending upwards. Ongoing modest wage growth and low unemployment will help workers win back the lost decade.
Janine Dixon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
A Queenstown high school volleyball team is recovering from a crash last night that left a dozen people injured in Invercargill.
All 12 patients were taken to Southland Hospital as a result of the three-vehicle crash at the intersection of Yarrow and Isabella Streets just after 8pm on Tuesday night.
One person was seriously hurt, one person suffered moderate injuries and 10 others were treated for minor injuries.
Wakatipu High School confirmed that 10 players in one of its boy’s volleyball teams and a coach were in a van involved in the crash, as part of their trip to Volleyball New Zealand’s South Island junior championships.
Principal Oded Nathan said the crash happened near Stadium Southland, where the boys had just finished their games for the evening.
“They’re broadly well, obviously a bit shaken and so we’ve been working with students and families, and students have returned back to Queenstown,” he said.
“Whilst all 11 went to hospital that was primarily for precautionary reasons. Nine of them were released very quickly, one had I believe a broken thumb and the other one had some glass that needed to be removed so those two stayed in hospital for a little bit longer.”
On the Spot Yarrow Street owner Visha Patel said he was working in the shop when the crash happened at the intersection outside.
“I heard a big noise. The van flipped over to another car and there were around 10 kids inside,” he said.
“They were like screaming because the whole van flipped over and they were inside.”
The children, who he estimated to be aged about 12 to 13 years-old, were trapped, he said.
“We tried to get them out. I just ran from my shop and tried to open the door. The customers, they came and tried to help me out to pull the van up but we weren’t able to because there were many kids inside and all the doors were locked and everything,” he said.
Patel said emergency services helped the shaken children out of the van.
“They were very quick over here, that’s a good thing. The police were here to clear up everything last night because they were investigating, taking photographs of the scene.”
Patel said the children stayed at his store to keep warm before an ambulance took them to hospital.
Fire and Emergency said three crews were sent to the scene and helped everyone out of the vehicles.
Police said officers were continuing to investigate the crash on Wednesday.
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The government is halting new prescriptions of puberty blockers for young people with gender dysphoria, saying “a precautionary approach” is needed while evidence remains uncertain.
In a statement published on Wednesday afternoon, Health Minister Simeon Brown said Cabinet had agreed to the new settings until the outcome of a major clinical trial in the United Kingdom, expected in 2031.
The drugs – known as gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues – would remain available for people already using them for gender dysphoria, as well as for medical conditions such as early-onset puberty, endometriosis, and prostate cancer.
Brown said the new rules – taking effect on 19 December – would give families confidence that any treatment was “clinically sound and in the best interests of the young person”.
“These changes are about ensuring treatments are safe and carefully managed, while maintaining access to care for those who need it.”
Existing youth gender services would stay in place, with information brought together into one national online hub, Brown said.
In a post on social media website X, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said his party was the only one to campaign on stopping the use of puberty blockers in children.
“It is commonsense to put a pause on these unproven and potentially damaging drugs for children until we assess the results of the clinical trials in the UK once it’s completed.”
The ACT party’s children’s spokesperson Karen Chhour also issued a statement, declaring a victory for science, evidence, and the safety of children.
“I believe young people should be supported to love themselves, not change themselves with experimental medication.”
Green Party MP Ricardo Menéndez March told RNZ the government was “buying into imported culture wars” and targeting trans people on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance.
“We know from queer people that gender affirming healthcare can be life-saving,” he said. “The government should focus on addressing the core issues that our health system faces… rather than waging culture wars on trans people.”
The coalition’s move mirrors a major shift in the UK following the Cass Review – a four-year investigation commissioned by the National Health Service (NHS).
That review, spearheaded by paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, concluded that the evidence base for gender-affirming medicine was “remarkably weak”, with study results misrepresented by people on all sides of the debate.
Cass also recommended a formal clinical trial to properly test whether puberty blockers, which delay the onset of puberty by suppressing oestrogen and testosterone, were safe and effective for young people. That trial was due to run until 2031.
In response, the NHS stopped routine access to puberty blockers for new patients. Other countries, including Sweden, Finland and Norway, had already tightened access and guidelines.
The Cass Review split opinion among clinicians and academics worldwide. While some endorsed the call of higher evidence standards, others criticised the report’s methodology and warned it downplayed the risk of denying treatment to young people.
At the time, the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa (PATHA) criticised the review as irrelevant to New Zealand and said it ignored the global medical consensus.
“The final Cass Review did not include trans or non-binary experts or clinicians experienced in providing gender affirming care in its decision-making, conclusions, or findings,” PATHA president Jennifer Shields said.
“Instead, a number of people involved in the review and the advisory group previously advocated for bans on gender affirming care in the United States, and have promoted non-affirming ‘gender exploratory therapy’, which is considered a conversion practice.”
Youth health specialist Dame Sue Bagshaw also said she believed puberty blockers were safe and reversible and warned against any “moral panic”.
However, public health expert and Otago University emeritus professor Charlotte Paul said the British approach should give New Zealand clinicians “pause for thought”, saying some had abandoned “normal standards of informed consent for children”.
New Zealand’s Health Ministry last year also released a report finding “a lack of high-quality evidence” on the benefits or risks of puberty blockers for gender dysphoria.
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The prevalence for daily smoking had dropped just a fraction from 6.9 to 6.8 percent.
Daily smoking numbers have plateaued at 6.8 percent as the country looks down the barrel of its Smokefree 2025 goal.
In the year to July 2025, the latest New Zealand Health Survey showed the prevalence for daily smoking had dropped just a fraction from 6.9 to 6.8 percent, while the prevalence of daily vaping had increased slightly from 11.1 percent last year to 11.7 percent this year.
The estimated number of daily vapers this year was 509,000 in 2024/25, up from 33,000 in 2015/16.
Vaping was highest in the 18 to 24 age-group, with more than one in four vaping every day.
Meanwhile, the estimated number of daily smokers has nearly halved since 2011/12, decreasing from 572,000 to 294,000.
Prevalence of daily smoking and daily vaping, total population aged 15 years and over, 2011/12 to 2024/25. Shaded area indicates 95 percent confidence interval.Health NZ
Has Smokefree 2025 gone up in smoke?
Vape Free Kids said the data shows New Zealand has failed to achieve the Smokefree 2025 goal, falling far short of the estimated 82,000 people needed to quit smoking in the last year to achieve the goal.
But Associate Health Minister Casey Costello and Action on Smoking and Health group (ASH) say that’s not the case.
Costello said the data is only to the end of June 2025, so the entirety of the year’s data won’t be known until the next survey.
Ruth Bonita, an Emeritus Professor of Public Health and ASH spokesperson, said she believes it is possible New Zealand could reach the under 5 percent goal of Smokefree 2025 by next year.
Costello and Bonita also both noted that under 25s were already a “smoke-free generation” with smoking rates of around 3 percent.
“This is a real success story,” Bonita said.
Small decrease a ‘predictable pattern’, focus on getting older long term smokers to quit
Bonita said the data shows the country is on the right track, and it’s to be expected that smoking rates are no longer declining rapidly.
“As prevalence gets lower and lower [it’s] harder to make a bigger impact on it.”
Costello said the data very clearly shows the 45 to 64 age group is the demographic of long term addicted smokers that more still needs to be done to reach.
“The progress New Zealand has made means that those who currently smoke cigarettes are mostly older, long-term smokers and since the start of the Smokefree work, they have been the most difficult group to get to quit,” she said.
“All of the tools, supports and approaches that have worked so well over the last few years are still in place. We need to build on these and target the key populations – older smokers and especially Māori and Pacific peoples. Māori and Pacifica smoking rates have fallen significantly over the last five years, but this trend has to continue.”
She said the Government’s approach was to take practical steps to provide smokers the tools to quit and stay quit.
“I want to ensure we are making the best use of the resources in this area, including getting people to engage with quit smoking providers and I’m looking at further regulatory change to ensure we have a regime that reflects the harm of products and has appropriate controls on the market.”
Concern about young people vaping
Vape Free Kids are concerned about youth vaping rates.
The group said the youth vaping rate has increased for 15 to 17 year olds from 10.3 percent to 13.6 percent.
They said this means an additional 4000 young people are living with a daily vaping addiction.
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Moeaia Tuai is on trial accused of controlling two young people, keeping their passports and pay, sexual violation and assault.RNZ / Gill Bonnett
The jury in an Auckland slavery trial has been told they have to decide whether a man treated two young people as if they were his property.
Moeaia Tuai, 63, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of dealing in slaves, two rapes and assaults, and other sexual offences.
Justice Wilkinson-Smith, summing up the case, said the prosecution say Mr Tuai’s actions were the ‘very definition of slavery’, in exercising rights of ownership over the complainants.
“It can include conduct such as restricting freedom of movement – where a person can go, restricting freedom of association – who they can spend time with, restricting freedom of communication – who they can contact and talk to, using actual or threatened violence for breach of rules, retaining income and denying access to money, threatening consequences such as deportation to ensure compliance, restricting access to education to maintain control.
“All of these things can be used to control a person in a way that is tantamount to possession.”
The jury had to decide whether that happened, she said.
She said most prosecutions in New Zealand courts could only be for offending which happened here.
“Slavery is different. It captures alleged offending both in and out of New Zealand. So, the charge of slavery relating to both [complainants] covers the time period and the events that are alleged to have occurred in Australia as well as in New Zealand.”
The Crown alleges Tuai kept their passports, bank cards and wages, forcing one to take out a loan, and threatening both with deportation if they spoke out.
Tuai’s lawyer Tua Saseve told the jury at the High Court at Auckland that the defendant did not take unreasonable or excessive expenses from the young people’s wages, and safeguarded their bank cards and passports.
He was also not a ‘puppetmaster’ who forced the female complainant to make a previous, false allegation of rape against another man.
The jury is now considering its verdicts.
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A wandering dog in Moerewa in the Far North.RNZ / Peter de Graaf
Northland’s roaming dog epidemic has turned a Whangārei grandmother into a prisoner in her own home.
Tracy Clarke says she loves walking, but has not ventured even to the corner of her street in three years, after a series of close calls with rushing dogs.
If it was not for a courier driver who saved her during one particularly frightening incident, she was convinced she would not be alive today.
“I just walked around the corner of the street. I really had nowhere to go. This dog just came flying out a couple of metres in front of me, it was heading straight for me, and I just froze,” she said.
“Then I heard a lady scream at me, and I literally dived into her van, slammed the door shut, and this dog’s mouth was up at the window.”
Clarke’s walking days ended there and then.
Dogs were constantly roaming her neighbourhood, she said.
She praised the efforts of the council’s animal control officers, but said they were hamstrung by ineffective and outdated laws.
She knew of one especially aggressive dog that had been wandering her street for more than three years – but every time it was picked up, the council was required to give it back.
Clarke has now organised a petition, calling on Parliament to tackle the crisis.
“People have had enough of the situation. They want to see the government step up and rectify it, sort it out, and rewrite laws that were actually written way back in the 1980s.”
A pack of roaming sharpei-cross dogs in bush near Paihia in the Bay of Islands.RNZ / Peter de Graaf
New measures could include mandatory desexing, a three-strike rule for owners of roaming dogs, fence height requirements and steeper fines for irresponsible owners.
Her petition did not target responsible owners – she said it could actually benefit them.
Responsible dog owners currently carried much of the cost – collected through registration fees – of fixing the problems created by bad owners.
Clarke said she had received high-powered backing in recent days with the SPCA urging its supporters to sign the petition.
The SPCA said roaming dogs were a serious risk to animal welfare and public safety.
“Dogs that roam are at risk of being injured or killed in traffic, becoming involved in dog attacks, transmitting disease, wildlife predation, fouling and becoming a community nuisance. Many dogs that roam are often not desexed, contributing to unwanted litters.”
Fixing those problems required a combination of education, enforcement and legislative reform, the SPCA said.
Further north, Bay of Islands dog advocate Leonie Exel agreed the situation was “out of hand”.
“As the economy worsens and people get poorer, it’s getting worse because people don’t have the money to fence, they don’t have the money to feed their dogs properly. People are exhausted so they let their dogs wander. All these factors come into play, it’s a very complicated issue,” she said.
A dog roams the streets in Kaikohe.RNZ / Peter de Graaf
Exel said the current law did not serve communities well, and led to inconsistencies in the ways councils around the country approached the roaming dog problem.
She said mandatory desexing – except for dogs belonging to registered breeders – would help, but the “absolute key” to changing owners’ behaviour was community education about how to care for dogs and be safe around them.
“A happy dog is not often a dangerous dog … We need to have lots of loved dogs, not wandering on the streets killing cats or getting into people’s rubbish and driving them mad, or biting people, or making people afraid to walk their own dog. Until we do community education, de-sexing, and have really effective animal control, we’ll keep having the same problem.”
Far North Mayor Moko Tepania said his council would explore its options when the dog control bylaw came up for renewal next year.
The problem was huge, he said.
“In the Far North, we have around 8000 dogs registered annually and 12,000 dogs on record. But the probable reality is that we’ve got more than 20,000 to 30,000 dogs across the district,” he said.
Tepania agreed the current law needed to change.
He supported a push by Auckland Council for greater powers to de-sex roaming dogs when they were picked up, so they did not carry on breeding once they were returned to their owners.
New figures from ACC showed the dog problem was also hitting New Zealanders in the back pocket.
In the year to the end of October, dog-related ACC claims totalled more than $15.6 million, on track to break 2024’s record of $18.5m for the full year.
That was a roughly 80 percent increase from the total of $10.6m five years ago.
In Northland alone the cost was $1.1m for the year to the end of October, more than double the 2020 figure of $509,000.
The number of dog-related injury claims to the end of October was just under 12,000, with 750 of those in Northland.
A pack of roaming sharpei-cross dogs in bush near Paihia in the Bay of Islands.RNZ / Peter de Graaf
Tracy Clarke said politicians had allowed the problem to escalate for too long.
“All I want is to be able to walk down to the dairy to get my milk, or walk up the road to wait for the bus. In three years I haven’t walked to the corner, which is probably about 100 footsteps away.”
However, Clarke said the petition was not just for herself.
It was for everyone who had been affected by poorly cared-for dogs, or those who had lost their lives, such as Elizabeth “Effie” Whittaker in Moerewa in 2023 and Neville Thompson in Panguru in 2022.
“This is about the Nevilles from Panguru. It’s about the people whose animals have been killed, it’s about the kid down at the park you see on the news who’s just suffered a dog bite. It’s about the old lady who’s too scared to take her little chihuahua for a walk. All those scenarios we’re just seeing way too many of,” she said.
Local Government Minister Simon Watts said he understood and shared community concerns about roaming dogs.
Watts said he and Andrew Hoggard, the minister responsible for animal welfare, had asked the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) to “explore non-regulatory approaches to support better dog control”.
That included improving the quality and consistency of dog-related data, he said.
The DIA told a Parliamentary Select Committee last month that the Dog Control Act was “increasingly not fit-for-purpose” but the government had no plans to amend it at this time.
Farmers chasing the high dairy prices seen last season are partly behind the current oversupply now putting them under pressure, according to an economist.
The average price fell three percent to US$3678 a tonne at last night’s global dairy trade auction – the 7th consecutive drop and a new 15-month low.
However, ASB senior economist Chris Tennent-Brown said the price fall was not unexpected.
He said there were early signals that milk production would be very strong this season.
“That price weakness has been something we’ve had in our forecasts since May, when we started making predictions for the season ahead,” he said.
“We came in with what seemed like a conservative forecast there of 9.75 when Fonterra had a starting forecast of $10 but with a really wide range.
“Let’s face it, even if it was 9.50, if it wasn’t for the fact that we’d just had a milk price north of $10, we’d be thinking this is fantastic news.”
Tennent-Brown said they’d stick with their forecast price for now, though the weather might impact supply.
He said this was the case when last year’s summer drought saw production taper off over the final months of the season, helping farmers get to a record 10-dollar-per kilo of milk solids payout.
“It’s a classic response that prices are going to be good. You’re going to be motivated to do what it takes to keep production high as an individual farmer but that adds up to the sort of production growth we’ve seen.
“From a farmer’s perspective, you want to make as much milk as you can and capture the good prices so it’s not like anyone will be praying for a drought so prices can pick up.
“But if conditions remain favourable, I think we’ll see good production numbers and in turn, it’s hard to see prices really turning around and heading north.”
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A collective of indigenous chefs are using WIPCE as a springboard for cultural connection through kai.
The group includes Māori chefs Kārena and Kasey Bird, Joe McLeod and Kia Kanuta, as well as Hawaiian Kealoha Domingo, Native American Crystal Wahpepah and Samoan Henry Onesemo.
Nearly 4000 delegates from indigenous nations around the world have descended on Auckland for the education conference held once every three years.
Chef Joe McLeod told RNZ the idea to collaborate was born at a food festival in Hawai’i where the Hawaiian chefs suggested showcasing their kai together at WIPCE.
“So, it’s a partnership between New Zealand, Hawai’i, Canada, Australia, Samoa, Tonga… There’s only a handful of us for now, so we’re kick-starting this group to hopefully expand it out over time as we progress moving forward. But the whole purpose of the kaupapa is to show off the best of our cultural food. Our culinary cultural identity.”
The events the collective is running at WIPCE include an exclusive dinner where international chefs were paired with Māori chefs to create dishes like Kangaroo Laab, roasted turkey and Hapuka Hinu-kōhue.
The dinner was sold out but McLeod said in “typical Māori” fashion he added an extra four seats for his whānau.
It hasn’t all gone to plan as well with some of the suitcases not making it on to the plane, he said.
“So, it’s been a real dog’s breakfast of a nightmare trying to sort it out. So, I don’t think we’re going to get the food that’s part of their luggage that was supposed to come over yesterday with our guests coming over from Hawaii.”
McLeod said meeting for WIPCE was the first time the collective had all met each other, so he thanked the conference for kick starting the journey.
It’s just the start of the initiative and he is hopeful it will continue to grow.
“I’ve been in the industry almost 56 years, so this is not new to me, but to our young ones coming through, oh mate, it’s stunning to watch them get all excited like how I used to 50 years ago. But my role now is mainly kaumātua rangatira, leader, and someone who can open a lot of doors for the next generation.”
McLeod said that is his gift to the next generation of Māori chefs, to open doors for them once they decide where their vision lies.
Members of the Indigenous Chef’s Collective foraging for kai Māori at Velskov native forest farm.RNZ/Nick Monro
Hawaiian Chef Kealoha Domingo told RNZ it’s “been nothing short of amazing” to connect with the other chefs.
Domingo said he is fortunate to have fallen into the role of reconnecting indigenous people in Hawai’i with their traditional foods.
“It’s motivating me to continue the work and to connect with other people who are doing the same, to just build the bonds and build the strength and, you know, increase everything exponentially as the network grows.”
The Chefs also had the chance to visit Velskov native forest farm in the Waitākere Ranges, ostensibly to relax amongst the hustle of WIPCE but also a chance for the international chefs to forage for native plants.
Members of the Indigenous Chef’s Collective foraging for kai Māori at Velskov native forest farm.RNZ/Nick Monro
Head of Tourism at Tātaki Auckland Unlimited Karen Thompson-Smith said Velskov is a fantastic new venture that allows tourists to learn a little bit more about kai Māori.
It’s fantastic to see indigenous chefs from around the world visit Auckland and be able to utilise local produce, she said.
“Auckland is a melting pot. We have so many different cultures that make up Auckland. So we’ve got this incredible, different cuisine that’s been built on the back of our indigenous people being the Māori people and how they prepare their food.
“There’s this real cross-pollination coming through. And what we’re seeing in our food scene here in Auckland is just this development of different food offerings.”
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Francis DeVries (21) of New Zealand fights for control against Leonardo Campana (16) of Ecuador in the first half of the International Friendly at Sports Illustrated Stadium.Ira L Black
The All Whites have ended the year with a 2-0 loss against Ecuador in New Jersey.
In the first ever game between these two sides the world no.23 South Americans scored a rare goal four minutes into the second half at Sports Illustrated Stadium.
Nilson Angulo was credited with the opening goal that snuck in past goalkeeper Max Crocombe’s post off an assist from Gonzalo Plata. It was Angulo’s first goal for his country.
Leonardo Campana scored the second seven minutes before full-time, also his first for Ecuador.
Ecuador have now only scored five goals in their last 15 games will also keeping yet another clean sheet. This victory stretched Ecuador’s unbeaten run to 15 games.
Crocombe’s efforts between the posts stopped Ecuador from capitalising on even more of their chances.
Meanwhile, the New Zealanders were unable to truly test the opposition keeper.
All Whites coach Darren Bazeley made changes to the starting side for the second game of the international window with Tyler Bindon replacing Michael Boxall in defence, Alex Rufer and Ben Old started in the midfield for Joe Bell and Matthew Garbett with Ben Waine also getting his chance up front.
Marko Stamenic skippered the side with Boxall on the bench and regular captain Chris Wood missing the All Whites’ games this month.
New Zealand defender Bill Tuiloma was forced from the field with a leg injury just before half-time with Storm Roux called on as the early replacement.
The All Whites end the calendar year with three wins, six losses and a draw.
On 6 December the Football World Cup draw will be held in Washington DC and the All Whites will find out who they will play, and where, at next year’s tournament co-hosted by United States, Canada and Mexico.
The All Whites have two more international windows that they could play in next year, in March and early June, before the world cup kicks off on 11 June.
Read how the game unfolded here
All Whites: Max Crocombe, Kees Sims, Nik Tzanev, Tyler Bindon, Michael Boxall, Francis de Vries, James McGarry, Storm Roux, Tommy Smith, George Stanger, Finn Surman, Bill Tuiloma, Joe Bell, Matt Garbett, Ben Old, Owen Parker-Price, Alex Rufer, Sarpreet Singh, Marko Stamenić, Kosta Barbarouses, Andre de Jong, Eli Just, Jesse Randall, Ben Waine.
Ecuador: Hernan Galindez, Moises Ramirez, Cristhian Loor, Angelo Preciado, Piero Hincapie, Felix Torres, Willian Pacho, Cristian Ramirez, Joel Ordonez, Jhoanner Chavez, Leonardo Realpe, Moises Caicedo, Alan Franco, Gonzalo Plata, Kendry Paez, Alan Minda, John Yeboah, Pedro Vite, Jordy Alcivar, Yaimar Medina, Denil Castillo, Patrik Mercado, Enner Valencia, Kevin Rodriguez, Leonardo Campana, Nilson Angulo, John Mercado, Jeremy Arevalo.
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A West Auckland School has confirmed a small number of coloured sand samples tested for asbestos have come back positive.
Several coloured play sand products have been recalled after tests found a naturally occurring asbestos.
About 40 schools and early childcare centres have closed, or planned to, because of the contamination fears.
The product has been sold in both New Zealand and Australia and is subject to multiple safety recalls.
Matipo School in Te Atatu Peninsula originally told parents they did not have any of the recalled sand products, but was testing other types of sand used for art activities as a precaution.
The school set out steps including independent testing, isolating and temporarily closing affected class rooms, and ensuring there was no access to the sand until it was confirmed safe.
However, Principal Jonnie Black wrote to members of the school community to say a small number of samples tested had returned positive results.
“I want to reassure our community that there is no immediate risk, and we are following all recommended Ministry of Education and health and safety procedures,” he said.
“Affected classrooms have been temporarily relocated while we complete air-quality testing and arrange professional decontamination of those spaces.”
Students were safe, well supervised and settled in alternative learning areas, he said.
Black said they had asked the families of specific classes to seal and return any sand-based artwork, so it could be disposed of safely and appropriately.
“This step is part of the national precautionary process to ensure full compliance with safety guidelines.”
The school understood how unsettling the situation was, Black said.
“Please be assured that the safety and wellbeing of our tamariki and staff remains our highest priority.”
Meanwhile, in Nelson, Enner Glynn School principal John O’Regan told Checkpoint they had to close four classrooms due to the potentially contaminated sand. The children have been sharing classrooms or moved to another space such as the library.
“It’s certainly been disruptive,” O’Regan said.
He said the tests for three of the classrooms have come back negative, while they are still awaiting the results of the fourth classroom.
However, O’Regan said despite having negative results back, they are advised not to send children back into those spaces.
“We are still waiting to have the all clear to open those classes.”
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Awni Etaywe, Lecturer in Linguistics | Forensic Linguist Analysing Cyber Terrorism, Threatening Communications and Incitement | Media Researcher Investigating How Language Shapes Peace, Compassion and Empathy, Charles Darwin University
Words are powerful tools. Violent extremists know this well, often choosing their phrasing extremely carefully to build loyalty among their followers. When wielded just so, they can do enormous harm.
Because their words are chosen so deliberately, researchers can look for patterns, trends and red flags. What exactly do extremists say that builds followings, incites hatred and violence, and can ultimately lead to deadly attacks?
Our research looking at the rhetoric of the extremists behind some of recent history’s worst terror attacks sheds light on this question. We’ve identified six key tactics terrorists use to mobilise people behind their cause.
By being able to spot the tactics, we can dismantle the language and protect people and communities from radicalisation.
Divide and conquer
In previous work, we examined the language of far-right incitement in the Christchurch shooter’s 87-page manifesto.
Our latest work analysed jihadist texts. These included al-Qaeda’s former leader Osama bin Laden’s speeches after September 11, and Islamic State’s former leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s statements in the organisation’s magazine.
We used linguistic analysis to focus on how language was used strategically to both reduce and accentuate cultural differences. We examined how inciters use words to create bonds and obligations to mobilise violence.
We found two main types of incitement messages: those that strengthen connections in the group to build a shared purpose, and those that separate the group from outsiders and paint others as enemies.
This kind of messaging can divide society and make people strongly identify with the group. As a result, following the group’s rules – even extreme actions – can feel like proof someone truly belongs and is loyal.
But in violent extremism, commands alone are often insufficient to inspire violence or mobilise support. So how do extremists use these underlying strategies to get people to act?
6 rhetorical tactics
Once violence has been established as a moral duty by isolating the group, there are six key techniques extremists deploy.
1. Weaponise difference
Extremists don’t just label outsiders as different. They frame them as immoral and dangerous. “Us” versus “them” becomes the backdrop for later calls to action.
Inciters link loyalty and honour to threats from outsiders. Osama bin Laden urged violence against pro-US Arab governments, calling them “traitor and collaborator governments […] created to annihilate Jihad”.
The Christchurch shooter, Brenton Tarrant, attacked nongovernmental organisations supporting immigrants, calling them “traitors”. He called immigrants “anti-white scum” and compared them to a “nest of vipers” that must be destroyed.
Dehumanising outsiders strengthens group bonds and can have deadly consequences.
2. Evoking heroes and icons
Extremists use famous people, places or events to make their audience feel part of a bigger story. Names like “Saladin” or places like “Hagia Sophia” and “Londinium” link followers to icons or past struggles, making them feel like defenders or avengers.
Tarrant said:
this Pakistani Muslim invader now sits as representative for the people of London. Londinium, the very heart of the British Isles. What better sign of the white rebirth than the removal of this invader?
3. Repurposing religious texts
Extremists use not religion itself, but twisted and decontextualised versions of religious texts to justify violence.
Quoting God or religious figures makes the message seem legitimate and frames violence as a moral or spiritual duty. This strengthens followers’ loyalty and belief that violent acts serve “our” shared values.
Tarrant quoted Pope Urban II of the first Crusade, while Al-Baghdadi misquoted Allah.
4. Tailored grievances and inflammatory language
Inciters tailor grievances before audiences voice them. Words like “humiliation”, “injustice” or “cultural loss” help bind followers to a common cause.
Osama bin Laden spoke of Muslims living in “oppression” and “contempt”. While the Christchurch shooter warned of “paedophile politicians” and that immigration would “destroy our communities”.
Naming and labelling unites followers and divides outsiders.
5. Metaphors and messages of kinship
Osama bin Laden hailed his audience through metaphor as “soldiers of Allah”, while describing enemies “under the banner of the cross”. Such contrasts intensify loyalty and hostility at once.
On the other hand, kinship terms pull people in. Words like “brothers”, “sisters”, “we” and “our” make strangers feel like family. Calling followers “our Muslim brothers” turns political duty into a personal, moral duty — like protecting family.
Osama bin Laden used familial terms to build loyalty among followers. Maher Attar/Getty
Tarrant did this too. His line “why should you have peace when your other brothers in Europe face certain war?” links violence to family safety and future generations.
By contrast, “they” and “them” mark outsiders as non-kin. That sharp us versus them grammar strips empathy and makes exclusion or harm easier to justify.
6. Coercion into violent actions
In addition to commands, recommendations, or warnings that explicitly instruct someone to do something, there’s also coercion. It makes violence feel like care for the group.
Extremists do this by framing violence as duty. Phrases like “it is permissible” in jihadist texts shift violence from taboo to obligation, as in “it is permissible to take away their property and spill their blood”.
They also frame the outgroup as an existential threat. This justifies preemptive violence as self-defence or necessity, as in Tarrant’s “mass immigration will disenfranchise us, subvert our nations, destroy our communities, destroy our ethnic binds […]”.
What can be done with this research?
Extremist rhetoric does not just exist online. It echoes in protests, forums and political debates.
Countering extremism means understanding its tactics. Policymakers, educators and community leaders can help by identifying and deconstructing these tactics if they encounter them.
Teaching critical literacy is also key so communities can spot and resist coercion.
We can also create counter-messages that affirm belonging without fuelling polarisation.
Extremist language hijacks shared values, turning them into obligations to hate and harm. Stopping violence before it starts means dismantling this language through education, transparency and proactive communication.
Awni Etaywe is affiliated with Charles Darwin University, Australia – a Lecturer in Linguistics and a researcher specialising in forensic linguistics, focusing on countering violent extremism, threatening communication, and incitement to hatred and violence.
Educational Colours Rainbow Sand has been recalled.Supplied / Product Safety NZ
Thames Coromandel District Council hopes to be able to say soon when two of its libraries caught up in the contaminated play sand scare will re-open.
Action around potentially asbestos contaminated children’s play sand has expanded beyond schools and early childhood centres.
Council libraries in Thames and Tairua in Coromandel were closed on Wednesday so work can be done to reduce the risk of any asbestos.
Thames Coromandel District Council said the closures were for vital health and safety maintenance so the public and staff could be kept safe.
“An investigation into the use of play sand in council facilities has revealed that products from the recalled list have been used recently in Thames Library and we are seeking clarity whether one of the recalled products was used more than six months ago at Tairua Library,” it said.
The council said it had spoken to WorkSafe and had engaged an asbestos disposal specialist to take possible contaminated material from Thames library.
It was hoping to advise of plans to re-open the libraries as soon as it knew more from its technical advisors.
It comes after the Education Ministry on Tuesday night sent updated advice to schools and early learning centres.
It told them all recalled sand products must be presumed to contain asbestos.
Auckland Council said there are no indications the sand was used in any of its libraries. The council later issued advice for what Aucklanders should do with any of the recalled sand.
It was to take safely-contained product to the council’s Asbestos Lab in Grafton between 9am and 3.30pm Monday to Friday.
The site was for homes only, with education facilities needing to follow advice from WorkSafe
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Laser attacks could have catastrophic consequences, say pilots. File photo.123rf.com
A rescue helicopter in Otago followed a car for 30 kilometres after lasers were pointed at the pilots flying on a hospital transfer mission this week.
Local pilots have condemned the behaviour of people who point lasers at helicopters, after two paramedics were targeted while flying over Palmerston.
Helicopters Otago said someone in a car shone lasers into the eyes of the paramedics mid-flight on Tuesday night, prompting the pilot to follow the car for about 30 kilometres until police brought the driver to a stop.
Managing director Graeme Gale said the laser attack came as a shock for the paramedics.
“They’ve since been to an eye specialist to get checked out, to make sure there’s no damage to the back of their eyes,” he said.
“It can be really serious and cause total blindness, so we don’t take it lightly.”
Gale said laser attacks could have catastrophic consequences.
“We’re not out flying around at night for fun. We’re taking seriously and critically ill patients to care,” he said.
Police said the car was intercepted at about 1.40am near Coast Road in Omimi.
A vehicle of interest was searched and enquiries were ongoing, they said.
Gale said it was fortunate the helicopter was on a return journey and able to pursue the car but that was not always the case.
“We’ve had a number over the last 12 months and we’ve had quite a number over the last few years,” he said.
“It’s not just us, airlines get hit every now and again, but it’s a criminal offence. You can’t just go around pointing lasers and shining them at aircraft.”
New Zealand cited for sabotaging Indigenous tobacco-free aspirations and having alarming vaping rates among young people.123rf.com
Researchers say New Zealand is attracting international attention for all the wrong reasons following it being awarded the ‘Dirty Ashtray’ award.
The ‘Dirty Ashtray’ was given to New Zealand at the biennial meeting of Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in Geneva, Switzerland.
The ‘Dirty Ashtray’ is awarded each year at the Conference of the Parties meeting following a review of international progress and consideration of each country’s performance.
New Zealand’s citation is “for trying to portray their current tobacco control plan as a success when in reality since COP10 they’ve reversed world-leading reforms, sabotaged Indigenous tobacco-free aspirations, have alarming vaping rates among young people and have plummeted from 2nd to 53rd on the global index for tobacco industry interference.
New Zealand’s legislative reversal is being used by tobacco industry interests globally to push bad policy.”
Co-Director of the ASPIRE Aotearoa Research Centre Professor Janet Hoek said New Zealand was once a leader in global tobacco control policy.
“Now, our national shame is playing out on an international stage.”
Last week New Zealand also fell from second to 53rd in the global Tobacco Industry Interference Index.
“Last week the Cancer Society’s Tobacco Industry Interference Index marked a cataclysmic decline for Aotearoa New Zealand. The ‘Dirty Ashtray’ award reinforces the Cancer Society’s conclusions,” Hoek said.
Dr Mary Assunta, Head of Global Research and Advocacy at Global Centre for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC) and principal author of the Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index said if the country had implemented the measures the coalition Government repealed, “large, rapid and equitable declines in smoking prevalence were predicted.”
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Police Commissioner Richard Chambers ordered a “rapid review” of police’s information security controls after the McSkimming case came to light.RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Twenty police staff are under investigation in relation to “misuse and inappropriate content”, police have now confirmed.
Police say they cannot rule out criminal investigations into the staff.
RNZ earlier revealed several police staff were under investigation, including an officer who has been stood down after inappropriate material was found on a police-issued device.
It follows an audit of staff internet usage sparked by the resignation of former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming who recently pleaded guilty to possessing objectionable publications, including child sexual exploitation and bestiality over a four-year period.
Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz
Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers earlier told RNZ a “small number of users of concern” were under investigation.
RNZ asked for clarification but did not receive a response from police.
On Wednesday, Rogers said police continued to progress investigations into about 20 cases of misuse and inappropriate content as part of the ongoing audit of staff use of police devices.
“Employment processes are underway in some of these cases while others are still at the preliminary stages of investigation.
“We can assure the public appropriate action will be taken in every case and cannot rule out charges if the Solicitor General’s guidelines for prosecution are met.
“We are unable to comment further while these processes take their course.”
Rogers earlier confirmed to RNZ a police officer had been stood down from duty for “inappropriate content on a police device”.
“The officer is under employment investigation for serious misconduct, relating to inappropriate, but not objectionable, material on a police-issued device. The alleged misconduct was uncovered through following recent audits of staff internet usage.”
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers earlier told RNZ the misconduct being investigated was uncovered as a result of the new monitoring measures introduced following the Rapid Review of the settings for police devices, launched after McSkimming’s resignation.
“I sought that review because of my concern that such conduct was not being detected. This offers some reassurance that we now have the necessary tools to detect potentially inappropriate behaviour.”
Police Minister Mark Mitchell earlier told RNZ he had not been briefed on the allegations, but expected police to “take action on any matters that involve inappropriate behaviour”.
The investigation into McSkimming led to concerns that staff could bypass internal controls and “exploit vulnerabilities to access inappropriate content”.
The concerns prompted Chambers to order a “rapid review” of police’s information security (INFOSEC) controls to ensure police had sufficiently strong controls to prevent or detect the misuse of police technology and equipment for non-work-related purposes.
A summary of the review said the main risks were; weaknesses in technology configuration, lack of visibility over user activity and gaps in governance.
The report included key findings and recommendations in relation to each of the risks.
There was “inconsistent application” of internet access policies across different workgroups as well as a “lack of robust filtering mechanisms” to consistently prevent access to unauthorised websites.
The review also found there was “insufficient monitoring of internet usage to detect and respond to potential security threats and inappropriate usage”.
Other findings included unmanaged devices being used for operational activities and inadequate monitoring of user activity and network traffic.
There was an absence of centralised logging and analysis tools to detect anomalies and potential issues and “insufficient resources allocated to continuous monitoring and incident response”.
The review also said there was a lack of “clear governance structures and accountability” for INFOSEC controls, with “inconsistent enforcement” of security policies and procedures.
The report called for “improved oversight and coordination among different workgroups”.
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Producing and distributing food is responsible for roughly a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. But food systems are highly vulnerable to the droughts, floods, fires and heatwaves made more intense by climate change. Agriculture is both culprit and victim.
As negotiators try to thrash out progress on climate in Brazil during the COP30 talks, agriculture will be a defining battleground. Hundreds of lobbyists for big agribusiness are present, while outside the conference halls, people’s movements push for low-impact farming.
In energy and transport, power sources and vehicles can be shifted to clean options to cut emissions. But it’s harder to cut emissions from farming. Agricultural emissions come largely from animals, crops and food processing – methane from cattle, sheep and goats, nitrous oxide created by microbes in fertilised soils and carbon losses from degraded land, where soil disturbance and erosion accelerate release of carbon dioxide.
Many countries have included agriculture as a way to tackle climate change in their national commitments. The question is how. One solution is to focus on making farming regenerative rather than extractive.
Our research has laid out an approach centred on net zero, nature positive and nutritionally balanced farming (3N for short). The goal: moving away from a narrow focus on cutting emissions to rebuild soil carbon, restore biodiversity and improve human nutrition simultaneously. Many people are already farming like this around the world, but rarely in a joined up way or at scale. Here’s what it looks like.
Farmers can help achieve net zero and cut costs by reducing emissions and building soil carbon stocks.
Imagine a wheat and livestock farm using precise ways to apply nitrogen fertilisers only when and where plants can absorb it. Soil sensors and satellite imagery guide decisions about fertilising and irrigating. New technologies create fertiliser out of the nitrogen in the air without the large carbon footprint of traditional methods.
Planting nitrogen-fixing legumes on fallow fields restores soil organic matter and cuts how much expensive fertiliser is needed. Beneficial microbes are added to soils to boost carbon storage. Livestock are fed methane-reducing additives, while electric or hydrogen-powered tractors cleanly handle field operations. Animal manure and crop residues are transformed from waste into fertiliser and renewable energy.
The result: fewer emissions, healthier soils and lower bills for farmers.
Farming for nature positive
Because agriculture takes up half the world’s habitable land, it makes sense to bring back nature wherever possible. But restoring habitat and bringing back species isn’t just decoration – it’s infrastructure. Instead of bare fencelines and bulldozed creekbeds, a 3N farm weaves nature through its working landscape. Hedgerows, shelterbelts and native vegetation corridors link habitats and encourage the return of birds, insects and pollinators.
For farmers, this has real utility. Trees shade livestock, groundcovers cool soils, beneficial insects pollinate crops and eat pests and vegetation belts filter runoff, reducing nutrient pollution in dams and waterways. Livestock are moved around so paddocks can recover, allowing native grasses to thrive. Soil organisms and organic matter rebuild, improving how the soil holds water, and reducing erosion. Farm productivity remains high while resilience rises.
Farming for nutritional balance
Healthier, more nutritious food comes from farms with healthier soils and landscapes. To boost nutrition levels, farmers can shift from planting a single crop every year to a rotation including pulses, oilseeds and vegetables, improving soil fertility, nutrient cycling by microbes and plant health.
This nutrient-balanced farming approach boosts levels of essential nutrients in crops. But it has other benefits. By matching fertiliser inputs to crop needs, recycling organic residues and encouraging soil microbes and creatures to return, levels of nitrogen and phosphorus fall. This reduces the chance of polluted waterways or emissions of nitrous oxide. On Australian dairy farms, programs such as DairyUP work to produce more nutrient-rich milk while lowering emissions and energy use.
It’s possible to boost nutrient levels rapidly but temporarily though biofortification, which includes adding nutrient-rich soil supplements and adding beneficial microbes which increase nutrient uptake. Longer lasting improvements to nutrient levels are possible through genetic tweaks.
When net zero, nature positive and nutrient-rich farming coexist, the benefits compound. Farmers can cut costs, regenerate landscapes, cut emissions, build carbon stocks in soils and give people nutrient-rich food at the same time.
Farming one crop repeatedly can deplete nutrients in the food. Diversifying planting can boost nutrients. Engin Akyurt/Pexels, CC BY-NC-ND
Which way forward?
Agriculture appears prominently in Brazil’s COP30 Action Agenda, but only in broad strokes. What’s missing is a clear framework which links climate, nature and nutrition. The 3N farming approach could help fill that gap.
Technologies are not the barrier. We already have precision agriculture to cut fertiliser use, feed additives to reduce methane, cover crops to rebuild soil nitrogen naturally, accurate biodiversity monitoring using eDNA and digital twin technology able to test management decisions and predict outcomes on models without risking losses on real farms.
The real challenge is uptake. These methods have to be scaled up rapidly, aided by government policies and incentives.
At the ongoing COP30 talks, agriculture has shown some signs of moving from the margins to the centre of climate solutions, such as work on building resilient food systems. But as yet there’s not a unified pathway laying out how to make agriculture the solution it can be. A key gap is soil security – ensuring soils are healthy enough to keep producing.
No other sector of the economy can do so much. Only farming can tackle climate change, restore habitats and give people nutritious food. Agriculture isn’t a problem – it’s an essential part of the solution.
Budiman Minasny receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
Alex McBratney receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry and Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
Damien Field does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Rajinder has been accused of murdering Gurjit Singh in Dunedin in January last year.RNZ
The sister of a man accused of killing Dunedin’s Gurjit Singh says he was not upset when he discovered the woman who rejected him had married Singh instead, a court has heard.
Singh was found dead on the lawn of his home in January last year after being stabbed more than 40 times.
The High Court has heard of a complicated love triangle involving Singh, his widow Kamaljeet Kaur and Rajinder.
Kaur told the court on Tuesday that she rejected Rajinder in 2022 before marrying Singh the following year.
Rajinder’s sister Harmeet Kaur said Kamaljeet Kaur’s family approached her family twice about marrying her brother in 2022 but they rejected the proposal.
She found out about Singh and Kamaljeet Kaur’s marriage in 2023 as a result of an Instagram post about the wedding when she was living with a mutual friend of Singh’s – Harjit Kaur – in Auckland.
Harmeet Kaur told the court that she was shocked and called her brother. She told the court he was surprised but not upset, saying it was a small world.
A marriage broker had pushed for them to accept Kamaljeet Kaur, saying she wanted to go abroad, only for the woman’s family to say she was not ready to leave India after a video call between Rajinder and the woman’s father, Kaur said.
She said Rajinder was not upset when Gurjit Singh rejected a plan for him to marry his sister, because he accepted that she was too young.
Stevens asked Harmeet Kaur about her time living with her brother, father and Rajinder’s wife in Dunedin from August 2023.
She said they enjoyed their time together and her brother’s marriage appeared to be happy.
His wife spent about six months staying at home adjusting to New Zealand culture but they then went on long car rides, watched movies and cooked together.
Kaur said Rajinder also gave his wife driving lessons, usually later at night after work and dinner.
Harmeet Kaur told prosecutor Richard Smith that she called Rajinder after seeing Singh’s wedding photo because he had received two proposals from Kamaljeet Kaur, only to be told she had changed her mind again about leaving India.
It had been a waste of time, Kaur said.
The trial is set down for three weeks.
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Smoke seen from the field at St Kentigern College in Pakuranga.Supplied
A two-storey classroom block at Auckland’s St Kentigern College in Pakuranga caught fire on Wednesday afternoon, leading to a full school evacuation.
About 20 firefighters attended the incident after Fire and Emergency said they were called to the school on Pakuranga Road about 1.30pm.
A FENZ spokesperson said firefighters saw a “large plume of smoke” coming from the building when they arrived.
Students and staff were evacuated onto the sport fields as a precaution.
The school confirmed there were people inside the classroom when the fire started.
.
A spokesperson for the college said the fire was quickly put out, which allowed senior students to start their exams at 2pm despite the brief disruption.
The cause of the fire was unknown and the school was working with Fire and Emergency.
The school could not confirm the extent of damage done to the classroom block, but nobody was hurt injured.
Police have been approached for comment.
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A man who was travelling on State Highway 25 towards Coromandel town this morning said he saw rocks, small slips and “spontaneous waterfall” along the way.
Mieke Kregting took a video of what appeared to be a landslide along SH25.
The video showed rocks and debris spilling onto the highway, and water gushing down a muddy cliff-face onto the road.
Meanwhile, Bay of Plenty Regional Council activated its flood room protocols as it prepared for a downpour.
MetService has issued an orange heavy rain warning for Bay of Plenty until 11pm on Wednesday, with 80mm to 110mm of rain on top of what has already fallen expected.
The heavy rain warnings in place in Bay of Plenty as of Wednesday 3pm.MetService/Screenshot
The heavy rain warnings in place in Bay of Plenty as of Wednesday 3pm.
In a statement on social media the Bay of Plenty Regional Council said it was reacting as a result of the wet weather.
“This means our flood team is set up to monitor the situation 24/7 as it develops. We will be providing real-time river level information to supporting agencies (such as local councils and Waka Kotahi), to assist with planning and responding to local communities.
“We’ll also have our flood monitoring team out in the field. It’s their job to be the eyes and ears on the ground, checking flood defences (such as stopbanks and floodwalls), monitoring river levels, flows and rainfall and reporting back to the Flood Room.”
The council said members of its operations team were also out in the community, checking the condition of the flood infrastructure, assessing the weather conditions in key areas and pumping out flood waters from any drainage canals where needed.
“Your local council is also monitoring the situation and will be providing updates via their websites and social media channels around roading, blocked culverts/drains, and water/stormwater/wastewater.”
Heaviest rain in Auckland CBD
Earlier on Wednesday central Auckland bore the brunt of the rain, MetService said.
Orange heavy rain warnings were in place for Northland, Auckland and Great Barrier Island (until 2pm), Waitomo, Waikato and Taupō (until 6pm), Bay of Plenty (until 11pm) and Tongariro National Park (until 10pm).
MetService meteorologist Samkelo Magwala said all those areas had received a “decent amount” of rain overnight.
It was heaviest in Auckland, particularly in the central city, he said.
Have you been caught up in the weather? Share your stories and pictures with us at iwitness@rnz.co.nz
“Some stations in Auckland have recorded about 15.5mm of rain in the period of an hour, some even as high as 21mm of rain,” he said.
The band of rain would move eastwards throughout the day, easing before another band was due to ramp up again in the afternoon.
Gisborne was not under a weather warning, but the rain was heading that way later this afternoon, he said.
After Wednesday, high pressure would begin to build, Magwala said, “giving us some more settled weather for a couple of days”.
Taumarunui and Taihape north of Ohakune, as well as Taranaki are also under heavy rain watches until Wednesday.
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa M. Given, Professor of Information Sciences & Director, Social Change Enabling Impact Platform, RMIT University
Online gaming giant Roblox has just announced it will start checking users’ ages from early December in an attempt to stop children and teenagers talking with adults.
In what the company has described as a move that sets a “safety gold standard” for the industry, it says it will be the first online gaming or communication platform to require facial age assurance to access chat features for all users.
This requirement comes into effect in Australia just days before the country’s social media age restrictions launch on December 10. It also comes at a time when Roblox – which boasts nearly 380 million active monthly users worldwide – finds itself embroiled in several lawsuits and facing growing public concerns about child grooming and other harms on the platform.
The age check requirement will be rolled out first in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands in early December. It will be expanded globally in early January.
Roblox will require the checks for all users who want to access chat features.
Age checks will involve either facial age estimation enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) or ID verification. Once the age check is complete, users will then be grouped by age and only allowed to chat with people of similar ages.
Users will take a video selfie and be required to move their face in specific directions, to ensure a real person is being checked, to estimate their age.
Once the video is processed it will be deleted, immediately.
Roblox under fire
At the moment Roblox will not be included in Australia’s social media ban for under 16s. However, the company has come under fire in recent months over concerns about grooming, gambling behaviour, and other potential harms for children on its platform.
In April 2025, a California man was accused of kidnapping and engaging in unlawful sexual conduct with a 10-year-old child he met on Roblox.
This year, several lawsuits have been launched against Roblox.
Earlier this month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Roblox for “ignoring [American] online safety laws while deceiving parents about the dangers of its platform”.
Separate lawsuits were filed in Kentucky in October, and Louisiana in August, accusing Roblox of harming children.
Roblox announced in September that it would implement safety measures in Australia “as a result of eSafety’s engagement with the platform”. These measures include:
making accounts for users under age 16 private by default
introducing tools to prevent adult users from contacting under 16s, without parental consent
switching off by default direct chat and “experience chat” within Roblox games, until a user has completed an age check
not allowing voice chat between adults and children 15 and under.
Unlike many other platforms, Roblox does not encrypt private chats. This enables the company to monitor and moderate the conversations.
Age checks won’t fix other problems
While these measures will likely be welcomed by parents and others concerned for child safety online, they are not foolproof.
This means some children may be assigned into an incorrect age grouping. It also means some adults over 18 may be estimated to be under 18, enabling them to chat with younger people.
Parents whose accounts are linked to their child’s account will be able to correct their child’s age. All users over 13 will be able to correct their age by uploading ID into the system, which may raise concerns about data privacy for users.
There may also be people who lack the appropriate ID necessary to make the corrections, which may restrict their access to age-appropriate features on the platform.
Roblox also allows users to be “trusted connections” and chat with age-checked users 13 and older, with whom they have an existing real-world connections. This will be verified via a QR code or phone number. This means parents will need to check these connections carefully and continue to monitor children’s interactions.
While Roblox’s restrictions will limit interactions to users of similar ages, that doesn’t mean many of the other potential harms – such as cyberbullying – won’t occur within a peer group.
There are also other potential harms that young users may encounter that may not involve chat features. These include virtual sexual assault, as highlighted by a recent investigation by Guardian Australia into Roblox.
The eSafety Commissioner will continue to monitor Roblox and other platforms in future, and these may be classed as age-restricted social media under the legislation if warranted. Meanwhile, parents and other carers should review eSafety’s advice about the upcoming ban and steps they can take to keep their kids safe online.
Lisa M. Given receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and the Association for Information Science and Technology.
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on November 19, 2025.
How Australia’s first outback mosque was built 600km north of Adelaide, 150 years ago Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ismail Albayrak, Professor of Islam and Catholic Muslim Relations, Australian Catholic University The Mosque at Hergott Springs, photographed around 1884. State Library South Australia From 1860 to 1930, an estimated 3,000 people came to Australia from Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Punjab, Sindh and the northern part of Pakistan. Still
Living with PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ can be distressing. Not knowing if they’re making you sick is just the start Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martyn Kirk, Professor, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University If people eat food grown with contaminated water, PFAS chemicals can accumulate in their blood. Karola G/Pexels When we talk about the health effects of PFAS, we commonly think about any physical effects on
NZ’s earliest climate change debate: the 150-year-old feud over glacial retreat Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ciaran Doolin, PhD candidate, School of Science in Society, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Haast’s 1866 watercolour painting of the Lyell Glacier. Alexander Turnbull Library (A-149-003), CC BY-NC-ND Climate change may seem a uniquely 21st-century concern, but people have been wrestling with the idea
The ultra-processed foods problem is driven by commercial interests, not individual weakness. Here’s how to fix it Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Phillip Baker, ARC Future Fellow and Sydney Horizon Fellow, School of Public Health, University of Sydney, University of Sydney Tanya Barrow/Unsplash Ultra-processed foods are displacing traditional foods and meals globally, degrading diet quality, and contributing to the rise of diet-related chronic diseases. And despite the combined advertising
Samoa editor says media freedom under attack in response to PM’s ban By Kaya Selby, RNZ Pacific journalist The editor of Samoa’s only daily newspaper barred on Monday from accessing the Prime Minister’s press conferences says media freedom in Samoa is under attack. Samoan Prime Minister La’aulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Schmidt “temporarily” banned the Samoa Observer from engagements with him and his ministers. In a statement, La’aulialemalietoa said
One Nation’s surge continues in Redbridge poll, but Labor dominant 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 One Nation surges to a new record 18% in a federal Redbridge poll as the Coalition falls to 24%, but Labor dominates with 38%. In Victoria, the
Minister Moutchou ends New Caledonia visit – political announcements, no new financial pledge By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk French minister for overseas Naïma Moutchou left New Caledonia at the weekend after a 5-day stay, with an announcement regarding a re-scheduled referendum-like consultation on a project for the French Pacific territory’s political future — but few pledges regarding further French commitment to tackle a dire
Are animals and AI conscious? We’ve devised new theories for how to test this Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Colin Klein, Professor, School of Philosophy, Australian National University Merlin Lightpainting/Pexels You might think a honey bee foraging in your garden and a browser window running ChatGPT have nothing in common. But recent scientific research has been seriously considering the possibility that either, or both, might be
Yes, migration to Australia is up. But new figures show most migrants do not become citizens Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Aude Bernard, Associate Professor, Queensland Centre for Population Research, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland Immigration has become a hot-button issue in Australia, particularly amid specious claims it is responsible for the housing crisis and straining the economy. Recent anti-immigration rallies across the country have
Hospitals are under pressure. These changes could save $1.2 billion a year – and fund 160,000 extra hospital visits Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Breadon, Program Director, Health and Aged Care, Grattan Institute State and territory governments have reacted angrily to a letter from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in September asking them to rein in hospital spending. This comes amid negotiations for the next five-year funding agreement to determine the
57% of young Australians say their education prepared them for the future. Others are not so sure Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lucas Walsh, Professor of Education Policy and Practice, Youth Studies, Monash University Justin Lambert/ Getty Images When we talk about whether the education system is working we often look at results and obvious outcomes. What marks do students get? Are they working and studying after school? Perhaps
Franchise businesses have long been plagued by scandals. Domino’s is just the latest Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jenny Buchan, Emeritus Professor, Business School, UNSW Sydney The blue and red boxes with white dots are immediately recognisable as containing Domino’s pizzas. The pizza chain is Australia’s largest and is run as a franchise, with the ASX-listed public company Domino’s Pizza Enterprises holding the Australian master
Why are screen villains always drinking milk? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fiona Wilkes, PhD Candidate, The University of Western Australia Netflix Whether its Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange (1971), Hans Landa from Inglourious Basterds (2009), Homelander from The Boys (2019–), or Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men (2007) – there’s no denying there’s something sinister
Comedians and kings: is Donald Trump reviving the ancient crime of lèse-majesté? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Garritt C. Van Dyk, Senior Lecturer in History, University of Waikato Getty Images Donald Trump has a problem with comedian Seth Meyers and it fits a consistent pattern of hyper-sensitivity to criticism and satire. Early this month, Trump declared in a post on Truth Social that a
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Liberal Andrew McLachlan on why he’ll still promote net zero Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The federal Liberals and their National partners have scrapped their commitment to net zero emissions. While many Liberal conservatives are celebrating, it has left other Liberals unhappy and in a tough position with voters. One strong critic of the policy
Which policies would face the chopping block under the Coalition’s retreat from net zero? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roger Dargaville, Assoc Prof. Renewable Energy, Monash University Stefania Pelfini la Waziya/Getty In 2021, Australia’s Coalition government pledged to reach net zero by 2050. Four years later, the Coalition have reversed course. After successive election losses, the Liberal and National parties have settled on a new climate
Jacinda Ardern: Why NZ’s tiny group of hysterical haters can’t face the facts COMMENTARY: By Gerard Otto As you know, there’s a tiny group of Dame Jacinda Ardern haters in New Zealand who are easily triggered by facts and the ongoing success of the former prime minister on the world stage. The tiny eeny weeny group is made to look bigger online by an automated army of fake
How Victoria’s new crime-reduction unit can help tackle its youth crime problem Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joel Robert McGregor, Senior Lecturer, Criminology, Swinburne University of Technology For months, Victoria and its capital Melbourne have been dealing with issues of violence, especially among young people. This has caused significant community concern and, unsurprisingly, Victorians are turning to the state government for answers. The Allan
As people live longer and healthier, nurse training needs to respond to avoid ageist attitudes Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Heath, Senior Lecturer in Nursing , University of Waikato Getty Images Life expectancy in New Zealand has increased dramatically over the past five decades. In 1970, men lived on average to 68. Today, it’s over 80. These gains reflect major advances in public health and medical
How fashion designer Paul McCann reimagines the Indigenous debutante ball Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Treena Clark, Chancellor’s Indigenous Research Fellow, Faculty of Design and Society, University of Technology Sydney Michael Currie/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are advised that the following article contains images and voices of deceased persons. Marrithiyel artist and designer Paul McCann defines
The ramp on the Connemara is stuck and preventing passengers from disembarking. Supplied/Nick Simcock
The Bluebridge ferry, Connemara, is stuck in Picton after an issue with the ramp has left passengers unable to disembark.
The ferry left Wellington shortly after 8am and arrived in Picton just before midday.
Passenger Nick Simcock said those onboard had been told the ramp was stuck and staff had been working for the last 2.5 hours to free it.
“We boarded in Wellington about 8am and it was a great sailing across the channel but we arrived about midday and no-one has been able to get on or off the ferry, the back door ramp is firmly stuck,” Simcock said.
“It’s something to do with the mechanism, the pins are stuck that lock the door into position.”
The ramp on the Connemara is stuck and preventing passengers from disembarking. Supplied/Nick Simcock
Simcock is heading to the Marlborough Sounds for a fishing and diving trip with friends and he said they were keen to get off the ferry so they could get on with that.
“Everyone is resigned to the fact I think, we have been down this road before with the ferries here.”
Bluebridge has been approached for comment.
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The government’s Cook Strait ferry project will cost less than $2 billion, says the Rail Minister.
Winston Peters announced in March the government would buy two new Interislander ferries to replace the current ageing fleet.
The new ships, which are 200 metres long and 28 metres wide, have 11 decks.Supplied/ Ferry Holdings
The new ferries are expected to come into service in 2029.
It was revealed today the total budget for the project was currently estimated to be $1.86 billion – with taxpayers paying less than $1.7 billion of that.
Briefing documents said the cost would not surpass $2 billion.
Plans for the berths in Wellington and Picton for the new Cook Strait ferries.Supplied/Ferry Holdings
Peters said the contract for the ferries were a fixed price $596 million between Ferry Holdings and shipbuilder Guangzhou Shipyard International.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis pulled the plug on iReX, the previous government’s Cook Strait mega ferry plan, in 2023.
Peters said the public had benefited as a result of the new plan.
“Spending less than $1.7 billion means the taxpayer has saved $2.3 billion while still getting the ferries and infrastructure they want, because we have done away with the expensive consultants who hijacked the project by adding more and more infrastructure until Treasury warned the project would cost $4 billion.”
He said funding spent on infrastructure would be recovered over the life of the new Interislander ferries and infrastructure, through port fees paid from Interislander revenue.
Interislander would also be expected to build sufficient money reserves to buy new ferries again in 30 years, Peters said.
The new ships would be 200 metres long and rail-enabled, which meant rail freight could be rolled on and off them.
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From 1860 to 1930, an estimated 3,000 people came to Australia from Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Punjab, Sindh and the northern part of Pakistan. Still more came from different parts of the Ottoman Empire.
The arrival of these “Afghans”, and the camels that came with them, was a new phase in Australian history described as the “camel era” of exploration and transport.
In Hergott Springs, now known as Marree, an outback crossroads town about 600 kilometers north of Adelaide, they established one of the first of their settlements called Ghantowns – and built Australia’s first outback mosque.
The isolated outback
Afghans proved themselves skilled in camel driving in deserted inland areas, developing small “mobile emporiums”.
Hergott Springs was at the crossroads between the Oodnadatta Track crossing outback South Australia and on the Overland Telegraph Line from Adelaide to Darwin, and another crossroads continuing towards the goldfields of Victoria. The water at the springs was used as a camel station on this vital link.
The Afghans planted date trees near the spring as a mark for their settlement. The town was segregated along racial lines, with the Afghans and Aboriginal people living on the north side of the town, while the Europeans lived on the south.
Accounts vary, but the first Marree Mosque was built in 1865 or 1882 by Abdul Kadir, a camel breeder and Afghan settler. It was a simple earthen structure with a timber-framed gabled roof.
It included a small pulpit and a designated washing area, fronted by a large hole filled with hot water from an artesian bore, where worshippers performed their ritual ablution (wudu), the call to prayer (adhan) and prayers. Between 40 to 50 Muslims would pray there, and it operated regularly until the last living Afghans of the first generation passed away.
A cameleer named Assim Khan was an imam in one of the Marree mosques in the early 20th century. Members of or visitors to the small community included Bejah Dervish, a leading figure in the 1896 Lawrence Wells exploration; Dadleh Balooch, a well-known pioneering cameleer; and brothers Faiz and Tagh Mahomet, camel owners and carriers and merchants from an aristocratic family.
By the 1920s, up to 50 people still prayed regularly in Marree’s mosques.
The first two mosques of earthen construction in Marree were lost to the desert, one lost around 1910. The third mosque in Marree, the northern mosque made of galvanised iron, also began to decline.
Bejah Dervish, a devout Muslim cameleer, seeing the old galvanised iron mosque had fallen into disrepair, offered it for sale for £50 some time in the late 1940s or early 1950s. Several years later, the mosque was offered for sale for £40. It was demolished in 1956 by its elderly caretaker, Syed Goolamdeen, who could no longer maintain it, since many descendants of the Afghans no longer practised Islam.
Only post stubs of one of the mosques remain, in an echo of the past.
Settling across Australia
Following the first mosques in Marree, Afghan settlers built around 36 mosques across the Australian outback. They built mosques in Broken Hill, New South Wales; Coolgardie (famously described in Inquirer and Commercial News in 1894 as the “Mecca of the West”), Leonora and Kalgoorlie in Western Australia; and Cloncurry, Queensland.
They also built mosques in the capital cities of Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
The impacts of the White Australia Policy and subsequent community decline means few of these original mosques exist today. One of the few that has survived is the City Mosque, or the Afghan Mosque, between Little Gilbert Street and Logan Street in Adelaide. It was the first permanent mosque in Australia, built in 1888.
In 1930, some Afghans brought carpets from the Marree Mosque to Adelaide Mosque.
The City Mosque or Afghan Mosque was built on Little Gilbert Street, Adelade, in 1888. Here, men gather in 1937. State Library South Australia
The Perth Mosque, completed in 1907 with government-backed funding, became a central place of worship, housing Qur’ans, English and Urdu magazines, and beautiful ornaments and carpeted floors.
Between the world wars, larger Muslim populations in Sydney and Melbourne had only makeshift temporary mosques in the form of houses or prayer rooms.
New migration
The first post-war wave of Muslim immigrants moved to Australia from 1948 and the early 1950s, most notably Albanians, Bosnians and Turkish Cypriots. They revitalised old mosques and built new ones.
In the history of Islam and Muslims in Australia, this period was described by a visiting great Islamic scholar Ali Kettani as a “humble beginning and new renaissance”.
Albanians in Shepparton built that town’s first mosque in 1960. The Surry Hills Mosque was established by a multi-ethnic Muslim community in 1966 in Sydney. The Preston Mosque was established by multi-ethnic Muslim community in 1976 in Melbourne. The Turkish ethnic community built the Faith Mosque in 1976, also in Melbourne. The Lebanese ethnic community erected the Lakemba Mosque in Sydney in 1977 – and so on.
Today, Australia has approximately 600 mosques.
The cameleers’ descendants still evoke memories about the Marree Mosque and also organised the first “Afghan Reunion in Marree” in 2005, at the Marree camel races.
To commemorate Australian Muslim heritage, a replica of the Marree Mosque was built. There are also various festivals in and around Marree, including Afghan prayer at the replica mosque, that still commemorate the contributions of the Afghan cameleers in Australia.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Die-hard Metallica fans have been queuing in the rain for hours before Wednesday night’s sold-out concert at Eden Park in Auckland even starts.
The city and its hotels are heaving – accommodation is sold out, with the show expected to yield 40,000 visitor nights. Organisers of the band’s only NZ show were expecting more than 55,000 fans to flock to Eden Park.
In the central city, a long line of people waiting to buy merchandise snaked around several corners and sprawled down numerous streets outside a Metallica M72 Pop-Up Shop on Wednesday.
Metallica fans queue to buy merchandise in central Auckland before the band’s gig at Eden Park.
RNZ / Kim Baker Wilson
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