The Golden Spurtle dives into the world of competitive porridge making with heart and humour

December 11, 2025

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Thompson, Lecturer in Theatre, Australian Catholic University

If you were scouting about for a feature documentary subject, porridge might not be the first thing you’d think of. That is, unless you were Australian opera and theatre director turned documentary film maker, Constantine Costi, who has struck gold with his new documentary, The Golden Spurtle.

Now, I’ll admit to not knowing what a spurtle was before watching this documentary. (But now that I know, I’ve added one to my Christmas list.)

According to the Dictionaries of the Scots Language, a spurtle is “a short, round stick used for stirring porridge”.

Generally, they’re made of wood, but once a year in the Scottish Highlands’ village of Carrbridge, a much-coveted golden spurtle is awarded to the winner of the World Porridge Making Championships. The setting for Costi’s documentary is the 2023 competition – the contest’s 30th year.

A man in a blue jacket stands in the open doorway of a stone building. — The 2016 golden spurtle trophy.
Wikimedia, CC BY-SA

Porridge makers from all over the world arrive in Carrbridge each October to compete. They must make the best porridge from just three ingredients: oats, salt and water.

And 2023 was particularly significant because it was the year Charlie Miller – unofficial mayor of Carrbridge, avid spurtle maker and self-proclaimed chieftain of the Golden Spurtle since 1994 – was stepping down. If this film has a star, Miller is it.

Shot like a moving photograph

Costi and cinematographer Dimitri Zaunders have made strong cinematic choices that allow this story to tell itself.

First they’ve shot it in an aspect ratio of 4:3 – a pre-widescreen format evoking an “old-school” visual feeling reminiscent of 1950s films and other old video and television formats.

Secondly, there’s no camera movement. Every scene is shot with a “locked-off” camera, giving everything a framed, photographic feel. This style relies on what we see within the frame being compelling enough to hold our attention without the enhancement of camera or editing techniques.

For the most part, this suits the subject matter. The scenery around Carrbridge and its quaint architecture are beautiful enough without needing to be tricked up in any way, and the personalities of the characters are quite magnetic.

Still, about halfway through the 75-minute runtime, the sameness of the visual style becomes (for me at least) dynamically inert. Then again, often that feeling was countered by something unexpected or funny happening within the locked-off frame.

A captivating cast and secret recipes

We meet several of the contestants over the course of the film, including Ian Bishop (the only local ever to win), Lisa Williams (a back-to-back winner known as The Queen of Porridge), Nick Barnard (a serious man who seriously wants to win after being a seven-time finalist) and Toby Wilson (an Australian taco chef who’s back for a second crack).

These characters are as idiosyncratic as the competition itself, and just as passionate.

An older man sits on a chair in a dimly lit room. — Ian Bishop is the only local ever to have won the Golden Spurtle.
Umbrella

If there’s one thing missing, it’s insight into the porridge-making process itself and how the judges make their decisions.

What makes a winning bowl of porridge? What difference do different kinds of oats make? Do you simmer or rapid boil? Should your spurtle stir clockwise or anticlockwise? Do the judges look for taste, or texture, or consistency, or other factors?

The closest the film comes to focusing on these questions is when an off-camera voice asks Ian Bishop which oats he will be using, to which he simply replies: “Why would I want to tell you? Other people would get to know.”

In October of this year, Melbourne food stylist Caroline Velik returned triumphant from the 32nd championship, having won the Speciality Dish Category.

I guess that’s another thing missing from the documentary: there’s a second category where contestants can add whatever they like to their oats. Seven-time-finalist Nick Barnard is a two-time winner in this category, but that doesn’t get a mention either.

Velik told the ABC she made her Aussie-flavoured porridge jaffle with bananas, wattleseed, Davidson plum powder and Bundaberg rum.

She was also runner-up in the main competition. “You think it’s all going to taste the same,” she said, “but you’d be surprised how many differences you can get with just those three ingredients.”

That conversation primed me for Costi’s documentary, so it was disappointing these things were left out.

Porridge earns its stripes

It’d be easy to trivialise this event and its organisers as little more than an old-fashioned eccentric curiosity. But reading between the lines, you come to understand that this is community engagement at its best.

A small group of volunteers in a tiny hall, in a quiet village, with not much more than their passion, dedication and love of an ancient dish have created an international event that celebrates three humble ingredients.

It is an event that has put porridge on the world stage. And much of this is captured in The Golden Spurtle. But like Oliver Twist and his oatmeal gruel, I just wanted some more.

The Golden Spurtle is in cinemas from today.

Chris Thompson 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.

– ref. The Golden Spurtle dives into the world of competitive porridge making with heart and humour – https://theconversation.com/the-golden-spurtle-dives-into-the-world-of-competitive-porridge-making-with-heart-and-humour-269808

Māori smoking rates stall for the first time in over a decade

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

Health officials are concerned by the rate of smoking. (File photo) RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King

For the first time in over a decade the decreasing trend of Māori smoking rates has stalled leaving health advocates devastated.

The latest New Zealand Health Survey showed daily smoking among Māori adults 15 and over has increased slightly from 14.8 to 15 percent.

That increase was considered “statistically insignificant” and was within the survey’s margin of error but, it still amounted to about 99,000 people. The total daily smoking rate was 6.8 percent.

General Manager of Hāpai Te Hauora Jasmine Graham (Ngāti Kuri, Te Aupōuri) said unfortunately she was not surprised by the result.

The repeal of Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act (SERPA), which included the smokefree generation laws, has had a huge impact on New Zealand’s progress, or lack of progress, to Smokefree 2025, she said.

“It’s incredibly concerning and the reason is because these aren’t just numbers. These are people’s lives. So this is whakapapa. This is whānau who are passing away from tobacco-related illnesses from a product that is designed to firstly attract, addict and then kill.

“…We don’t want to see any stall in the numbers. We want to see those numbers decrease and especially reaching the end of 2025 and the goal that was set to be able to see a smoke-free Aotearoa by the end of this month.”

Graham said we still see about 5000 New Zealanders dying from the impacts of tobacco-related illnesses each year.

She said whānau Māori were going through a daily battle of addiction and having to make the conscious decision every day to try and not smoke.

“That’s not the fault of the whānau member or of the individual, that’s the fault of the industry. They’ve created this product to do just that, to keep you addicted. And when you have something as strong as nicotine in these products, that’s the problem.”

General Manager of Hāpai Te Hauora Jasmine Graham Supplied/Hāpai Te Hauora

She encouraged any whānau battling nicotine addiction to reach out to their local stop smoking service.

“I’ve had some people ask [if], you know… they’re the reason why we haven’t reached [Smokefree 2025] and they’re only thinking of the stat numbers. And I’m like, absolutely not. Because none of the responsibility is on our community or our people. All of the responsibility sits on the industry.”

Associate Minister of Health Casey Costello said New Zealand had made great progress in reducing smoking rates – especially since 2018 when vapes became widely available.

The gains had been particularly noticeable for young people and for Māori, she said.

“When the NZ Health Survey began in 2011/12, over 37 percent of Māori were daily smokers. In the latest survey that figure was down to 15 percent. Since 2018, Māori smoking rates have halved and the latest stats show 118,000 Māori have quit smoking in the last five years.

“These reductions are really significant, no other country is making this sort of progress. But of course we still have a way to go – we want to stop people smoking to reduce the health impacts and there’s a particular focus on supporting Māori and Pacific populations where rates are higher.”

Costello said the challenge was that we were down to the most “stubborn” smokers. The highest smoking rates were for those over 45, she said.

“Marketing activity is targeting these groups, as are the country’s quit smoking providers. This is important as people are around four times more likely to quit smoking by using a stop smoking service, than by trying on their own.

“An updated Smokefree Action plan released at the end of last year sets out the range of approaches that are being taken to stop people smoking and target key groups.”

One of the improvements needed was timely referrals to quit smoking providers, she said.

“I’d really encourage people to make contact with those services.”

Graham said it was worth celebrating there had been so many people who had gone through their quit journey and come out the other side to live a smokefree life.

At the same time there had been many Māori movers and shakers who led the kaupapa of tobacco control boldly who should be celebrated, she said.

“I think it’s to be celebrated that we still want to see a smoke-free Aotearoa, whatever the date is, that we’re looking to be able to save lives.

“We’re not just talking about numbers or stats, we’re talking about the livelihood of our people.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Local Water Done Well: Council plans to cost $9b higher than expected

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

Local Government Minister Simon Watts. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

Spending on water services will be nearly $9 billion higher under the Local Water Done Well model than councils previously estimated.

Councils had to submit water service plans to show how they would organise water services in a financially sustainable way as part of the reforms.

In a statement, Local Government Minister Simon Watts said all plans had now been signed off, with 44 councils handing over to a separate company and 23 keeping services in house.

“These numbers mean that 76 percent of New Zealand’s population will have water services delivered through a CCO model. This collaboration between councils offers significant assistance in addressing affordability challenges.”

He said the total cost estimate from the plans was nearly $9b higher than under the councils’ earlier long-term plans, which were not required to ensure capital investment was sufficient to achieve compliance.

“The $47.9 billion total estimated investment across all plans shows councils recognise that after decades of under-investment, water projects can’t wait any longer,” he said.

“We need to fix the pipes, and we must address an unacceptable level of non-compliance, but we must also future proof for a growing population. It’s important to strike the right balance.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Jetstar ordered to stop using faulty baggage scales at Wellington Airport

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

File pic 123rf.com

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has directed Jetstar to stop using two baggage scales at Wellington Airport after inspections found they failed to meet legal accuracy requirements under the Weights and Measures Act 1987.

Following a public complaint in September, Trading Standards, a business unit of MBIE, inspected two portable baggage scales Jetstar used to weigh carry-on luggage at Wellington Airport.

Both were found to be non-compliant because they were not level when tested and did not meet their approval conditions.

The scales were rejected, and Jetstar instructed to stop using them until they were re-verified by an accredited person.

The airline told Stuff that the inspection identified minor wheel misalignments that caused the scale plates to sit unevenly.

“This affected the stability of the units, not their weighing accuracy, and both scales were immediately removed from service,” Jetstar said.

MBIE’s national manager trading standards Stephen O’Brien said compliance instructions had been issued to Jetstar. As well, a formal corrective action request has been sent to the verifier involved to investigate the root cause of the issues identified and to put in place steps to prevent their recurrence.

Trading Standards would follow up with both parties to ensure effective resolution of the issues identified and that long term compliance is achieved.

O’Brien said businesses using weighing instruments for trade, including airlines, were responsible for ensuring their equipment was legally verified, level, and accurate. Instruments must be approved for trade use and verified by an accredited person. Regular checks and record-keeping are recommended to demonstrate due diligence.

“Consumers should be confident that the price they pay reflects the correct weight or measure. Investigations and compliance checks are carried out to protect people from being incorrectly charged due to inaccurate weighing.”

AFP

Airline denies any overcharging

Jetstar told Stuff the scales’ misalignment would not have resulted in higher weight readings and any additional baggage fees applied would still be correct.

“Any impact from this misalignment would have resulted in slightly lower weight readings, meaning customers would not have been overcharged and any additional baggage fees applied would still have been correct.”

By 15 October, 2025, Jetstar said every scale it used across New Zealand had completed its scheduled annual inspection, and all were confirmed to be fully compliant.

The airline said it recognised that carry-on baggage was “a pain point for customers” and it was “actively exploring ways to improve the carry-on experience and policy”.

Trading Standards’ Stephen O’Brien said with more than 20 million air traveller departures from New Zealand airports in the past year, even small inaccuracies in weighing instruments could have a wide-reaching impact.

Travellers were encouraged to check that baggage scales were level, start at zero, and carry a mark of verification.

If a scale appeared inaccurate or unverified, consumers could contact MBIE’s Trading Standards team, who investigate complaints and enforce compliance under the Weights and Measures Act 1987.

Trading Standards focuses on education and guidance to help businesses meet their obligations. If compliance was not achieved, enforcement options were available, including infringement offence notices or prosecution for serious or repeated breaches.

Penalties could reach up to $10,000 for individuals and $30,000 for companies.

Across sectors, O’Brien said Trading Standards helped build trust by ensuring accuracy, fairness and transparency in everyday transactions – whether people were flying, shopping, or using services charged by weight or measure.

More information is available here.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

How the world got talking about red-tipped bananas

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

Red-tipped bananas are not new to Australian consumers, but have gone viral on social media this month after an inquisitive post from two bewildered British backpackers.

The video from travellers Mel Chekaoui and Phil Colia has been seen more than 11 million times on Instagram, with eager consumers commenting that they too were hungry to learn the reason for the red wax tip.

“My Dad told me it meant they were strawberry flavoured and I believed him until I was 16 years old. Nice to finally learn the real reason in the comments”

Travellers Mel Chekaoui and Phil Colia have gone viral with a video about bananas in Australia.

@melandphil / Instagram

.

“Stores actually have a sign that says ‘uniquely Ecoganic’, but I mean [social media] is just the way the young ones communicate today,” Ms Sciaccia said.

“[When I saw the video] I just laughed.”

Sciaccia said the accredited farming system used natural ecosystems to grow the crop and promote soil health, minimising other inputs such as chemical fertilisers and insecticides.

It is different to organic farming because not all products used are free of inputs.

While the red tips are more widely known to appear on bananas, producers of other crops have also started to adopt the farming method.

“We’ve had a lot of interest from different industries, so we’ve been working with avocadoes, apples and pears in Victoria, and almond growers in South Australia for the past couple of years,” Sciaccia said.

“We’re just putting some focus back into papaya, which we did start a few years ago, but due to crop loss, we sort of put that on hold at the time.”

Pawpaw potential

There are eight certified growers in Australia, including William Darveniza.

His farm is up the road from the Sciaccia’s, about 260 kilometres north of Townsville, and his range of crops includes the red-tipped bananas.

This is his first year formally producing the fruit, after he realised he had already been using the farming method.

He hopes to add the red tip to other fruits on the farm, including paw paws.

“A lot of those mycorrhizal fungi and the bacteria that they evolved alongside in the rainforest are sort of taken out of the equation in the conventional farming system that we have,” said Darveniza.

“I’d like to sort of try and reintroduce that a little bit and help protect the crop from these weather situations and these insect pressures using that system.”

He hoped a wider range of red-tipped fruit would be on supermarket shelves by mid-next year.

“There has already been a fair bit of interest in the product, so we’re looking forward to moving forward with it,” he said.

Red-tipped exports

Across all growers, about 80 tonnes of red-tipped bananas are produced a week, and they are not only turning heads in Australia.

Sciaccia said international interest had grown since they first sent trial volumes of bananas with the waxy, red tips to Japan about two years ago.

“We’ve been working with one of the major supermarkets over there and putting together a business plan with them,” she said.

“They’ve done all of their testing on the product, and the texture, taste, what they call sensory attributes, sit above any other product that they import from around the world.”

She was hopeful of sending commercial volumes to Japan in the future.

“I don’t see the export as being a major part of our business, but it certainly has the potential to be as equal to our domestic market quite easily,” Sciaccia said.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Students pair up with retirees and exchange lives through letters

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

Children at St Heliers School and residents at Grace Joel Retirement Village has been pen pals for the past year. Ke-Xin Li

There’s nervous excitement as the children of Room 25 at St Heliers School get ready to visit their pen pals.

A five minute walk brings the kids to the Grace Joel Retirement Village, where their elderly pen pals are just as excited as the children.

“Hello hello hello hello hello, there he is, hello,” one resident pointed me to her pen pal.

Teacher Sarah Mill came up with the pen pal programme during Covid, after reading about rest home residents’ loneliness.

Each student has a resident to write to. They also visit several times through the year.

“In today’s modern age, too many students text or email, and they are losing the art of connection through a proper letter. Text is just a few words, whereas some of their letters are getting to two or three pages long.”

During Covid, Sarah Mill started the pen pal programme for her class after reading about the loneliness experienced by retirement home residents. Ke-Xin Li

Miss Mill said it means the kids get to build deeper relationships. And many stayed in touch with the residents as they grew up.

“I think it was important for them to share their lives with the residents, and then the residents would sometimes share things from their childhood that had come back to them as a result of reading what the children were doing, so, really interesting.”

After written 10 letters, this is the children’s third and last visit of the year.

But 8-year-old Vidhya Jooravan has told her pen pal – 85-year-old Joan Baggott – that it won’t be the last letter she sends her.

“I wrote I hope [we’re] still pen pals (in the future), more planet stuff, and more exciting things about Christmas.”

While visiting their pen pals, children from Room 25 also perform songs for Grace Joel residents Ke-Xin Li

Vidhya loves the friendship she has made with Joan.

“When we started writing letters, I was so excited to have a pen pal. And then when I started carry on writing letters, it started to build up a pen pal friendship and then it was just amazing. It’s so nice, it’s like having my granny and grandpa sitting here and talking to me. I feel happy and I feel nice inside.”

Joan grew up writing letters. But today, while she much prefers texting, she has enjoyed reading Vidhya’s letters and getting to know her.

“I love what she writes about because very often it’s straight from school, what the teacher’s written on the board, and I learn after all these years. I think, oh, I didn’t know that. She’s a lovely little girl and she sent me a letter once and it had all the little diamantes all the way around the envelope. So I knew she liked pretty things.”

And from then on, Joan made sure she decorated all her letters to Vidhya with cute stickers.

Joan Baggott and Vidhya Jooravan have been pen pals for the last year. Ke-Xin Li

Nine-year-old Oliver Qi tried to read Brian Cutting’s November letter, but had to stop nearing the end as he struggled with Brian’s cursive handwriting – a common struggle amongst the pen pals due to their age gap.

86-year-old Brian was still proud.

“It’s very impressive though to be able to read that writing, I think there is really something special for him.”

He helped Oliver finish reading the letter.

“I think it’s wonderful that you are learning Mandarin. It’s wonderful to know how to speak, read, and write in other languages. You are lucky. Once again, you have been learning interesting things at school. Things like our galaxy. Did you know there are billions of galaxies? Billions of them.”

And Brian tried to incorporate some Mandarin phrases he learned.

“So we started off, Dear Oliver, Ni Hao. And we ended it up, Zai Jian.”

Oliver Qi and Brian Cutting have been writing to each other for a year. Ke-Xin Li

Oliver corrected Brian’s pronunciation of “Zai Jian”, the phrase means “See you again”.

Without a carefully crafted closing statement, no letter is complete.

And everyone has their own preferences.

Oliver likes: “I look forward to seeing you again.”

Vidhya loves “warm regards”.

“Because it sounds sweet and sounds like half of ‘all the best’.”

Mark struggled with the cursive handwriting by 96-year-old Dr. M Mackendrick. Ke-Xin Li

Ngarie Jackson, 85, used “kind regards”, but said she would prefer something else.

“Well, I could have put love, but I didn’t know whether he’d like that or not.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Weather forecast: Temperatures creeping back down after scorching summer days

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

Parts of the country saw temperatures in the high 20s or early 30s earlier this week. (File photo) RNZ/ Mohammad Alafeshat

After days of sweltering heat for much of the country temperatures should drop by a few degrees in coming days.

Earlier this week a heat alert was in place for Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne with temperatures reaching 34C at Napier Airport and 32C in Wairoa.

Over the weekend many regions experienced temperatures in the high 20s or even early 30s.

But MetService said on Thursday there was a reprieve from the heat on the way, with temperatures across the country heading back down towards normal.

MetService meteorlogist John Law, said it was still hot on Thursday, especially for Waikato, which would reach 29C to 30C.

Law said the last few days had been four or five degrees above average for the time of year.

“It’s nice for a few days but it takes its toll,” he said.

Auckland was sitting at between 26C and 27C but would likely drop to mid 20s by the weekend.

Law said it would still be beach weather with the weekend looking generally dry, fine and settled.

Things would be a bit cooler down in Christchurch with temperatures of 18C-19C for the weekend, but this would heat back up next week to the high 20s.

Some spots in the central North Island, including Taumarunui, Waitomo and Waikato were still experiencing above average days which could hit 30C.

Wellington seemed to have avoided the extreme heat, Law said, but added there had been some “very nice days here”.

The lower South Island was the only area which could expect some showers or even a rumble of thunder over the weekend, Law said, in Otago and South Canterbury.

“Law said it had been an unusually warm start to December and a “very warm” November.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Why you might suddenly stop drinking milk

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

You’ve long enjoyed a generous pour of milk in your morning coffee, or a big bowl of ice cream for dessert.

You’ve been fine with dairy most of your life, but you’re getting into middle age, and all of a sudden it’s not sitting right with you – creating lots of socially unacceptable symptoms and bathroom breaks and generally making you feel bloated and gassy.

You may not realise it right away, but you’re probably one of the millions of people who develop lactose intolerance as they get older.

Lactose is found in dairy products.

Supplied/ Synlait

.

Here’s what you need to know about lactose intolerance.

Why do people become lactose intolerant?

First off, lactose intolerance is not a proper food allergy. It’s a digestive issue that results in the body being unable to break down a substance called lactose found in dairy products.

“Lactose intolerance occurs as a result of an enzymatic deficiency and is quite different to a milk allergy which is driven by the immune system,” said Anna Richards, an Auckland dietitian who specialises in allergy, intolerance and gastrointestinal disorders.

Some people, particularly children, do have actual milk allergies which can cause serious medical issues including anaphylaxis, a life-threatening reaction that narrows the airways.

But lactose intolerance is more about the tricky interaction between lactose in milk and something called lactase that the body makes.

Wait, those are pretty similar names…

Yep, it’s a little confusing. To keep it simple, just realise that lactose is a complex sugar that is found in dairy products.

Lactase, on the other hand, is a digestive enzyme the body makes to break down that lactose. And the older we get, the less of it our bodies make.

“It reaches its peak in infancy and declines after that but the rate of decline is genetically determined – that’s why there are such regional and ethnic differences in lactose intolerance,” said Clare Wall, a dietary expert and head of the School of Medical Sciences at the University of Auckland.

Being able to digest lactose is actually kind of a genetic mutation, prevalent in parts of the world where dairy farming evolved such as Europe. It’s called lactase persistence.

“It tends to be predominant in ethnicities that have historically not consumed lactose after infancy such as Asian, African, South American and tends to be less of an issue among Caucasian ethnicities whose ancestors have continued to consume lactose-containing foods lifelong,” Richards said.

“Around 85 percent of the world’s adult population are lactose intolerant.”

There isn’t a lot of firm data on how prevalent that intolerance is in New Zealand, but some research has shown that it’s also far more common among Māori and Pacific populations.

Lactose is the main carbohydrate in cows’ milk.

123rf

How can you tell for sure you’re becoming lactose intolerant?

Go with your gut, to be honest. The first symptoms of lactose intolerance usually occur 30 minutes to two hours after having food or drinks with lactose.

Those symptoms “can range from mild to severe depending on the amount consumed and a person’s individual tolerance level,” Richards said.

They can include abdominal pain and cramps, bloating and flatulence, diarrhoea, nausea, and sometimes vomiting or stomach rumbling.

The best at-home test a person can make is to simply stop having dairy products for a couple of weeks, and then slowly try having them again.

“If the symptoms improve on a lactose-free diet but return on introduction of lactose then this can confirm the diagnosis,” Wall said.

There are more diagnostic tests that can be made by a professional to confirm the condition, but some are not easily available in New Zealand, Wall said.

One is a breath hydrogen test which measures the level of hydrogen in exhaled air after ingestion of lactose following overnight fasting.

Could it be something else that’s bothering my digestion?

It’s always possible – issues such as gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD and irritable bowel syndrome can also cause unpleasant symptoms.

A consultation with your GP can be useful, Richards said.

“It is important to see a healthcare professional for a diagnosis before making significant dietary changes, as symptoms can be similar to other conditions or there may be an underlying medical cause.”

There are also other, rarer kinds of lactose intolerance, including secondary lactase deficiency which results from injury to the gut, developmental lactase deficiency which can occur in premature infants and the rare genetic disorder congenital lactase deficiency where the body produces little or no lactase from birth and requires a lifelong lactose-free diet.

Okay, I guess I’m lactose intolerant. So can I just never eat dairy again?

There’s no “cure” for lactose tolerance, but it isn’t a complete dairy death sentence for your diet for many people.

“It’s about finding your individual tolerance level,” Wall said.

“Eating small amounts of lactose-containing foods with other foods rather than on an empty stomach also reduces gastric symptoms. And spreading the lactose-containing foods throughout the day.”

“It is a common misconception that lactose intolerance requires the complete exclusion of dairy from the diet,” Richards said.

“With the increase in the range of lactose-free and low-lactose dairy products on the market, dairy products can continue to be enjoyed in the diet.

“Experimenting with different products and portion sizes can help you find your personal tolerance level.”

She said that milk and products like custard and ice cream contain the most, while regular yoghurt contains a bit less and Greek yoghurt even less.

Different cheeses have different amounts of lactose.

RNZ

And what about cheese?

It depends on the kind of cheese.

Cottage cheese and soft cheese may be tolerated in small amounts, and the rule of thumb is generally the harder a cheese is, the less bothersome it might be for the lactose intolerant.

“A hard cheese such as a cheddar is low in lactose and can typically be freely included,” Richards said. “Very hard cheeses such as parmesan, Romano or butter have negligible lactose.”

Lactose intolerant people who drop dairy entirely may also need to look at supplementing their calcium intake.

“Cows’ milk and all mammal milks are nutritionally valuable foods providing protein, calcium, vitamin D and for children, fat,” Richards said.

“Soy is the only plant-based milk that is a nutritional equivalent. All other plant-based milks have negligible protein and fat and although they may be calcium-fortified the bioavailability (the way we absorb and use the calcium) is poor compared to dairy.”

Coconut milk also lacks protein and is high in saturated fat, she said.

A2 Milk has been studied for use by the lactose intolerant.

Getty Images

Are there supplements you can take to ease discomfort, or better milk products?

“The range of lactose-free products in the supermarkets including lactose-free milk and lactose-free yoghurt is increasing,” Richards noted.

There’s also been a fair amount of research done in New Zealand into whether A2 Milk, which has a different kind of protein type, may be better for those suffering lactose intolerance issues.

There are products that supplement lactase with names like “Lacteeze,” which may work for some people.

“They will moderate symptoms with a moderate dose of lactose but are not a ‘get out of jail free’ card for a giraffe-size milkshake,” Richards said.

“Tolerance will vary from person to person.”

No metadata

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Biosecurity doubles Auckland’s surveillance zone for yellow-legged hornets

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

Yellow-legged hornets (Vespa velutina) and their nests have been found in the Auckland region. Biosecurity NZ

Biosecurity NZ has more than doubled the surveillance zone for invasive yellow legged hornets in Auckland.

More than 30 queen hornets and 22 nests have been located and destroyed so far in the region, with trapping and ground searches expanded significantly across the city’s North Shore recently.

Horticultural sectors have been concerned about the impact the predatory hornet could have on New Zealand’s honey bee populations.

Nearly 650 traps have been set within a five-kilometre radius of detection sites, and more than 3500 properties have been searched within 200 metres of confirmed finds, Biosecurity NZ said.

Biosecurity’s North commissioner Mike Inglis said the surveillance zone was being extended from five kilometres from detection sites on the North Shore to 11, after advice from an independent technical advisory group.

He said the extended surveillance would involve working closely with more beekeepers, including more than 575 registered apiaries in the 11-kilometre zone.

“This will provide greater assurance that the hornet incursion is a single population contained to the local area and allow us to respond quickly if there has been any spread,” he said.

“From the very start, Biosecurity New Zealand’s response to the hornet detections has been driven by science and expert advice. This will remain the foundation of our approach.”

Yellow-legged hornets are an invasive species, and a danger to local honey and wild bees. Biosecurity NZ

Inglis urged Aucklanders and beekeepers to keep a watchful eye out for the pests.

“We’ve had more than 5610 public notifications so far. It’s been fantastic to see such enthusiasm. We are very keen for this to continue, as it helps us respond quickly to possible detections,” he said.

Biosecurity was also using different trap designs to hunt the hornets, as well as launching a national ad campaign to encourage sighting reports from the public.

It said it was purchasing electronic tracking gear to trace nests, by attaching transmitters to foraging worker hornets.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

External project management team to run Nelson Hospital redevelopment

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

Nelson Hospital. RNZ / Samantha Gee

Health New Zealand is hiring an external project management team to run the Nelson Hospital redevelopment for the next six years.

The project aims to deliver new, refurbished and seismically strengthened buildings in three packages.

First up, design of a new 11,000 square metre inpatient unit and energy centre is due to begin next April.

Earthquake strengthening of intensive care, surgery and radiology buildings among others is last off the blocks, to run from mid 2027 till 2032.

The various projects range in value from $50 million to more than $150m each.

“Given the scale of the programme and HNZ’s internal capacity, HNZ is now seeking to engage a full-service external project management team … through to the anticipated completion in late-2032,” a tender document said.

The team would oversee the day-to-day and end-to-end delivery of each project.

Applicants had to have project managed a health construction project in Australasia worth at least $150m in the last five years, and a large regionally-based one outside the main NZ cities, too.

The tender said price would only be 15 percent of what was factored in on awarding the work, with experience 30 percent and team capability 40 percent.

The refurbishment of the two main hospital blocks called George Manson and Percy Brunette was due to run from 2026 to 2031.

“The current deficit of medical surgical beds is 16 and without redevelopment and model of care changes, this would have risen to 53 beds by 2043,” it said.

“Outdated facilities are preventing improvements to health equity, overall patient experience and time efficiencies.”

It also noted that poor seismic resilience “jeopardises post-disaster healthcare following a significant seismic event”.

Buildings had been categorised as earthquake-prone and had to be fixed or demolished by 2032.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Three more arrests after murder of US student Kyle Whorrall in Auckland

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

Kyle Whorrall, 33, was killed at a bus stop on St Johns Rd in Meadowbank, Auckland. SUPPLIED

A trio of teenagers are the latest to be arrested as Auckland police investigate the violent murder of American student Kyle Whorrall.

Six people have now been charged in connection with the homicide investigation, including five teenagers and a 33-year-old woman.

Whorrall, a PhD student at Auckland University, was killed in an attack at a Meadowbank bus stop on 19 April.

The Operation Aberfeldy team has since been investigating the homicide.

On Thursday, three additional people were charged after police searched properties in Kaikohe, Mt Wellington and Manurewa.

Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin said as a result, two 18-year-olds and a 17-year-old have been charged jointly with murder and aggravated robbery.

“We have spoken with Kyle’s mother this morning, to keep her updated on this development, and it is not lost on us the profound impact this event has had on her family,” Baldwin said.

The investigation now shifts towards moving into the prosecution phase, Baldwin said.

“At this point we believe we have identified those allegedly involved, however the investigation remains ongoing.”

An 18-year-old male will appear in the Kaikohe Youth Court and the other two charged will appear in the Auckland Youth Court on Thursday.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Farmers doing their bit to support those with intellectual disabilities in rural communities

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

Kaye and her daughter check out the calves at the Temuka sale. Supplied

Strong beef prices are helping raise record funds as part of a fundraising scheme that’s been going for more than 40 years.

IHC has been around for 70 years supporting those with intellectual disabilities, particularly in rural communities.

For more than half that time, the IHC Calf and Rural Scheme has helped raised funds for the charity with farmers donating a weaned calf which is then sold and the proceeds donated.

National fundraising manager Greg Millar said some farmers donated multiple calves and had been doing so for generations.

“When they come to sale, [the calves] are often of amazing quality as well.”

Millar said the scheme was badly impacted by Mycoplasma bovis and Covid-19.

“We had to change everything about the way we ran the calf and rural scheme and tighten up a lot of our processes. At one stage we thought it could be the end of the scheme just because it was high risk.”

However, with farmers urging they persevered, it returned to full strength last year and raised $1.2 million.

He said this year is looking likely to be a record fundraiser.

“The sale prices have been great. The numbers we’ve been getting have been great.”

Millar said at the recent Temuka sale, which had more calves than the year before, the average price was about $100 per calf which meant the sale earned an extra $50,000.

He said he was always impressed by farmers generosity, which allowed them to help families of children with intellectual disabilities.

“I’m always astounded by how amazing and supportive the farming community is around New Zealand.”

With one more sale in January, he expects to know the final total in the new year.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Millions of hectares are still being cut down every year. How can we protect global forests?

By The Conversation -

December 11, 2025

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Dooley, Senior Research Fellow, School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne

Ahead of the United Nations climate summit in Belém last month, Brazil’s President Lula da Silva urged world leaders to agree to roadmaps away from fossil fuels and deforestation and pledge the resources to meet these goals.

After failing to secure consensus, COP president Andre Corrêa do Lago announced these roadmaps as a voluntary initiative. Brazil will report back on progress at next year’s UN climate summit, COP31, when it hands the presidency to Turkey and Australia chairs the negotiations.

Why now?

These goals originate in the outcomes of the first global stocktake of the world’s progress towards the Paris Agreement goals, undertaken in 2023.

At the COP28 talks in Dubai in that year, there was an agreement to transition away from fossil fuels and to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation by 2030.

Yet achieving these goals relies on a “just transition”, where no country is left behind in the transition to a low-carbon future, including a “core package” of public finance to address climate adaptation, and loss and damage. The Belém outcome fell short.

Forests need urgent protection

Forest loss and degradation is continuing, at an average rate of 25 million hectares a year over the last decade, according to the Global Forest Watch. This is 63% higher than the rate needed to meet existing targets to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030. Yet the climate pledges submitted for the Belém COP remain far off track from this goal.

In the 2025 Land Gap Report, my colleagues and I calculated the scale of this “forest gap” – the gap between 2030 targets and the plans countries are putting forward in their climate pledges.

We show the pledges submitted up until this year’s climate summit would cut deforestation by less than 50% by 2030, meaning forests spanning almost 4 million hectares would still be cut down. The pledges would lead to forest degradation – where the ecological integrity of a forest area is diminished – of almost 16 million hectares. This is only a 10% reduction on current rates.

Together, this equates to an anticipated “forest gap” of around 20 million hectares expected to be lost or degraded each year by 2030. That’s about twice the size of South Korea.

While this underscores the inadequacy of commitments, the analysis is based on pledges submitted up to the start of November 2025, at which point only 40% of countries had submitted an updated plan. Major pledges submitted during COP31, such as from the European Union and China, don’t change this analysis.

A graph which shows the rate of deforestation. — This graph shows that deforestation will only slightly decline to 2030.
The Land Gap Report, author supplied., CC BY-ND

Forest wins in Belém

A new fund for forest conservation called the Tropical Forests Forever Facility was launched in Brazil, attracting $US6.7 billion in pledges ($A9.9 billion).

The forest fund focuses on tropical deforestation, the leading cause of emissions from forest loss. But it has a key weakness: the limited monitoring of forest degradation, which could allow countries to receive payments while still logging primary forests.

The fund will establish a science committee and plans to revise monitoring indicators over the next three years, creating an opportunity to strengthen its ability to protect tropical forests.

The COP30 leaders’ summit also saw the launch of a historic pledge of $US1.8 billion ($A2.7 billion) to support conservation and recognition of 160 million hectares of Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ territories in tropical forest countries.

But global action on forests needs to extend beyond the tropics. Across both deforestation and forest degradation, countries in the global north are responsible for over half of global tree cover loss over the past decade.

Beyond tropical forests

A global accountability framework on forests is needed to increase ambition on climate action, including in countries and regions with extensive forests outside of the tropics, such as Australia, Canada and Europe.

In these regions, industrial logging is a major driver of tree-cover loss but receives far less political attention than tropical deforestation. Wide gaps in reporting – between deforestation and degradation – mean logging-related degradation often goes unreported.

In a recent report, only 59 countries said they monitor forest degradation. Of these, almost three-quarters are tropical forest countries.

The IUCN World Conservation Congress which convened in Abu Dhabi this year prior to the climate talks, passed a motion on delivering equitable accountability and means of implementation for international forest protection goals. This arose from a recognised need to promote greater equity between forest protection standards across countries.

All of this points to an urgent need to tackle accountability in global forest governance. The forest roadmap to be developed for COP31 in Turkey could help drive stronger alignment and transparency across UN processes – from the UN Forum on Forests’ 2017–2030 plan to the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s 2030 target to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.

Australia could lead on forests

Australia could help shape global forest ambition in the year ahead. It is currently the only country whose emissions pledge promises to halt and reverse deforestation and degradation by 2030 – a clear signal that developed countries must lead.

As President of Negotiations at COP31, Australia can also work to bring Brazil’s fossil-fuel and forest roadmaps into formal negotiations. But this depends on two things: credible leadership from developed countries and long-overdue climate finance. As a deforestation hotspot with ongoing native forest logging, Australia has considerable work to do to meet this responsibility.

Kate Dooley receives funding from the Australian Research Council and a number of philanthropic organisations. She is affiliated with Climate Integrity and the Minderoo Foundation.

– ref. Millions of hectares are still being cut down every year. How can we protect global forests? – https://theconversation.com/millions-of-hectares-are-still-being-cut-down-every-year-how-can-we-protect-global-forests-271305

Live: Black Caps v West Indies second test – day two

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Black Caps ripped through the West Indies on the first day of the second test in Wellington, but it came at a cost.

Late on day one the West Indies were dismissed for just 205, with a top score of just 48 from Shai Hope to put the Kiwis well in the ascendancy at 24 without loss.

However, after taking four wickets in the first innings, seamer Blair Tickner was forced from the field with a serious looking shoulder injury after landing awkwardly attempting to save a boundary.

Tickner joins Nathan Smith, Matt Henry, Kyle Jameison, Mitch Santner and Tom Blundell on the Black Caps injury list.

First ball is at 11am.

Squad: Tom Latham (c), Michael Bracewell, Kristian Clarke*, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Mitchell Hay*, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Michael Rae*, Blair Tickner, Kane Williamson, Will Young

*uncapped Test player

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

Michael Bracewell Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz / Photosport Ltd 2025

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

People facing ‘imminent homelessness’ not eligible for emergency housing, Citizens Advice Bureau says

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

Nick Monro

Welfare changes are biting so hard that people face losing the cars they call home or are struggling to provide the most basic needs, a Citizens Advice Bureau report has found.

The report, based on more than 10,000 requests for the bureau’s help, found people from all walks of life were struggling to meet basic living costs.

Government policy or law changes such as benefit sanctions, tighter emergency housing criteria and cuts to community services had exacerbated the hardship, the report found.

The bureau’s national policy advisor Louise May told Nine to Noon some of the people coming to them were in precarious situations – but instead of getting help, they were left to spiral.

“We are seeing people who may have young children or babies coming in and they’re facing imminent homelessness and they’re being told that they’re not eligible for emergency accommodation,” she said.

That was sometimes because they were told they had contributed to their own homelessness and did not qualify for support under a policy introduced by the government, she said.

Social Development Minister Louise Upston said she knew many New Zealanders had been finding things tough and the government was focused on easing the cost of living.

The report gave several case studies including a father of a disabled child who was spiralling into debt.

“Tegan is struggling with a large electricity bill because the heat pump broke down over winter and the landlord refused to fix it, requiring Tegan to only use his own oil heater instead. The landlord told Tegan that if they are cold, they can move out,” the report said.

Work and Income said he did not qualify for support because he was paying what he could to the power company so it was not threatening to cut him off. It suggested he stop paying his car and content insurance.

Another detailed a woman living in her car seeking help.

“Anya needs to repair her car and make it road legal but has been told by Work and Income that she cannot receive any support or loan from them as their new policy is not to fix cars. Anya needs to be able to maintain her car as she lives in it and cannot afford to be fined. She keeps getting tickets because it is not legal.

Another person living in their car was desperate for work but could not afford to wash their clothes or buy soap to be presentable.

The Citizens Advice Bureau was calling for a range of improvements including prioritising food, housing and utility security and reviewing compliance penalties.

May said people coming to see them often had many different case managers or struggled to get through to Work and Income on the phone.

There needed to be more face-to-face connection between WINZ staff and clients so they could build rapport and really understand the situations, she said.

The bureau was seeing more and more people who would not previously be considered vulnerable spiral into financial holes that they could not get out of.

Upston was not available for an interview with Nine to Noon but sent a statement.

“The government had always acknowledged that many New Zealanders [have] been finding things tough during a prolonged cost-of-living challenge,” she said.

“That’s why over the last two years, we’ve focused on fixing the basics, lowering inflation and interest rates to begin easing the cost of living, and reducing taxes to put more money in people’s pockets… New Zealand needs a growing economy, to create more jobs, and higher wages,”she said.

She understand MSD had promised to work with Citizens Advice to address operational issues around Work and Income raised in the report and would meet with them February next year, she said.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Children exposed to asbestos should be monitored long-term – public health experts

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

The recalled sand products. Supplied

The Public Health Communication Centre says children exposed to asbestos contained in coloured play sands should be regularly monitored to ensure the best chance of successfully treating cancers – which could take decades to emerge later in life.

Hundreds of schools have been tested – with nearly 40 forced to temporarily close – following the discovery of naturally occurring asbestos, tremolite, in coloured play sands last month.

At least nine children’s activity products containing coloured sands were recalled over the last month after testing in Australia revealed the presence of the carcinogen in products.

Illnesses could take decades to emerge

University of Canterbury toxicologist, Professor Ian Shaw, said it could be decades before any illnesses related to the exposure emerged as symptoms.

“Mesothelioma, which is the cancer which is most likely to be caused by asbestos, tends not to be diagnosed early. The reason is that you don’t notice the symptoms – they’re the sort of things that you might just pass off.

“In kids that we know have been exposed, we would then want to monitor them – say, yearly – for many years so that if they did contract mesothelioma we could detect it really early and have a greater chance of treatment success,” Shaw said.

University of Canterbury toxicologist Professor Ian Shaw. Supplied

He said testing needed to be done to better understand the risks associated with exposure to the products.

“We need to know not only how much they’re breathing in – in terms of the concentration in air – but how long they’ve been breathing it because the higher the concentration, the longer the exposure, the greater the risk.

“It’s immensely complex but it’s really important because we’ve got kids exposed and what we do know about chemicals that cause cancer is that they tend to have a greater effect in children than adults. The reason for that is that kids are growing, their cells are dividing more frequently and cancer-causing chemicals generally only affect cells that are dividing. So there’s more chance of them affecting dividing cells in kids,” Shaw said.

Shaw said not everyone who breathed in asbestos would necessarily develop cancer.

“Even if somebody breathes a whole load of it for a long period of time they might not develop cancer. We mustn’t be thinking that everybody’s going to get cancer in this case ’cause they’re not,” Shaw said.

University of Auckland professor of commercial law Alex Sims said that in order to support the monitoring of children exposed to the chemical, the voluntary Asbestos Exposure Register – which stopped accepting new entries in 2023 – should be reinstated and expanded to include people who may have suffered exposure in a wider variety of environments.

“It was mainly to do with workplaces so if employees had been exposed to potential asbestos they could be on that register and it would allow for greater monitoring.

“Australia has one and – with the coloured play sand incident – people are being told to register there.

“As we’ve seen – with the coloured play sand – asbestos issues are far broader than just employees so that would be really useful,” Sims said.

University of Auckland professor of commercial law Alex Sims. Supplied

Enforcement of importing regulations lacking

Sims said importing regulations meant it was currently illegal to import products that contained asbestos without a permit but little was being done to back up the legislation.

“The problem is that there is no requirement to test products before they come into New Zealand so we’re just relying on people to test products but there’s no one checking to see whether anything has been tested.

“If people are importing things into New Zealand [and] if there’s a risk that a product could contain asbestos then testing should be carried out but, as we’ve seen, you can’t rely on importers to do this, so instead you need a government body – say, for example, MBIE (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) – to arrange for the testing and to do that at the importer’s cost,” Sims said.

Sims said consumers should consider choosing children’s products that had simpler, more natural, elements to avoid the risks associated with chemical contamination or poor manufacturing standards.

“We have product safety laws about toys – for example [you] can’t have loose batteries and other things – but we do rely on importers and suppliers following the law and they don’t always.

“When it comes to enforcement, the MBIE and Commerce Commission can’t be everywhere, it’s only when reports are made and sometimes reports come after harm’s been suffered.

“The law and the government can’t protect everybody and it’s very much up to people to take care and if you’re looking at something, just go ‘no that doesn’t look safe’ and don’t buy it. Just because it’s sitting on a shelf it does not mean to say that it’s safe.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Hemp industry rules loosened in sweeping law change

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

Hemp industry laws are set to be loosened as Regulation Minister David Seymour announces sweeping changes.

Seymour says the current licensing rules are heavy-handed and outdated, and will be replaced with new rules.

Industrial hemp growers will no longer require a licence if the plants contain less than one-percent THC.

But Seymour says growers will need to notify police and the Ministry for Primary Industries before planting, so they’re aware it’s not illegal cannabis.

David Seymour visiting the Hemp NZ Food Factory in Ashburton today. RNZ / Nate McKinnon

He says industrial hemp has very low levels of THC and doesn’t need to be heavily regulated like cannabis.

Under the new settings:

Industrial hemp will no longer require a licence to grow or handle.
A clear THC threshold of less than 1% will distinguish hemp from high-THC cannabis.
Hemp biomass, including flowers and leaves, may be supplied to licensed medicinal cannabis producers under strict conditions.
Growers must notify Police before planting to avoid accidental enforcement and assist in controlling illicit cannabis activities.
Growers must also notify MPI at the same time as Police.
Hemp use remains restricted to fibre, seed, and oil, with additional permissions for medicinal cannabis supply as noted above.
Existing food safety and medicinal cannabis requirements will continue to apply

David Seymour speaks to media during his visit. RNZ / Nate McKinnon

Speaking to media at the Hemp NZ Food Factory in Ashburton following the announcement on Thursday morning, Seymour said the industry had been treated like a criminal for too long.

“The industry has been held back by outdated, heavy-handed rules that treat growing low-risk crops like high-risk drugs. That ends now.”

Cabinet agreed to a package of changes to scrap the current licensing regime for industrial hemp and replace it with a more practical, proportionate regulatory approach.

Seymour said red tape for the sake of it had cost growers money and limited innovation.

RNZ / Nate McKinnon

He said the changes were expected to generate a benefit of $7.5m over 10 years, and about $41m in over 20.

“The changes will reduce costs and give certainty to growers and investors.”

Industrial hemp contained low levels of THC and was grown for food, oil, fibre and health products, Seymour said, and despite its low risk had been heavily regulated.

He said it was another example of why New Zealand needed the Regulatory Standards Act.

“If the Act was in place at the time these regulations were made, you would be able to see the low risks the crazy regulations were in place to ‘mitigate’.

RNZ / Nate McKinnon

“So far though, the disproportionately high costs of regulating the use and exchange of industrial hemp have been hidden.”

Under the new settings industrial hemp would no longer need a licence to grow or handle, a THC threshold of less than 1 percent would distinguish it from high-THC cannabis and hemp biomass including leaves and flowers could be supplied to licensed medicinal cannabis producers.

Growers would need to notify police and MPI before planting to avoid accidental enforcement and hemp use remained restricted to fibre, seed and oil.

The Ministry of Health would draft new regulatory settings.

RNZ / Nate McKinnon

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

‘Speed dating’ recruitment programme sees students get jobs

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

Nathaniel Lua was one of the first to complete the programme and had taken a job as a machine operator at APL Manufacturing. Supplied

The manufacturing industry and government have come up with a plan to address the chronic and increasing shortage of skilled staff with a programme described as recruitment speed dating.

The Earn as You Learn programme was trialed earlier this year by Waikato manufacturers, Advancing Manufacturing Aotearoa, WINTEC, the Waikato Engineering Careers Association and Workforce Development Council Hanga-Aro-Rau.

The industry employed 220,000 people across 23,000 firms and contributed 8 percent of GDP and 60 percent of the country’s exports.

The initiative was developed to address New Zealand’s worsening manufacturing skills shortage at a time when the manufacturing, engineering and logistics sectors were facing a projected shortfall of 157,000 workers over the next five years.

Hanga-Aro-Rau deputy chief executive Samantha McNaughton said the model worked because it combined the strengths of classroom learning with on-the-job training.

“This programme brings together the strengths of classroom learning and in-work training in a way that genuinely reflects what employers need.

“Learners gain a recognised qualification while being paid, and employers get to see how they perform in real workplaces, which creates a practical and scalable way to close the workforce gap,” she said.

The 30-week model combined paid workplace rotations with classroom study, giving students two days a week at WINTEC’s Rotokauri campus and three days in hands-on roles across some of the region’s most advanced manufacturing firms.

Over the course of the programme, students rotate through three employers, gaining exposure to different production environments and technologies.

Employers said the training programme was expected to cut the costs of hiring staff, after delivering one of the highest completion and employment rates seen in the manufacturing sector.

APL Manufacturing general manager Howard Fountaine said one of the biggest surprises had been the calibre of people coming through the programme.

APL Manufacturing general manager Howard Fountaine. Supplied

“This is the closest thing to speed dating for recruitment. Instead of a half-hour interview, we get ten weeks with each learner, so the risk almost disappears because we already know how they work before offering them a job,” he said.

“These kids have genuinely surprised us with their engagement, aptitude and on-the-job analysis, and some have come in well above what we would normally expect at entry level.

“Of the ten students we hosted, we would have hired nine if positions were available, and we even held vacancies open because the calibre coming through was so strong.”

Of the 17 learners who met all course requirements, nine had secured full-time roles with their host companies.

A further two learners were already employed prior to joining the course.

“Two have already stepped straight into trainee leading hand roles, which shows the capability in this group. It is rare for a pilot to need almost no changes, but we may have got the recipe close to right because the structure has absolutely proved itself,” Fountaine said.

Nathaniel Lua was one of the first to complete the programme and had taken a job as a machine operator at APL Manufacturing.

He said the company had already offered him leadership training, which was something he never imagined straight out of school.

“It showed me I could build a long-term career at home, stay close to my family and still aim high,” he said.

Other employers had reported similar results, including Longveld Engineering, Hansa Products, Stainless Design and NZ Aero.

Fountaine said the success in Waikato had accelerated the national expansion of the initiative, with a regional steering group overseeing expansion to Lower Hutt, Canterbury and Auckland.

The goal was to grow graduate numbers from 17 in year one to between 100 and 150 by 2027.

Lower Hutt will run the programme next year, followed by Canterbury in 2027.

Exposure to industry-leading Waikato businesses also included Gallagher Group, ES Plastics, Stafford Engineering, Action Manufacturing, Loadscan and Supreme Stainless.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Person dies in Auckland CBD

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

RNZ / Marika Khabazi

A person has died in Auckland’s city centre, with emergency services called to the scene early on Thursday.

St John was at the scene near Sturdee Street and Custom Street West at about 6.30am.

It says an ambluance and a rapid response vehicle responded.

Police say the death is not being treated as suspicious.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Departing All Blacks assistant Jason Holland returns to Hurricanes

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

Jason Holland is returning to the Hurricanes. PHOTOSPORT

Outgoing All Blacks assistant coach Jason Holland is returning to Hurricanes ahead of 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season.

Holland announced in October that after a two-year spell as an All Blacks assistant coach, he would depart his role following the team’s recent northern tour.

Previously a Hurricanes assistant coach from 2016 to 2019, and then head coach from 2020 to 2023, Holland will reprise his role as an assistant for next season.

Led by head coach Clark Laidlaw, Holland joins a coaching team that includes fellow assistants Jamie Mackintosh, Cory Jane, Brad Cooper, and Bryn Evans.

“I’m hugely grateful and excited by the opportunity to be back at the Hurricanes,” Holland said.

“It’s been awesome working alongside a great group of staff and players in the first few days since I’ve been back. They’ve created an exciting brand of Hurricanes rugby, so I’m expecting the upcoming season to be a lot of fun.”

During his initial stint with the Hurricanes, Holland was part of the coaching group that delivered the club its sole Super Rugby title in 2016.

Laidlaw said they were excited to have Holland return to the club.

“He obviously has a wealth of experience, not only at the Hurricanes as a head coach and attack coach, but also in the last couple of years with the All Blacks. We feel that, with his experience and ability and knowledge to help us with our attacking game, he’ll be a huge asset,” Laidlaw said.

He added that with an increased squad, as well as Holland’s experience and availability, it made sense to bring him back to the club.

“With the squad going up to 50 players during pre-season, we were looking for a coach to come in and help. The timing and opportunity for Alfie [Holland’s nickname] to come in, and his excitement and enthusiasm for the role, was too good to miss.”

Prior to his involvement with the Hurricanes, Holland enjoyed a successful period as Munster assistant coach between 2008 and 2012, before winning the 2013 NPC as a Canterbury assistant coach.

As a player, Holland represented both Manawatū and Taranaki in the NPC before making more than 100 appearances for Munster.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Hayden Wilde’s coach: ‘He was just like a total machine’

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

NZ triathlete Hayden Wilde. PHOTOSPORT

A renowned coach, whose stable of runners has included British greats Paula Radcliffe and Sir Mo Farah, says Kiwi triathlete Hayden Wilde still has a lot of untapped potential.

Wilde will aim to achieve what some seemed impossible by claiming the T100 title in Qatar this weekend, after a horrific accident in May.

Gary Lough is one third of the world-class coaching team that Wilde assembled at the end of last year when he decided to take a break from the Olympic distance and the World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS).

Wilde added a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics to the bronze he won in Tokyo and also finished the year as the No 1 ranked male triathlete.

But Wilde has focused on longer-distance events this year in an effort to refresh himself for another tilt at an Olympic gold medal and has dominated this year’s T100 Triathlon World Tour.

Lough represented Great Britain in middle-distance running in the mid-1990s before a knee injury curtailed his career and instead started coaching his wife, Paula Radcliffe.

She won marathon gold at the 2005 World Athletics Championships, represented Great Britain at four Olympics, and set a women’s world record at the 2003 London Marathon, which stood for 16 years.

Sir Mo Farah became Britain’s most successful track athlete with his haul of four Olympic gold medals in the 5000m and 10,000m at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics, plus multiple World Championship titles.

Gary Lough and Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain in 2007. Matthew Lewis

Lough began coaching Farah later in his career as he started focusing more heavily on marathon running and had great success.

At the end of 2024 Wilde parted ways with New Zealand coach Craig Kirkwood after eight years together.

Lough was approached by someone from Wilde’s team last year.

“I was aware of him, I’m interested in triathlon but I’ve never been involved with triathlon before. I’d watched him last year, primarily Olympics and WTCS stuff,” Lough said.

At first Lough didn’t really know what to think.

“When you see someone at a high level you sort of have to question why. I don’t coach that many people. I said it would be a good idea for us to meet because unless I get on with someone and I kind of gel with them, especially when a lot of stuff we have to do is remote, I feel like it would be very difficult.”

The pair ended up meeting and Lough said he liked him straight away.

“He’s a super cool guy, I could tell from just the way he was talking he was a hard worker, he got me to understand some of his performance stuff and got me thinking where we can actually take this.”

Wilde’s super charged coaching team

Coach Gary Lough and Mo Farah before the 2018 Chicago Marathon. Michael Steele

Lough has had just under a year coaching Wilde, who has covered all his bases with the trio of coaches he has enlisted.

His cycling coach is Spaniard Javier Sola, a performance coach at UAE Team Emirates, whose star rider is three-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar.

He also has renowned French swimming coach Fred Vergnoux in his corner. Vergnoux coaches Canadian sensation Summer McIntosh, who won three gold medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics. McIntosh credited Vergnoux for helping her set three world records earlier this year.

The four have never actually been in the same room together.

“We spend a lot of time looking at each other’s faces on screens and we all have an app on our phones, where we can essentially put the pieces of the jigsaw down and then we put them all together to see what the week looks like.

“There was a plan at one point for us three coaches to have a training camp with Hayden in Spain where Javier is based but it didn’t quite work out. I have been with Fred a few times on training camps and we’ve met at different competitions but I’ve only ever spoken to Javier over the phone or online.

“It’s an interesting collaboration but one which I think has worked super well considering a lot of the challenges that have been thrown at us this year.”

Lough lives in Monaco, less than an hour’s drive from where Vergnoux is based in France. Wilde is in Andorra, which is sandwiched between France and Spain. The Kiwi is about an hour’s drive away from the main altitude training centre in France, where Vergnoux regularly takes his swimmers and Lough takes his runners.

Career threatening injuries

Hayden Wilde a few days after his accident. Hayden Wilde

Lough was with Wilde in May when he ran a personal best 10km in Tokyo and flew out the next day just before the Kiwi suffered severe injuries when he had a bike crash.

“I get off my flight, I open up my phone to messages, images of MRI scans, X-rays, crazy crazy stuff.”

Wilde broke several ribs, had a broken scapula, and a punctured lung after crashing into the back of a truck while on a training ride in Tokyo. Getting Wilde cleared for an emergency medical flight to Belgium so he could get shoulder surgery in a timely manner was the first priority.

“At the time and I think from the outside most people’s thought process was if he made it back for the last couple of T100 races of the year then he’d be doing super well. But we saw everyday the little incremental improvements to what he was able to do after such a short period of time.”

The 28-year-old’s season had started brilliantly when he won the opening T100 race in Singapore but he missed the next two rounds while rehabilitating.

Just three months later it was remarkable enough that Wilde made it on the start line for the T100 series race in London, let alone win it.

“We had been in the Pyrenees and we did a specific bike-run workout and it was obvious from that we knew where he was at so it wasn’t a surprise that he won London. But he was just like a total machine to do everything and anything that he could do to further his progress with the recovery.”

An emotional Hayden Wilde wins the London T100 Triathlon in August. T100 Triathlon via Getty Images

Wilde then won the next three races. His perfect record in T100 events ended in Dubai last month, after an extra-lap mix-up caught a few competitors out, and saw him finish 8th.

“He essentially would have been undefeated until now if he hadn’t made the mistake on the bike in Dubai but he’s done super well. It’s just a testament to him and the dedication he’s put in to his recovery.

“It’s been super challenging, still major restrictions with what he has in terms of his ability to swim. There’s a lot more rehab, a lot more stuff to be done to get him back to the swim level he needs to be at for the Olympic distance triathlon.”

A high ceiling

Lough said Wilde had made certain gains since switching distances this year. He believes he’s unlocked a different kind of potential on the bike and said Wilde’s running regime was very different to what he’s done before.

“We’ve increased things quite a bit, increased the amount of running he does per week, and increased the intensity.”

Lough said Wilde had a high ceiling.

“He’s very capable, if we put him in a half marathon on the road, he’d run super well. He hasn’t really had to kind of show what he’s capable of, he’s usually been so far away in the run in the T100.”

Lough’s current group of distance runners includes Belgian marathon star Bashir Abdi, who has won Olympic silver and bronze medals, and Swedish Olympian Suldan Hassan.

Legendary British runner Sir Mo Farah jumps on the track with Hayden Wilde in France. Hayden Wilde Youtube channel

Wilde has had training sessions with Lough’s runners. In July the New Zealander had track sessions with Abdi and Hassan, and Sir Mo Farah joined in.

“I’ve got my running group which includes athletes who are running low two hours for the marathon, setting European records, Olympic medallists. Sometimes Hayden has jumped off the bike and he’s jumped in with them and they’re looking at me and they’re thinking ‘how is this boy able to keep going for another hour after being on the bike?’

“So he’s got a lot of untapped potential but I’m super happy with where we’ve taken it in the first year and I’m excited to see where we can take it in the next couple of years.”

The Olympic challenge

Wilde’s plan is to switch back to the shorter Olympic triathlon distance in the lead up to LA28.

Lough said while the longer distances Wilde is doing now will help with his general conditioning, switching back will present challenges.

“I also think the shorter distance has changed, even since probably Paris last year, people have stepped up, Matt Hauser for instance from Australia.

“Those top triathletes are kind of being a bit more specific. There was a tendency to have a little bit of generic coaching, everybody did everything but now I think athletes are looking at run coaches, swim coaches etc.

“It’s a lot easier to move up from sprint distance to middle distance than it is from long distance down to sprint distance. The specificity which we need for the Olympic distance is quite different to what we are doing at the moment so that’s going to be the main focus for next year.”

Lough watched with fascination some of the tight finishes Wilde had with his fiercest rival Alex Yee. The British triathlete pipped the Kiwi on the run to win gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Wilde reacts with winner Alex Yee of Great Britain during the men’s Olympic triathlon in Paris 2024. photosport

Lough first met Yee when he was 16, and worked with him as a coach/team manager at British Athletics before Yee decided to specialise in triathlon.

Just this week Yee added a spectacular chapter to his career by becoming the second-fastest British marathoner in history, just behind Farah, at the Valencia Marathon.

Yee still had one foot in triathlon in 2025 but didn’t compete in the full WTCS series this year to focus on long-distance running.

But just like Wilde, the 27-year-old is expected to return back to Olympic distance triathlon full-time as he builds towards LA28.

“Come LA2028 it will be everyone out for himself on the start line,” Lough said.

Hayden Wilde 2.0

Lough said it was difficult to underplay what Wilde had been through this year.

“He really shouldn’t be able to do what he’s doing but it’s down to his dedication. We have a lot of work to do to get his swim back to where it needs to be …that is a little bit of the weak link in his chain at the moment but he’s very focused on getting that back. I’m looking forward to working with the new improved Hayden Wilde 2.0 in the next few years and bringing back more medals for New Zealand.”

Lough has been to a few of Wilde’s races this year but won’t be going to Qatar.

“There’s very little you can actually do on the day. I don’t know if it’s a trait of New Zealanders but Hayden Wilde is very very self-sufficient.”

Hayden Wilde trains with Belgian marathon star Bashir Abdi (left) and Swedish Olympian Suldan Hassan (right) in France, July 2025. Hayden Wilde Youtube channel

Wilde recently told World Triathlon’s Youtube channel that the T100 series had highlighted the importance of being complete at all distances.

“You need to be one of the better swimmers in the world to keep in the front group. You need to be able to ride a time trial bike and ride it hard for 80km. You need to back up with an 18km run at pretty fast paces. So for me it’s a challenge to show that I can be one of the most complete triathletes in the world,” Wilde said.

When Wilde reflected on his year he said he refused to give up after the accident.

“That’s the attitude I had, I was really happy to do enough to get back on the start line without doing any damage. That’s the most important part is knowing how your body works and not pushing it too hard but pushing it enough where it does get a response.”

A fourth finish at the T100 Triathlon World Championship Final will guarantee Wilde the series crown and NZ$345,000.

The race starts at 10:45pm NZ time on Friday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Government launches ‘one-stop shop’ app

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

Minister for Digitising Government Judith Collins. Nick Monro

The minister in charge of a new government app promises it will be “more secure than almost anything else you could think about”.

Minister for Digitising Government Judith Collins has launched the Govt.nz app this week after several years of development.

“It’s to enable people, say if there’s a life event, a baby’s born, go into the app and click on ‘we’ve got a new baby’ or something and it will come up with all the things you need to do around registration, services that you might want to be linked to,” Collins explained to Morning Report.

“It basically brings a lot of the government services into one place for people to link through to.”

The Govt.nz app as seen in the Apple app store. Supplied

In its current form, the app only included some public services.

“[Wednesday’s] launch was the very first iteration of the app, and it’s going to be changing and added to as we move on. Every six-to-eight weeks you’ll see changes,” Collins said.

“The idea is that it will become a one-stop shop for people who want to use it, and that’s the other important message: this is not compulsory, this is entirely voluntary. It’s for people, like, me who love to have apps and want to do all my work on them.”

An anticipated feature to be added to the app next year was digital driver’s licences and other identity credentials.

“[To do that] we need to change the law and we have that law change going through … That’s due to go through parliament in completion of the legislation early next year,” she said.

“We expect to have that digital driver’s licence uploaded third quarter of next year.”

Collins said the app would be backed by the government’s digital security system and be secure against hackers.

“Well they [can] get access now to people’s filing cabinets and everything else. [It’s] more secure than almost anything else you could think about because it’s backed up by the government’s digital security,” she said.

“If you were to go and rent a house … The first thing the real estate agent’s going to say is ‘where are all your identity documents,’ so you end up handing over a copy of your passport, driver’s licence, birth certificate, photo-copied and put into someone’s filing cabinet.”

“You’ve got no control over that and it’s a massive honeypot for someone who is trying to steal identity. This is so much more secure.”

Collins also confirmed that the app had no means of tracking users.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Nine to Noon live: Growing crisis in welfare support revealed in major report

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

Minister for Social Development Louise Upston. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

A Citizens Advice Bureau report based on more than 10,000 requests for assistance has revealed what it calls “a growing crisis in welfare support”.

It said people from all walks of life, and all ages and ethnicities, were struggling to meet basic living costs.

The report, which was released on Thursday, said government policy changes such as benefit sanctions, tighter emergency housing criteria and cuts to community services had all exacerbated hardship.

Minister for Social Development Louise Upston acknowledged many New Zealanders were finding things tough, but said the government had been focusing on fixing the basics to begin to ease the cost of living.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Not just pizza: Italian cuisine makes UNESCO list

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

UNESCO has recognised Italian food is more than pizza, pasta and gelato, adding the range and ritual of the famed cuisine to its list of intangible cultural heritage.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose hard-right government has championed “Made in Italy” products as part of her nationalist agenda, hailed the recognition that she said “honours who we are and our identity”.

“Because for us Italians, cuisine is not just food or a collection of recipes. It is much more: it is culture, tradition, work, wealth,” she said in a statement.

Nunzia, prepares homemade orecchiette pasta in the street at Bari Vecchia, Apulia, on 11 June, 2024.

AFP / Piero Cruciatti

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Private hospitals are in trouble. Here’s what this means for public hospitals – and taxpayer dollars

By The Conversation -

December 11, 2025

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Scott, Professor of Health Economics and Director, Centre for Health Economics, Monash Business School, Monash University

Every other week there seems to be more bad news for private hospitals. The sale of Healthscope, hospital and maternity ward closures, and fights with private health insurers about funding, suggest they are in financial trouble.

Profitability is declining, especially since the COVID pandemic.

But are private hospitals’ financial struggles putting more pressure on public hospitals? And should governments direct more taxpayer funding to private health care?

How do private hospitals operate in Australia?

Australia has a mixed public and private hospital system. In 2022–23, the latest year for which figures are available, total funding for private hospitals from all sources was $21.5 billion, nearly a quarter of the $85.6 billion spent on public hospitals.

Private hospitals comprise around half (633 in September) of all hospitals in Australia. Three quarters of those admitted to private hospitals stayed less than 24 hours.

Around 70% of all elective surgeries (such as hip and knee replacements and cataract operations) are conducted in private hospitals, and they take 40% of all hospital admissions.

Private non-GP specialists decide who goes to a private hospital, usually after you have seen them in their private rooms.

A composite of a health worker looking stressed

When it comes to public hospitals, everyone seems to be waiting – waiting for emergency care, waiting for elective surgery, waiting to get onto a ward. Private hospitals are also struggling. In this five-part series, experts explain what’s going wrong, how patients are impacted, and the potential solutions.

What does ‘going private’ mean for patients?

Using the private system generally involves paying additional out-of-pocket costs – and these fees are often not known in advance.

For planned care, going private can shorten waiting times, and treatment is usually provided directly by a fully qualified specialist.

In contrast, public hospitals typically operate as training hospitals, where care is delivered by teams that include registrars: qualified doctors who are training to become specialists under specialist supervision.

It’s often assumed that paying more translates to a higher quality of care, but Australia has no objective data on the performance of non-GP specialists. GPs may offer guidance based on experience, but they also lack objective information about specialist fees and quality.

As a result, both the likely costs and the quality of care are often uncertain at the time patients are deciding between public and private treatment.

While Australians appreciate having a private system alongside public care, it does create uncomfortable questions about fairness. Private health insurance allows people to jump the queue, while many on lower incomes, who often have greater health needs, find it difficult to access specialist care.

Are private hospital pressures affecting the public system?

Public hospitals are also struggling. The median wait time for elective surgery in public hospitals has been on a steady upward trend since 2016, apart from spikes during COVID.

Ambulances are spending far more hours ramped outside public hospitals than five years ago across every state and territory.

Public hospitals frequently run deficits, spending more than they receive in funding.

But these pressures aren’t necessarily because patients have shifted away from private hospitals into public hospitals. This does not seem to be the cause of increased pressure on public hospitals.

Since 2019, the number of patients in private hospitals has actually grown faster (4.2% per year) than in public hospitals (2.8% per year).

Even as the volume of activity is increasing in private hospitals, profits are still falling.

The current situation seems to be caused by rising costs in private hospitals, not by people switching to public hospitals.

Should funding increase for private health care?

Private hospitals, private health insurers and Coalition governments have long argued that taxpayers’ money invested into private health care takes the pressure off the public sector.

While the government ruled out a bailout for Healthscope earlier this year, private health insurance rebates from the government already prop up private hospitals. These rebates are already projected to reach A$7.6 billion in 2025. And some insurers have called for even more taxpayer funding to increase these rebates.

The simple logic is appealing and understandable to voters: going private will avoid a public hospital admission for you as an individual and keep the waiting list down.

But this ignores another simple logic. Investing more in private hospitals rather than public hospitals will increase public hospital waiting lists because there is a fixed number of doctors at any one time.

Our previous research suggests that more money invested in private health care rather than public hospitals will mean non-GP specialists spend more time in private hospitals and less time in public hospitals.

With total working hours of all non-GP specialists falling over time, more private care means less public care.

And despite what many assume, having more people insured privately doesn’t take much pressure off the public system either.

Rather than increasing taxpayer subsidies to private health care, increasing funding for the public hospital system, including for doctors to spend more time in the public system, is a more direct and effective way to reduce public hospital waiting times.

So how can private hospitals reduce their costs?

Many private hospitals are small day-hospitals and may not be operating at full capacity. This is inefficient.

Mergers of private hospitals might help reduce costs through economies of scale and scope. The takeover of Healthscope hospitals by other hospital groups may go some way towards reducing costs, if the fixed costs of administration and billing can be spread across more hospitals.

However, the ownership of private hospitals by private equity firms, such as Healthscope hospitals, can increase financial risks for the sector as they use specific financing mechanisms, such as selling property and leasing it back, to extract short-term profits.

The prices of medical equipment and devices are centrally negotiated and may be too high, according to private health insurers, because the federal government doesn’t negotiate hard enough with medical devices sector.

More effective regulation of the contracts struck between private hospitals and private health insurers is another policy option to provide more clear incentives to reduce costs, while also ensuring more certainty on future funding for private hospitals.

After years of taxpayer-funded expansion, private hospitals may have hit their limit. To survive and be profitable once again, something has got to give that does not rely on government handouts.

Read more from the Hospitals in Crisis series here.

Anthony Scott receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

Terence C. Cheng 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.

– ref. Private hospitals are in trouble. Here’s what this means for public hospitals – and taxpayer dollars – https://theconversation.com/private-hospitals-are-in-trouble-heres-what-this-means-for-public-hospitals-and-taxpayer-dollars-270287

The toy aisle is still full of gender bias. Here’s how to navigate it these holidays

By The Conversation -

December 11, 2025

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sadaf Sagheer, Marketing Academic, RMIT University

Parents the world over have begun the task of negotiating Christmas lists written by their children. But buying the right presents for kids can feel like a minefield, with an ever-growing list of choices and factors to consider. Among all of this, the issue of gendered marketing looms large.

Gendered marketing refers to the division of marketplace products into restrictive gender categories. It happens when marketers employ the “four Ps of marketing” (products, price, place, promotion) but with an emphasis on gendered differences.

While gendered marketing reaches all of us, it is especially pronounced in children’s markets – and can help entrench gender inequalities from a young age.

Views on such marketing are changing rapidly with people increasingly seeking gender-inclusive products. And with good reason, as gendered marketing has been shown to have an influence on children’s interests and potentially limit their aspirations.

The pink and blue toy box

Toys are crucial in childrens’ development and learning. They help children express their emotions and imagine worlds beyond their own.

But gendered narratives baked into toys can instil certain beliefs and behaviours from an early age. From teddy bears to bicycles, colour-coding is used to suggest certain toys are “for boys” while others are “for girls”.

Take dolls as an example. Barbie, with her shiny hair and thin, statuesque body has long been criticised for setting unrealistic beauty ideals for young girls. Dolls also encourage play that emphasises grooming and caring, which, in turn, focuses girls’ attention on their appearance and ability to nurture.

This has been shown to limit occupational aspirations among young girls.
In one experimental study, 37 girls aged 4–7 played with either a Barbie or Mrs. Potato Head for five minutes, and were then asked about careers they felt they could pursue in the future. The girls – particularly those who played with Barbie – said they could pursue fewer occupations than boys, especially when considering male-dominated careers.

In contrast, action figures are marketed as distinct from dolls and as “gender-appropriate” for boys. Their disproportionate V-shaped bodies portray large and muscular physiques as a norm for men. And they are often paired with accessories such as guns and swords, subtly framing adventure and violence as masculine attributes, which young boys may try and emulate.

Even seemingly “neutral” toys such as Lego have fallen down the pink-and-blue rabbit hole. The blue-ish world of Lego City encourages adventure and heroism through roles such as police officers and firefighters. Conversely, the pink-ish world of Heartlake City is all about food, leisure and fun.

These examples reflect a broader pinkification of STEM toys, wherein fashion dolls and pink plastic lab equipment are presented as “science for girls”.

Feminist scholars and other critics have long advocated for girls and boys to freely explore their identity without gendered expectations – and toys are a part of this.

These concerns have coalesced into groups advocating for gender-neutral toys, such as Let Toys Be Toys, Pink Stinks and Play Unlimited.

De-gendering the toy market

Our recent research highlights, how marketing is a forceful agent of gender socialisation – and explores how toy companies can embrace de-gendering.

At the most basic level, this could look like designing gender-neutral toys that work for all children.

Another consideration is gender-neutral pricing: setting prices that are fair, rather than perpetuating the “pink tax”.

Marketers should also represent diverse and inclusive interests in advertisements,
by showing both boys and girls playing with all types of toys.

In 2023, Hasbro’s “proudly made for juniors” campaign portrayed a both boys and girls playing together with Nerf guns – a toy historically marketed to boys. The ad was widely praised, and set a precedent for how the toy marketplace could move beyond rigid gender constraints.

In 2021, Lego pledged to remove gender bias from its toys by no longer labelling any of its products as “for girls” or “for boys”, as well as disallowing product searches based on gender on its website.

Today, however, the manufacturer has not outlined any specific changes made to its products to remove gender biases. Moreover, the Lego Australia homepage does currently direct consumers to “Cool toys for boys”, and “Fantasy”, “Animals and nature” and “Storyteller” toys for girls.

For the parents at home

Conscious adults wary of gendered toys and marketing also have a role to play. Parents, for instance, can have open and honest conversations with their children to help them decode gendered messages in toys.

And when it comes to Christmas shopping, it might be worth skipping the “award-winning” toy lists for more local and artisanal brands, which tend to be better sources for gender-neutral toys.

It’s also important to keep an eye out for messages of faux girls’ empowerment in “femvertising”. Putting pink science kits under the Christmas tree is not going to go further in empowering young girls.

Children are curious, imaginative and free-spirited – and the toys they play with should reflect this.

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.

– ref. The toy aisle is still full of gender bias. Here’s how to navigate it these holidays – https://theconversation.com/the-toy-aisle-is-still-full-of-gender-bias-heres-how-to-navigate-it-these-holidays-270462

The year’s best meteor shower is about to start – here’s how to see it

By The Conversation -

December 11, 2025

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland

Peak of the Geminids in 2017. Dai Jianfeng/IAU OAE, CC BY

Where many other meteor showers are often over-hyped, the Geminids are the real deal: far and away the best shower of the year, peaking on December 14–15 in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.

The Geminids – dust and debris left behind by the rock comet Phaethon – put on a fantastic display every year, but 2025 promises to be extra special because the Moon will be out of the way, giving us perfectly dark skies.

So where and when should you look?

Meteors that radiate from the constellation Gemini

The key thing for working out the visibility of a meteor shower is its “radiant”, the single point in the sky from which the meteors seemingly originate. For the Geminids, at their peak, that point lies within the constellation Gemini, near the bright star Castor (α Geminorum).

The radiant is a result of perspective – the dust that causes a given meteor shower is all travelling in the same direction towards Earth, just like the lines in the drawing below.

The higher the radiant is in the sky, the more meteors you will see. When the radiant is below the horizon, you won’t see any meteors from that shower because they are hitting the other side of the planet.

The dust that creates a meteor shower is all moving in the same direction. As meteors approach the observer, they appear to radiate from a single point on the horizon – the result of perspective.
Braindrain0000/Wikipedia, CC BY-SA

What time should I look?

The absolute best time to observe is when the radiant is at its highest in the sky, called “culmination”, which happens around 2am or 3am local time on December 15. But any time between midnight through dawn will be a great time to watch the meteor shower in Australia and New Zealand.

The time at which the Geminid radiant rises varies depending on your latitude. The farther south you live, the later the radiant will rise. And the farther north you live, the higher in the sky the radiant will reach, increasing the number of meteors you will see per hour.

The more light-polluted your skies, the fewer meteors you’ll see. Fortunately, the Geminids often produce many bright meteors so it’s worth looking even from inner city locations. Just remember the rates you see will be markedly worse than if you were camping somewhere dark in the countryside.

If the forecast is cloudy for the night of the Geminid maximum, the nights of December 13 and 15 will still offer a decent display, although not as spectacular.

Where should I look?

The Geminids can appear in any part of the night sky, but the best place to look with the unaided eye is usually around 45 degrees to the left or right of the radiant (whichever direction is a darker sky for you).

The easiest way to work this out is to find the constellation Orion, and look so that Orion is about 45 degrees from the centre of your vision.

I’d recommend spending at least an hour out beneath the stars when looking for Geminids, to give your eyes enough time to adapt to the darkness. Don’t look at your phone or any other bright lights during this time. Instead, take some blankets and pillows and lie down.

Ideally, you want to be resting so that the centre of your vision is about 45 degrees above the horizon. Then lie back, and enjoy the show. Remember that meteors come in randomly – you might wait ten minutes and see nothing, then three come along all at once.

Why do meteors look different in photos?

In the days after the Geminid peak, you’ll doubtless see lots of spectacular images on social media. But photos showing dozens of meteors against the background stars are composites of many photographs taken over a period of several hours.

Keen photographers will often set up their cameras pointing at the northern sky, take a lengthy series of exposures, then pick those with meteors in them and stack them together to make a composite image.

If you want to try this yourself, here are a couple of useful tips.

First, to avoid any star trails on your individual images, follow the rule of 500. Find out the focal length of your lens (common wide-angle lenses have focal lengths of 14 to 35mm), and set your exposure time to be less than 500 divided by the focal length of your lens. For example, if you’re using a 50mm lens, you’d have to keep your exposures under 10 seconds.

Next, set the lens focal ratio, or f-number, to be as small as possible. This will ensure the lens is wide open, allowing it to gather as much light as it can during each image.

Finally, set the ISO of your camera to be relatively high, choosing a number of at least 1,600. The higher you set the ISO, the more sensitive your camera will be to light, and the fainter the objects visible in the dark sky images. However, be warned that setting the ISO too high can make your images grainy.

Once all that is done, set up your camera with the field of view you want to image, take a timelapse of the sky, and leave your camera running while you watch the skies. Hopefully over the course of an hour or two under the stars you might just capture some spectacular shots of debris bits burning up high overhead.

Jonti Horner 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.

– ref. The year’s best meteor shower is about to start – here’s how to see it – https://theconversation.com/the-years-best-meteor-shower-is-about-to-start-heres-how-to-see-it-270809

From violence to sexism, the manosphere is doing real-world harm

By The Conversation -

December 11, 2025

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephanie Wescott, Lecturer in Humanities and Social Sciences, Monash University

There’s a lot of debate around the extent to which the manosphere is playing out in young people’s lives and relationships.

Some suggest claims about its malevolence are misplaced. Others think just because something happens on the internet doesn’t mean it affects lives offline.

But this is in spite of a significant body of international evidence demonstrating otherwise.

In this post-digital world, there is little or no delineation between what’s viewed and experienced online and what’s lived in the “real world”. This means we have to consider the potential harms of the manosphere not as remote or abstract, but as very real, and not to be underestimated or dismissed.

The manosphere is a dark, but growing part of the internet that’s harming everyone who gets sucked into it. In this three-part series, Mapping the Manosphere, we’ve asked leading global experts how it works, what the dangers are and how this online phenomenon is playing out in real life.

The gendered content spiral

Broadly, the manosphere is centred on anti-feminist, misogynistic and anti-gender equity ideas and beliefs.

Content can initially appear harmless. It presents information and insights on health, fitness and financial and career success.

But these are generally founded on rigid gendered ideas, extreme and isolating pursuits of self-optimisation and unhealthy ideas about relationships with girls and women.

New research has identified a shift in the manosphere towards monetisation and entrepreneurialism, pseudoscientific wellness and alignment with extremist ideologies.

Users may encounter content documenting extensive morning routines, beginning at 4am. These videos can involve multiple wellness-related rituals, recommendations for preserving testosterone and diatribes on men’s “natural” roles as providers in families.

The manosphere-adjacent content generated by tradwives and stay-at-home girlfriends glamorises an aesthetic (and unrealistically curated) life. A woman performs a caring role in the home, eschewing feminist ideas and advocating for women’s return to the domestic sphere. It’s often connected to white supremacy and far-right conservatism.

There’s evidence boys can find manosphere content helpful and positive. Some seek validation and belonging in these spaces. This makes the need for them to engage with it critically even more prescient.

Real world harm

Research widely shows manosphere content causes harm both to the boys and men who consume it and to other people in their lives.

Viewing manosphere content is known to contribute to unhealthy body image.

It’s also correlated with beliefs about violence being permissable. Manosphere sentiments have been identified among men who use violence.

Our own research into the influence of manosphere content on boys’ behaviour in schools has shown a shift in boys’ attitudes towards women and girls. Teachers report a discernible uptick in incidents of gendered violence in their schools.

There is also emerging concern that manosphere content is contributing to a growing ideological shift among young men and young women. Across multiple countries, young men are voting more conservatively than they used to.

Further, there is abundant evidence that misogyny – a central theme in manosphere content – is a predictor of all forms of violence. This includes gendered and extremist violence.

There are growing calls to place misogyny at the centre our efforts to counter and prevent extremist violence. This means acknowledging the role of the manosphere in the process of radicalisation.

Racist and misogynistic attitudes have also been identified as an urgent concern for national security, given they are significant contributors to violent extremism.

The next frontiers

Alongside the established evidence, we’re seeing signs of where manosphere beliefs might manifest next, if they’re not already.

In relationships and dating, advice circulating in manosphere spaces will continue to frame intimacy in transactional and manipulative terms. This will erode trust and mutual respect, while normalising male entitlement in relationships.

Over time, such messages risk reshaping, or regressing, expectations around dating, partnership and consent.

The manosphere frames work and study as competitive arenas. Discourses around “high-value men” and “grindset” culture blame feminism or “soft” values for perceived failures or inefficiencies.

This narrative positions career success as a masculine duty while dismissing collaboration and diversity, with long-term consequences for equity in schools and workplaces.

Finally, manosphere narratives of crisis and decline dovetail with populist politics. In the United States, aggrieved male voters have been central to Donald Trump’s rise, attracted to his performance of strongman masculinity.

Similar dynamics may surface elsewhere as leaders draw on themes of protection, grievance and a return to “traditional” order.

Where to from here?

The danger with manosphere content is that it exaggerates and exploits real (and perceived) problems, issues and grievances among boys and men.

This means it’s becoming increasingly confusing to distinguish what are legitimate and reasonable concerns among young men, what has been manufactured and how victimhood can be constructed by manosphere ideologies.

Explicitly honing young people’s critical digital literacy is an approach committed to empowering young people to become more discerning: to question not only what they are viewing, but its ideologies, how it makes them feel, and how platforms are designed to provoke particular responses.

These skills promote the development of critical dispositions: essential lifelong skills that will help them to consume information in a more informed, less reactive way. Critical literacy in kids helps them to become adults who are informed and discerning, and therefore, empowered.

Stephanie Wescott receives funding from Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety and the Australian Research Council.

Steven Roberts receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australian Government and ANROWS, among others. He is a Board Director at Respect Victoria, but this article is written wholly separate from and does not represent that role.

– ref. From violence to sexism, the manosphere is doing real-world harm – https://theconversation.com/from-violence-to-sexism-the-manosphere-is-doing-real-world-harm-262205

Year 12 results are being released. What if you don’t want to share your ATAR with friends and family?

By The Conversation -

December 11, 2025

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Penny Van Bergen, Associate Professor in the Psychology of Education, Macquarie University

Cottonbro Studio/ Pexels

For the class of 2025, the next week may be particularly nerve wracking, as ATAR or Australian Tertiary Admission Rank results are released online. Victoria is the first state to release results on Thursday.

Some students will be overjoyed with their ATARs and will be happy to share them publicly. Newspapers will inevitably feature stories of students who have achieved the best outcomes in each state.

This can be a tough time for students who are disappointed in their rank, or who simply see this as private information and don’t want to share. How can you think about and approach this time?

What an ATAR can and can’t show

The ATAR gives Year 12 students a rank between 0.00 and 99.95. In simple terms, the ATAR shows students where they sit compared to others in their cohort.

Importantly, the ATAR is not a mark or score. Think of it like a running race. Your initial subject scores are similar to the time you ran – they reflect your own performance and not anyone else’s. Your ATAR, on the other hand, is your place in the race (first, 20th, 100th). The rank is relative to others.

Universities use the ATAR to rank applicants for entry into courses. The higher the ATAR, the more doors (or courses) it can open. But ultimately, you only need to focus on the course you want.

And if you don’t quite get there, there are other options.

The end of school is way more than a number

Keep in mind finishing high school is a time of major change. This can see several transitions happening at once, including:

starting work, an apprenticeship or university
increasing personal independence, from changing friendships to travel and moving away from home
the end of a major chapter of academic learning.

The ATAR result reflects only one of these domains, yet it can come to represent all “achievement” for students and their families. To protect young people’s wellbeing, it’s important to place the ATAR in context and see what’s happening around it.

You don’t have to talk about what you got

For students who would rather not share their ATAR with friends or family, there are plenty of ways to deflect. Consider planning a few lines in advance.

Some might find it easiest to discuss their ATAR in more general terms, without comparing ranks. This may mean sharing an overall sense of satisfaction (“I’m happy enough!”) or disappointment (“it wasn’t as high as I wanted, but I’ll spend some time weighing up different options”).

Or you could say something like – “I’m in a good mood, let’s not talk about that now!”. Give yourself permission to be assertive about what kind of conversation you’d like to have.

Broaden the scope of conversation

If you are chatting with close friends about the end of the school years, it can be helpful to reframe discussions.

Instead of the number, reflect on what you’ve learned most about or enjoyed the most. What new knowledge and skills have been gained across the year? Where can these take you?

Are you a curious relative?

For friends and family who are curious, or simply making small talk, remember there are multiple things which may be important to a young person at the moment. This could include a growing savings account and part-time job, progress in music performance, artistic creativity, or a strong and healthy friendship group.

Helpful end-of-school discussions could also include talking about what the young person is most proud of or excited about.

Disappointment is normal

If your ATAR is less than you hoped, remember disappointment is a normal part of life. Importantly, reflecting on the source of disappointment, stress, or negativity can also be a driver of growth.

For students who received a lower rank because they didn’t work as hard as they could have, what lessons can be taken to support future study or career plans? For those who had a rough year, what personal insights or stories of resilience emerge?
Even if you worked really hard, it’s important not to let a single result define you. Take some time to grieve, then reflect on your positive values (for example, “I never give up” or “I am resourceful”) and next steps.

Much of this reflection and insight is internal, but close friends and family can provide valuable social support. Consider whether there is someone suitable to talk through these reflections with.

There is more than one way forward

Remember there are multiple pathways into universities. You don’t have to rely on your ATAR.

For example, bridging courses offer the opportunity to develop aligned knowledge and skills, while degrees with lower entry requirements may offer the opportunity to study similar subjects and transfer later.

Although you might not want to talk to curious friends and family, do make time to talk to a teacher, a careers advisor, a trusted relative, or a university admissions team. There are lots of people ready to help.

Penny Van Bergen receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Google, the James Kirby Foundation, and the New Zealand Marsden Fund.

Kellie Buckley-Walker is a member of NSW Education Standards Authority’s HSC Standards Committee.

Amy Bird 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.

– ref. Year 12 results are being released. What if you don’t want to share your ATAR with friends and family? – https://theconversation.com/year-12-results-are-being-released-what-if-you-dont-want-to-share-your-atar-with-friends-and-family-271608

How charitable are Australians? 3 charts show how much we give

By The Conversation -

December 11, 2025

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Myles McGregor-Lowndes, Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Business & Law, Queensland University of Technology

For Australia’s charity sector, December is the critical frontline month of the year.

Demand for social services reaches its peak, with people who are hungry, homeless, friendless or victims of family violence all requiring extra assistance.

It’s also a traditional time for increased donations of money and volunteer time, which both make that vital assistance possible.

But just how charitable are Australians? And how do we rank globally on broader measures of generosity – including how much of our income we give and how much we volunteer compared to other nations?

How much money do Australians typically give?

Many Australian can claim a tax deduction for gifts and donations through their income tax return.

In 2022-23, the latest figures we have, those gifts added up to more than A$9.1 billion.

That was above the $4.55 billion the previous year, but the total was boosted by a large donation by Andrew and Nicola Forrest. They gave 220 million shares of Fortescue Ltd, valued at $5 billion, to their own philanthropic body, the Minderoo Foundation. It represented one-fifth of the couple’s shareholding.

But take away that large donation and the underlying trends were less rosy.

The median (or mid-point of all tax-deductible donations) rose just $2 from the previous year, to $150 per taxpayer.

Fewer Australians are making deductible donations

The share of Australians making tax-deductible donations has fallen over the past decade. It’s gone from 35.1% of around 13 million taxpayers in 2013-14, to just 27.8% of 16.1 million taxpayers in 2022-23.

More troubling is that our analysis found fewer than half of taxpayers with a taxable income of over $1 million claimed a deductible gift – down from more than 60% a decade earlier.

Does that mean Australians are becoming less generous?

What’s behind the decline in tax-deductible donations?

There are multiple factors contributing to that fall in tax-deductible donations.

For many people, the ways they’re donating their money and time start at home – and that kind of charity is rarely eligible for a tax deduction.

Baby boomers have traditionally been our great givers, volunteers and joiners of associations. This has been due to a mix of accumulated wealth, a strong sense of social responsibility from their formative years, established financial stability, and a desire to make an impact, often by supporting traditional charities with financial gifts or bequests.

But that generation is increasingly retired or retiring – and exiting the tax system. When older Australians no longer need to report working income, they have no incentive to declare a gift as a tax deduction on their tax return. So the statistics we have are no longer capturing all of their donations.

Baby boomers are also being called on to be the “bank of mum and dad”, not just to buy housing but to support kids living at home longer.

Another factor is the rise of online donation portals such as GoFundMe. Australians have donated more than $1.1 billion via GoFundMe since its launch here a decade ago.

Many are of those GoFundMe-style fundraisers are not eligible for tax deductions, such as supporting individuals after a misfortune, needing to fund medical expenses or even just cost-of-living support.

So those donations don’t make their way into the taxation statistics either.

How generous are Australians compared to the world?

Being charitable isn’t just about money.

The World Giving Report is the latest version of a long-running international survey, previously known as the World Giving Index. It asks people not just whether they donate money, but how much they give as a share of their income, how much they volunteer and more.

The latest 2025 report ranked Australia 44th out of 101 countries for overall generosity. (Tap on each country in the map below to see its score.)

On the question of what proportion of income we donate, Australia comes in much lower: 68th out of 101 countries.

Australians donated only 0.73% of our income on average, slightly less than the average of 0.75% for our Oceania region. The majority of our donations went to charity, followed by giving directly to people in need and religious causes.

The most generous region on Earth was Africa, where people gave away an average of 1.54% of their income. That was followed by Asia (1.28%), North America (0.94%) and South America (0.73%). The average in Europe was just 0.64%.

The 2025 report concluded:

People in high-income countries tend to donate less as a percentage of their annual incomes, giving away just 0.7% on average. This is around half the proportion given in low-income countries, where people donate an average of 1.45% of income.

Interestingly, the report also found only one in five (20% of) Australians had volunteered in the past month – less than the global average of 26%. But we put in longer hours, averaging 9.4 hours per person a month.

Evidence shows that both giving and receiving from others is associated with better mental health.

So no matter how you give, or to whom, this Christmas the greatest gift you can give won’t be wrapped under a tree.

Myles McGregor-Lowndes is affiliated with Volunteering Queensland, Philanthropy Australia, Fundraisers Institute of Australia and is on the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission’s Advisory Board. He received funding from the Clem Jones Foundation for the analysis of Australians’ tax-deductible donations.

– ref. How charitable are Australians? 3 charts show how much we give – https://theconversation.com/how-charitable-are-australians-3-charts-show-how-much-we-give-271204

Seven-year-old missing Hamilton boy found safe

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

A seven-year-old Hamilton boy who went missing after going to visit his friends has been found safe, his mother says.

His mother on Thursday morning told RNZ he had been returned to his family by a teacher.

Police had earlier issued an ‘amber alert’ after the boy left his home on Anderson Road in Deanwell at 4pm,

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

All Black Sevu Reece heading to France at end of 2026

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

All Black Sevu Reece. Juan Gasparini / Photosport

All Blacks’ wing Sevu Reece has signed with French club Perpignan and will leave the Crusaders at the end of the next Super Rugby season after eight seasons with the side.

Reece has played 37 tests for New Zealand and is Super Rugby’s all time leading try scorer with 66 tries.

French media reports say that Reece has signed a three-year deal with the struggling club, subject to them retaining their Top 14 status at the end of the season.

Reece remains contracted with New Zealand Rugby and the Crusaders for the entirety of 2026.

Reece has been a cornerstone of the Crusaders since making his debut in 2019 and that breakout season saw him earn an All Blacks’ call-up.

Crusaders head coach Rob Penney said Reece’s impact on the team and the region had been immense.

“The amount of growth Sevu has had in his time in the red and black since 2019 is a credit to his character. While at this club, he’s started his own family, achieved a huge amount of milestones, and helped lead this team to six titles. He’s also on track to earn his 100th Crusaders cap this year which will be a special way to end his last season with us,” Penney said.

Reflecting on his journey, Reece said the Crusaders would always hold a special place in his heart.

“This club has given me everything and I will forever be grateful for all the opportunities I have had in the red and black. I’ll miss so many things about this club, but mainly the people – they are what make the Crusaders so special. The friendships I’ve made in my time here will stay with me forever.

“It’s a bittersweet time and this hasn’t been an easy decision at all, but my family and I are really excited for this next adventure together in France, however I still have a job to do here. I can’t wait for this season, I’m really hoping I can finish on a high and win one last title, and to do that under the roof at the new stadium will be unreal,” Reece said.

The 28-year-old has also been a passionate Child Cancer Foundation Ambassador, dedicating time to community initiatives.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Public Records Act: Warning amendments could result in loss of vital evidence

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

RNZ /Dom Thomas

Record keepers are warning an amendment bill before Parliament will usher in the destruction or loss of vital public evidence such as from military operations overseas.

They also voiced alarm at a parliamentary select committee on Wednesday morning that public records could be privatised, citing the historical case of Ministry of Works records sold years ago to an engineering company, and no longer accessible to people.

Former chief archivist Richard Foy told MPs that three amendments in particular would weaken the Public Records Act and create loopholes.

Their most urgent worry was the move to let an agency such as the Defence Force get an exemption if it was in a multinational force that did its own record keeping, Foy, president of the Archives and Records Association of NZ, said.

“We think that allowing such exemptions risk creating the conditions for unauthorised destruction and loss of evidence.

“So accountability does not stop at the border. We don’t think the Public Records Act should either.”

Foy was a member of the Operation Burnham inquiry panel that castigated the NZDF last year for poor military record keeping about operations in Afghanistan. The Defence Force has since been trying [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/519234/nzdf-urgently-looking-to-move-crucial-information-from-obsolete-systems-documents

to update its information management systems].

Burnham was a strong case of “not necessarily destruction of records, but the poor management of them, and therefore the lack of access to evidence”, Foy said.

The exemption amendment would let the Chief Archivist grant an exemption to a public entity in an “arrangement” with another country or international organisation if they controlled or managed all or part of the record keeping. So, the NZDF in a NATO force or a US-led force could leave it up to NATO or the US.

The archivists’ association also opposed a change to let the minister have a say in destroying public records, Foy added. This would undermine the independence of the chief archivist, who currently had the full say.

As for a third amendment to remove the public status of any records sold, “this single change compromises custody, preservation and public access and risks institutionalising the loss of New Zealand’s public history”, Foy warned the governance and administration committee.

He gave the example from when records were less protected and the functions of the Ministry of Works and Development were privatised in the 1980s.

“Many of its records were sold to Opus. Those records are now largely inaccessible to the public, effectively lost to researchers and to people seeking information under the Official Information Act.

“Public accountability cannot be privatised.”

Records should be assessed by the Chief Archivist and copied if warranted before they were sold, Foy said.

Operation Burnham cited

Chief Ombudsman John Allen warned the best interests of the country could be undermined by introducing an exemption for multinational operations.

He cited Operation Burnham in Afghanistan, too.

“Some records were held by other international parties and, in fact, made it more difficult for NZDF to prove that our military had, in fact, complied with international law because the access to those records, or indeed the knowledge of those records, was not easily retained or understood by NZDF,” Allen told the lawmakers.

The Ombudsman proposed changing the bill to add some guidance to the Chief Archivist – and possibly the minister who the NZDF or other agency could appeal to – on how to exercise their discretion over granting any exemption; and secondly, to specify the agency maintained awareness of which records were being controlled by who.

But as it was the amendment bill was not aligned with the recommendations of the Operation Burnham inquiry, Allen said.

“At the moment, it is completely unwritten, therefore, it is extraordinarily broad, and we are concerned that as a consequence of that, decisions will be made that are not in the long-run in the best interests of this country.”

His office also told MPs the Public Records Act as it stood was very clear that making records accessible was a priority, so any move to make records less accessible should have to be “fleshed out”.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Customs use of surveillance system could be a ‘significant issue’ for privacy – memo

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

If Customs becomes a user of Auror, it could have access to police information about retail crime. File photo. RNZ /Dom Thomas

Police are cutting back what they tell a privately-run surveillance system about suspects, over concerns about who might see the information.

RNZ inquiries show Customs also wants to use the system, but might be able to see what police are telling retail stores about suspects.

“Customs may become a user of Auror, which may expose police information entered into the retail crime side of the platform,” said an internal memo in March, newly released to RNZ under the Official Information Act.

Police and Customs do not have an agreement to share data through another platform in this manner.

It would be a “significant issue” around security and privacy, the memo from the police’s technology watchdog said.

Police access the system of automated number plate recognition (ANPR) run by Auckland company Auror more than 200,000 times a year.

The widespread police use of ANPR is being legally challenged at the Court of Appeal, which lawyers expect will have wide ramifications for how this – and other surveillance technology – is used.

In official surveys, more New Zealanders say they worry about who can access and use their personal information.

Internal documents show an alarm went up in March at police, especially around officers inputting identifications into Auror of criminal suspects from CCTV images gained from shops through Auror.

“Due to the integrated nature of Auror’s platform, Customs will also have access to the retail crime side of the software,” the March police memo said.

Customs’ view “may include sensitive information such as nomination of offender identities”.

“This raises several concerns for NZ Police, particularly regarding information security and privacy.”

The problem was not just Customs, but also other potential future customers of Auror “with access”, a report said.

‘Police also aimed to reduce the amount of police information on Auror’

Customs has been quietly moving this year towards signing up with Auror.

It told RNZ it ran a trial for a year in 2022-23 to test ANPR within investigations and intelligence gathering, and “recognises the potential benefits… in law enforcement and border security”. It did not yet have a contract.

A police review of Auror usage in July told police to take more care what information they put in to the system.

“Police need to ensure on a case-by-case basis that any information visible to other parties is shared on a lawful basis.”

They did not stop the practice.

“No, police did not stop entering suspect information into Auror platform,” National Criminal Investigation Group director Detective Superintendent Keith Borrell told RNZ this week.

“Instead of ceasing the practice, police provided training and clear communication to police staff to ensure compliance with the Privacy Act Principles.”

This “emphasised that some Auror nominations may contain incorrect details, so thorough accuracy checks are required by police staff”.

“Police also aimed to reduce the amount of police information on Auror while maintaining operational effectiveness,” Borrell said in a statement.

This aligned with recommendations in a report in July.

His group was talking to Customs and Auror to ensure police information was protected.

The March memo said Auror had suggested warning boxes – or blanking out bits of the screen – but that was “likely insufficient”.

“This was never an unresolved issue,” said Borrell on Tuesday. “This approach is proactive and precautionary, not reactive to any breach or failure of Auror platform.”

Police told RNZ no records of any decisions made about this at a senior level existed.

‘It’s a beast’

A few pages of emails released under the OIA showed Customs began asking police for advice about ANPR in February.

“I’m leading Customs project to engage with and develop our ANPR capability, first with Auror, and then all going well SaferCities,” the unidentified Customs staffer wrote on 19 February to Inspector Adrian Ross.

“Suffice to say this has been a rather slow project due to the various risk and public perception concerns held by our chief executive.”

In March, they wrote about a complex security assessment set by Internal Affairs.

“I’m hoping to avoid that if I can as it’s a beast!”

They ended up doing it.

In April they asked police if there was a certain number of searches that constituted “live tracking activity”, because Customs’ lawyers wanted a figure.

“We pushed back on that, had to give staff ownership of their searches, and give them the space to make good decisions without being too prescribed.”

Police officers only live track a few hundred times a year, and it requires special authorisation.

In May 2025 the Customs staffer wrote to police: “I managed to get approval for Auror usage over the line with our Executive Board, so now the hard work begins!”

By August, the staffer was working as “a one-man band, managing the training materials, the contracts”, the standard operating procedures, the privacy impact assessment and all the certification and accreditation.

Public-private bond

Customs told RNZ the 2023 trial showed protocols, restrictions and processes were needed, and it was working on those.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner said it was aware of the matter, but would not comment on it, although it noted the court challenge against police.

For police, sharing suspect identifications is a problem – but not sharing them is also a problem, the reports showed.

“If police staff do not enter suspect nominations in Auror this will impact the ability for the Auror retail community to identify suspects for subsequent and linked offending which currently benefits Police,” said one. If no one was identified through Auror, the police file would get less priority.

The public-private bond over ANPR surveillance extends back over a decade to a police trial and other support for Auror.

But the private side of this has acted to limit what information can be gained about the system, by the media and even at the Court of Appeal level, where a judge in September noted: “We don’t know how pervasive this system is.”

When Customs was asked in 2023 under the OIA – not by RNZ – about its interactions with Auror, it withheld information and several reports including an Auror presentation and an Auror independent privacy review, on the grounds of commercial sensitivity or it getting the information in confidence.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Drunken skipper Travis Whiteman fined for reversing into swimmers with propellor

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

Skipper Travis Whiteman. RNZ / Libby Kirkby-McLeod

Warning: Some images may be distressing.

A Christmas Eve swimming and fishing trip turned to a bloody disaster in 2022, when two women were struck by a spinning boat propeller.

Both were seriously injured and needed hospitalisation.

On Wednesday in the Thames District Court, skipper Travis Whiteman was sentenced and fined for careless operation of a vessel under the Maritime Transport Act 1994.

On 24 December 2022, the two victims, Whiteman, and another friend crossed the Tairua Bar before proceeding out towards the Alderman Islands.

The four young people, aged 21 to 23, consumed food and alcohol that they had all taken on board.

Judge Arthur Tompkins said it was clear Whiteman had been drinking.

A police breath test of Whiteman three hours after the incident occurred returned more than 250 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath, the limit for driving on New Zealand roads. There is no alcohol limit for skippers on the sea in New Zealand.

“During the day, he had drunk a reasonable amount of alcohol – that seems extraordinary,” the judge said.

At one point the two victims went for a swim.

Judge Tompkins said the alcohol-affected Whiteman, not seeing where the victims were, put the boat into reverse and hit the two women with the propeller of the outboard motor.

One of the victim’s injuries. Supplied

Both victims have name suppression.

One victim had three permanent scars and said in her victim impact statement she genuinely thought she was going to die from the bleeding on the hour-long trip back to the mainland.

“I find myself wondering how differently things might have gone if help had been called straight away,” she said.

She said she continued to have ongoing psychological effects from the trauma and avoided water-based activities now.

The other victim also spoke of visible scarring and physical, emotional and practical impacts from her injuries.

“Both of us were terrified,” she said.

One victim said the skipper discarded alcohol bottles from the boat when he should have been calling emergency services. Supplied

She said the skipper discarded alcohol bottles from the boat when he should have been calling emergency services.

Whitman’s lawyer said that this point in the victim impact statement was incorrect and ambulances were waiting for the boat to arrive back on the mainland which indicated an emergency call was made. He also questioned the seriousness of the victims’ injuries and raised the fact they had also been drinking.

Judge Tompkins wasn’t having it.

‘That’s coming very close to victim-blaming, Mr Wood,” he responded.

Both victims said Whiteman had shown no remorse or taken any responsibility. He entered a late guilty plea on the morning his judge alone trial was due to begin.

Judge Tompkins said Whiteman was the only one responsible for skippering the boat.

He fined the defendant $3600 for each of the two charges and also ordered him to pay $4000 reparations to each victim.

Waikato Regional Council took the prosecution against Whiteman and compliance manager Patrick Lynch was in the court to hear the sentencing.

“This should have been a fantastic day for those four young people, and it was near tragedy, and completely avoidable,” he said.

Outside the court, the mother of one of the victims said the girls would not have gone on the boat if she had known the skipper would be drinking.

“Boys, drinking, and big boats don’t mix, it should be like cars, no drinking,” she said.

The problem was that in New Zealand there were no rules against drinking while skippering a boat.

“We need to change legislation to make sure that happens, boating and drinking shouldn’t occur,” she said.

Recreational harbourmaster for Waikato, Hayden Coburn (L), and Waikato Regional Council’s compliance manager Patrick Lynch. RNZ / Libby Kirkby-McLeod

Lynch also thought that a change to the legislation was long overdue.

Recreational harbourmaster for Waikato, Hayden Coburn, was also at court and said even if it was not against the law his message to skippers was clear.

“There’s to be no drinking by the person responsible for the vessel and for the crew and their safety on board the vessel,” he said.

And he said that should be for the whole time of the planned trip.

“That’s the preparation before they go out, that’s during the boating, and that’s the follow up.”

Lynch hoped the prosecution served as a warning.

“We want to send a very specific deterrence to this skipper about his behaviour on this occasion, and we want to send a general deterrence to other skippers who are thinking about drinking and skippering,” Lynch said.

In the meantime, the victim’s mother said healing continued for the two young women.

“The girls are recovering but obviously the phycological scars take longer than the physical scars,” she said.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Specialist says Family Court needs to be screened for violence

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

Debbs Murray is a survivor of domestic violence and now heads Eclipse. supplied

A family violence specialist says she is regularly contacted by women who say their abusive partner has shared custody of their kids and they wish they never left.

It comes as newly released information reveals officials shelved work to see how families in custody battles could be better screened for domestic violence.

Debbs Murray is a survivor of domestic violence and now heads Eclipse, a service that aims to prevent family violence and train those working in the sector.

She said it breaks her heart to hear from women who say their abusive ex-partners are given unsupervised custody of their children.

“I get emails from women who say I should’ve just stayed because the Family Court has allowed my children to go unsupervised to a known family violence abuser and if I’d stayed at least I would’ve had eyes on.”

Murray said every case in the Family Court needs to be screened for violence, but they are not.

She is often contacted by women who want to have a formal risk assessment conducted by an expert.

“That’s part of why I’m contacted as well, because they want someone anyone to be able to present the risk that they are experiencing into the judicial space.”

Backbone Collective advocates for survivors of domestic violence and received a raft of information from the Ministry of Justice about introducing a formal risk assessment for those embroiled in family law proceedings.

The response showed Family Court Principal Judge Jackie Moran had started the work but it had been shut down at steering committee level in 2023.

A Ministry presentation included in the official information response stated they did not know if people coming to the Family Court have experienced family violence.

Backbone’s manager and co-founder Deborah Mackenzie said that’s a big gap and puts a lot of responsibility on the court-appointed psychologists and lawyers who assess such situations.

“What we know from everything victim survivors and children have shared with Backbone is that the reports they’re giving to Family Court judges often minimise the violence and abuse or they don’t believe protective parents and children when they disclose violence and abuse.”

She said it’s putting some people – mostly women and children – at risk.

“The judiciary are making decisions that force children into unsupervised care and contact with abusive parents as a result.”

Ministry of Justice group manager for commissioning and service improvement Lance Harrison said court staff may identify risk factors informally then refer the participant to a support service that must conduct formal risk assessments.

He said family violence response training is also provided to people working in the courts.

University of Auckland associate professor of law, Carrie Leonetti, said the Family Court accepts evidence of domestic violence only from court-appointed psychologists and lawyers.

“Women go to places like Shine and they go to places like Women’s Refuge and they get an evidence based risk assessment done,” she said.

“That evidence based risk assessment says this child is not safe in the care of the other parent or it is not safe for this person to have shared legal guardianship with the perpetrator it will put them at risk and the Family Court won’t accept the evidence.”

Carrie Leonetti is also a professorial lecturer in law at George Washington University’s domestic violence programme.

At times she is approached to do risk assessments.

“I’ve had women come to me and want to contract, privately, reports from me and I’ve had to say to them they won’t take it in evidence. The court won’t consider anything an expert in domestic violence has to say they won’t even admit the evidence. They only want to hear from their court psychologist.”

She says it is out of keeping with international practice and does not have to be that way.

Leonetti believed it comes down to the Family Court’s interpretation of section 133 of the Care of Children Act – which enables the court to hire psychologist to assess a child’s best interests.

“For years not the Family Court has interpreted section 133 of the Care of Children Act to mean that they won’t take evidence from any psychologists or any social workers or any psychiatrists other than the ones that they appoint and assign to the case.”

Backbone Collective is calling for the Minister of Justice to fund and progress work to ensure victims of family violence are identified and not put at further risk in custody disputes.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Zuru wins trademark battle against Lego

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

The dispute was around a simple phrase printed on packaging of Zuru’s own-brand MAX Build More plastic brick building kits: “LEGO® BRICK COMPATIBLE.” Pixabay

Zuru has scored a major win in its long-running legal fight with Lego, the Court of Appeal overturning a High Court ruling that had found Zuru breached Lego’s trademark.

The heart of the dispute centred on a simple phrase printed on packaging of Zuru’s own-brand MAX Build More plastic brick building kits: “LEGO® BRICK COMPATIBLE.”

Lego argued the wording infringed its trademark, potentially misleading shoppers into thinking Zuru’s cheaper bricks were Lego products or endorsed by Lego.

In 2023, the High Court agreed, ruling Zuru had infringed Lego’s trademark, but today, the Court of Appeal said the High Court had got it wrong.

The judges found Zuru’s statement to be purely descriptive, telling consumers the bricks work with Lego, not that they were actual Lego bricks.

In its written decision, the court said, “When use of LEGO is seen in its full context, the consumer would think that Zuru’s bricks were MAX BUILD MORE bricks.”

“The phrase ‘LEGO® BRICK COMPATIBLE’ is descriptive, not a badge of origin.”

Double loss for Lego

The court also dismissed Lego’s counter claims of passing off and misleading conduct under the Fair-Trading Act, saying shoppers would clearly see Zuru’s own brand, MAX Build More, on the packaging.

The court said there was no evidence of confusion.

The ruling aligns a legal precedent with Australia’s, known as “comparative advertising” – using a competitor’s trademark to make a comparison of products.

Comparative advertising is allowed under New Zealand law, providing its honest and not misleading.

For Zuru, it means the company can reinstate the phrase, “LEGO® BRICK COMPATIBLE” back onto its Max Build More packaging.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

7000 pensioners overcharged in another Inland Revenue error

By Evening Report -

December 11, 2025

Source: Radio New Zealand

An IR error has affected thousands of pensioners. Supplied

Almost 7000 pensioners have been affected by another Inland Revenue error.

Last week, RNZ reported that 4500 people had overpaid tax after their imputation credits had been incorrectly recorded in their prep-populated tax returns.

Others got in touch and said they had also experienced a problem, this time with the way that NZ Super was recorded for ACC purposes.

One man said he had been charged $301.68 in ACC earner levy for $18,854.98 of gross income from NZ Super that should not have attracted a levy at all.

He said he was not able to control this when he completed his return and did not realise the error until the process was complete.

He said he did not think a lot more about it but when he saw RNZ’s reporting of the other error, he realised that there had been at least two this year.

“This really starts to suggest a deficiency in change control of IRD systems.”

Another couple said they wanted assurance that Inland Revenue had taken steps to stop it happening again.

Inland Revenue said 6778 people were affected.

“There was an issue identified earlier this year where we were not populating the ‘earnings not liable’ figure correctly for some customers. We fixed those returns for the customers in July 2025.”

Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand tax leader John Cuthbertson said ACC was not paid on NZ Super because it was not liable income.

“However, if you’re working and receiving NZ Super, your earnings from that work do attract levies.”

“The advancements in digitalisation and MyIR have been quite incredible, except when it goes wrong like this. You shouldn’t need a Chartered Accountant to check prepopulated forms, but the average person might not know that super income does not attract ACC levies. We used to say ‘google it’ but many taxpayers are now using AI to do a basic check of their tax returns, asking simple questions like ‘Should I pay ‘x’ levy on ‘y’ income?”

Angus Ogilvie, managing director of Generate Accounting Group, said it was concerning that issues seemed to be leading to erroneous data being prepopulated into Inland Revenue’s system.

“The new software employed was a very costly and complex project. However, taxpayers should expect that there is a high level of diligence applied to get their tax obligations right. Let’s hope that the department is devoting urgent resource to correct these issues”.

[ https://rnz.us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=211a938dcf3e634ba2427dde9&id=b4c9a30ed6 Sign up for Money with Susan Edmunds], a weekly newsletter covering all the things that affect how we make, spend and invest money.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand