The Dawn Service has been part of Anzac Day commemorations across New Zealand since 1939. The service, which traditionally begins with a military parade, is a formal way to honour New Zealanders killed in combat, as well as servicemen and women both returned and still serving.
Attendance at dawn services has grown hugely in recent years, but if you’ve never been to one it can be a bit daunting (even if you find it easy to get up pre-dawn on a public holiday).
Don’t worry, we’re here for you. RSA spokesperson Rachel Riley has bravely answered all the questions we had about the Dawn Service but were too embarrassed to ask.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) on Thursday released its final report into a near miss with rail crew involving runaway wagons on 23 January last year.
In the early hours of the morning, nine parked wagons in a Port Chalmers yard slowly rolled back and hit a locomotive, disconnecting it from other wagons it was already attached to.
No one was injured, but the locomotive and wagons sustained moderate damage.
One crew member spotted a moving shadow and realised what was happening, allowing themselves and another crew member to get clear seconds before the collision.
TAIC’s chief investigator of accidents, Louise Cook, said the accident showed how quickly a job could turn from routine to dangerous.
“This event was low-speed, but not low-risk. A 472-tonne rake of wagons moving at only a walking pace carries enough force to cause serious injury or death.”
In its report, the commission noted that the wagons were incorrectly secured, there was inadequate radio communication and training gaps for shunt staff.
“The crew had moved from the task of securing wagons in one location to the task of coupling wagons in another location without ensuring the first task was fully closed out,” Cook said.
It also found several indications that rail-safety culture needing strengthening.
“Particularly with respect to the high levels of acceptance of both rule violation and at-risk behaviours,” the report said.
KiwiRail’s chief operations officer Duncan Roy said although there were no injuries, this was a serious incident, and KiwiRail treated it as such.
Roy said KiwiRail had already taken significant steps in response to TAIC’s recommendations.
“We have accepted the Commission’s recommendation to take immediate steps to further improve the safety culture at the Port of Otago rail yard.
“KiwiRail is working hard to improve safety throughout the organisation, and, with guidance from global experts, has developed an ongoing company-wide programme to build a safety culture where everyone chooses to be responsible for protecting themselves and everyone around them.”
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The stairs that Dinson Thomas has to carry his daughter up in order to get inside their home.SUPPLIED
A farmer in Queenstown has offered to pay the shortfall for a lift so a dad does not have to carry his teenage daughter from her wheelchair to their front door.
The Thomas family live on a steep section in Wellington and need a lift installed but that work has been on hold for more than a year because the funding won’t cover the cost.
After hearing the story on Morning Report, the farmer got in contact with RNZ to offer help.
He wishes to remain anonymous.
“I just thought that’s a bit tough for some people and I do appreciate that the government can’t cover absolutely everything and I thought yeah well I can afford to cover that so why not.”
The Thomas family have seven steps to their front door.
Dinson Thomas said they park the car near the steps and he then carries his 13 year-old daughter Ann, who weighs close to 40 kilograms and has cerebral palsy and complex needs, into the house.
The farmer said that sounded like a hard situation to be in, and he wanted to help.
“I was just thinking well it wouldn’t be too good if he did slip and I know that’s easy enough to do on stairs and it’s just nice to be able to help when you can sometimes.”
Thomas said they received the maximum funding to have a platform lift installed, just over $15,000.
The work started last February but a month later he was advised the quote came in $4000 over the funding – so he put the project on hold because he can’t afford it.
Now it can go ahead and Thomas is very thankful.
“I’m really surprised…it will be really helpful for Ann [because] contributing that much amount suddenly is really hard in this situation. Me, my wife, Ann and her sister Aimee are really thankful for him.”
Disability advocate Blake Forbes said the act of kindness is generous and appreciated, but he would like to see people in such situations given more support to start with.
“That’s very generous and great but in a way it shouldn’t have to come to this,” he said.
“The initial funding is too low of course. In a perfect world it should be based on what every individual client or family needs, it shouldn’t be up to the individual to pay the excess.”
As for the farmer, he was preparing to head into the mountains for a hunting trip when RNZ talked to him, and donate the meat to a community charity helping those in need.
“I’m going hunting this afternoon and if I shoot any meat, most of that meat will be turned into sausages and given to Happiness House in Queenstown.”
He hopes his actions encourage more people to look for ways to help others.
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If you went swimming at Piha Beach in West Auckland any weekend last summer, it’s almost certain that 75-year-old Karel Witten-Hannah was one of your guardians.
Over the last summer he recalls the young woman who thought she was dying (Witten-Hannah “pinky promised” that she wasn’t) and another young woman who thought she had died (in her defence, Witten-Hannah’s white beard does give a God-like aura).
He was there when Piha lifeguards brought in a young surfer who had been blown two kilometres out to sea at night. He assisted in what was sadly a failed resuscitation attempt of a fisher, who was swept off the rocks on Boxing Day (drowning-related resuscitation has a bleak success rate of around ten percent).
Karel Witten-Hannah favorite job lifeguard is doing flag duty where he can interact with the public.
@pihasteve/Steen Bech
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Jone Vakarisi was heard screaming and begging, according to his sister.Supplied
Jone Vakarisi was heard screaming and begging before he was “brutalised to death” in Fiji military custody last week, according to his sister.
Melehola Tagaga told Pacific Waves that the well known drug pusher was asked if he was planning a coup, before the military arrested him at home and took him to the Queen Elizabeth Barracks for questioning last Thursday.
The Fiji Police Force classified the 37-year-old’s death as murder following a high-level meeting in Suva involving the Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and security and military chiefs on Monday.
“An investigation is underway with the support of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Commander, as earlier stated, so it will be thoroughly conducted,” police spokesperson Ana Naisoro said.
Vakarasi had become somewhat notorious in the capital, linked to turf wars and engaging in violence with law enforcement in recent years.
Local media outlets have described him as a local “drug lord” who was “involved in criminal networks”.
Jone Vakarisi was linked to turf wars and engaging in violence with law enforcement in recent years.Supplied
Fiji’s top military and police brass were on Bau Island farewelling the late President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau when news broke of his death last Friday.
His death certificate, dated 18 April, lists asphyxia, aspiration of gastric contents, severe traumatic head injuries and blunt force trauma to both the head and chest as the causes of his death.
The Republic of Fiji Military (RFMF) commander Ro Jone Kalouniwai initially attributed the victim’s death to a “sudden and severe medical emergency” and “the presence of a pre-existing condition”.
However, he issued a second statement on Monday to correct the record, saying “the earlier description did not fully reflect the medical findings now available”.
Victim begged for his life
Melehola Tagaga claimed that people living close to the military barracks in Nabua, near Suva, told the family they heard Vakarisi “yelling and screaming” for hours before he died.
“My brother was saying “oi lei, au via bula”, meaning “hey, I want to be alive,” and that is all they heard, all through the night,” she said.
Tagaga, 50, an entrepreneur in Sacramento, California, said his home was raided first by the police, then later by the military.
Both were looking for weapons and drugs, but nothing was found, then “disappointed” they questioned him about a possible coup.
“A family member that was there heard the term coup … they asked if he heard or had a plan or knew of someone that was plotting another coup. And he said he had nothing to do with it and he didn’t know anything about it,” Tagaga said.
She described the father of four as an “entrepreneur”, a “family man” but admitted he had previous “gang-related” convictions involving violence.
Jone Vakarisi with his children.Supplied
“What do you expect from the kind of society that we live in in Fiji … people were becoming more territorial, so if you felt threatened, wouldn’t you do something to make sure your family and friends are safe? (from rival territories and authorities).
She said the family were demanding justice and an independent, fully transparent investigation into the death, claiming the military and the police were “in cohoots” with each other.
“With the the wrongdoing, we want accountability, regardless of what the allegations are (against Vakarisi). We still don’t have a clear explanation of what happened to him. “
“His life probably didnt matter to them (the military) but it mattered to us … he had a past with the law but that didn’t give them the right to kill him. A person’s life in custody should be protected,” she said.
Lawyer says death ‘extra-judicial’
Rajendra Chaudhry, a lawyer and the son of former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, told Pacific Waves the death was an extrajudicial killing.
“I find it highly alarming that there was an attempt to cover it up, which is clearly unacceptable … the commander ought to have known about that. So the (initial) statement that was released under his name was misleading to say the least,” Chaudhry said.
He said it was not a simple communication oversight, it was a serious coverup that was exposed only after the death certificate was made public.
“I am quite disgusted to see comments on social media supporting the military because Vakarisi was a drug peddler, the military must respect the rule of law. He should have been handed over to the police for questioning and processing,” Chaudhry said.
“They (the police) should take charge of the investigation and deal with it independently, they should not act in collaboration with the military because the military is being investigated, it doesn’t make sense.”
While he had confidence in the police commissioner, Rusiate Tudravu, he said the military “leans on” section 131 of the Constitution, which states that that the military is responsible for the over all security of the country.
“That provision is a license to act extra-constitutionally and must be read together with emergency provisions, where the military is required to act in safeguarding Fiji in the national interest, it should not have a say in domestic or governance matters, which is the role of the police and the government of the day.”
A Fiji military spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Dr Eroni Duaibe, said it would be inappropriate to comment while a police investigation was underway.
Jone Vakarisi, back-middle, with his family.Supplied
Human rights abuses
The Fiji NGO Coalition on Human Rights (NGOCHR) echoed Chaudhry’s views, adding that Fijians are too frightened to question what the military does.
NGOCHR chair Shamima Ali called for a transparent, independent investigation into the human rights abuses involved in the murder
Aman Ravindra-Singh, a Fijian human rights lawyer who is in exile in Australia, equated asphyxia with strangulation.
Ravindra-Singh fled from Fiji in 2022 to avoid jail for contempt of court following a series of Facebook posts critical of the then-Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama and the former Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
“In my personal view, based on other similar deaths in custody matters that I have looked at in the past, these injuries are consistent with torture, where a person is brutally beaten repeatedly to the head and chest, resulting in death,” he said.
In an exclusive interview with Mai TV’s The Brunch talkshow, Vakarisi’s ex-wife Kuini Osbourne rejected claims that he was involved in illegal drug and gun-related activities, as widely reported in local media.
She said following Vakarisi’s post-mortem, the pathologist explained to her his cause of death.
“He choked on his [own] blood and fluid that came up and [the doctor] explained that it was like strangulation.”
The pathologist said due to the severe trauma to Vakarisi’s head and chest he had internal bleeding from broken ribs, “he choked when the blood and fluids came up. He couldn’t vomit it or spit it out,” she said.
Meanwhile, Fiji police declined to say what Vakarisi’s previous convictions were.
“We will respond on policing issues, matters arising out of jurisdictional matters, such as convictions, is not for us to comment on,” Naisoro said
“We will not be commenting on anything other than the investigation, so as not to jeopardise the process,” she said.
Vakarisi’s older sister Tagaga said both their father and uncles had served in the military.
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The much-missed bells of the carillon in Wellington are playing again.
Silent for most of the last 14 years, this Saturday they will be heard at the national Anzac commemorations at the national war memorial in Pukeahu Park.
Inside the belltower, open now that quake strengthening had been done using a web of steel braces, an old lift with a concertina door goes up to the playing room.
A young Australian was sitting there when RNZ had a tour, at the levers and pedals of the largest musical instrument in the country, playing the Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme) from Star Wars.
Peter Bray played it at RNZ’s request – it was not on his list for Anzac Day.
“I have a Māori piece [Pōkarekare Ana] to start the programme, I have a piece that was written for the Canberra carillon at its opening, I have some peace music that has been arranged for the instrument as well.”
Bray will sound them out on the 70-odd tonnes of bells below and above the playing room.
Peter Bray.RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Leauanae Laulu Mac Leauanae who heads the Ministry for Culture and Heritage had listened to him practice.
“We’ve had the privilege of being, you know, in the room when it’s being played … and then on the forecourt to listen. It’s just amazing to hear the bells again.”
During the Anzac service at dawn, and again from 11am, the biggest bell would feature – at 12 tonnes, the third heaviest carillon bell in the world.
“The Rangimarie bell, it’ll be I think it’s tolled four times to acknowledge those that have served in conflict,” said Leauanae.
Leauanae Laulu Mac Leauanae.Supplied / Ministry of Culture and Heritage / Mark Tantrum
The four-times tradition represents the Army, Navy, Air Force and Merchant Navy.
With a hand on a massive bell in its strengthened steel frame, softly struck, you could feel it reverberate.
They carried inscriptions, such as, “Nothing daunted these intrepid fighters, to them nothing was impossible”, the words of General Edmund Allenby of the Sinai and Palestine campaign during WWI.
Whānau and others donated or sponsored the 74 bells over the years since the tower opened in 1932.
Inscriptions on the bells.RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Bray has played at 70 carillons out of the world’s 700 but it was his first time at New Zealand’s.
“I feel quite honoured. I’ve never been in New Zealand for Anzac Day and to be part of this ceremony to represent the carillon society of Australia is quite an honour.”
Mac Leauanae said that was the only sustainable thing to do. “I do want to acknowledge Timothy Hurd as national carillonist … once Tim had made that decision to retire, we worked closely with the carillon society of Australia.”
They hoped to get someone over for recitals each month. The eventual aim was to train up someone locally, he said.
Inside the carillon tower.RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Work on the tower had been stop-start since 2012, including an ‘re-opening’ in 2018 followed in 2020 by engineers warning the tower was still earthquake-prone despite the earlier years of work.
Since 2020, $10.1 million had been spent on the new quake measures in what was a very complex job, said Leauanae.
Two Fridays ago, he met workers finishing up at the tower. “They were just talking about how technical, how difficult it has been.
“But the main thing is … one of the technicians said that now we have a building that’s strengthened for the next 100 years.”
It was not quite finished: About 10 bells still had to be attached to their stainless steel playing cords.
That was not a problem, said Bray. “It’s nearly completely operational. In Canberra we have 57 bells so I’m used to quite a smaller amount.
“They’re very beautiful bells. They’re English bells. I grew up learning on English bells.
“It has quite a warm sound. A big, large, warm, long-resonant-sounding bells.”
There are 70-odd tonnes of bells at the memorial.RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Bray had played the carillon half his life since learning at age 14 at a school holiday programme.
Leauanae said “that’s the prayer, that’s the hope” that a young New Zealander might do something similar. The ministry was working with Victoria University’s music department on that, he added.
Bray turned from Star Wars to a piece he would play on Saturday before RNZ left, back down in the unrestored, quaint lift.
Recital programme for Saturday’s Anzac services at Pukeahu
Pōkarekare Ana – traditional, arranged Daniel Guo
Lake Music – Terry Vaughan
Hymn from Adienmus: Songs of the Sanctuary – Karl Jenkins – arranged Wendy Murphy
Prelude for Peace – Gerald Finzi – arranged Austin Ferguson
Spiegel im spiegel – Arvo Part – arranged Peter Bray
Sonatine – Stefano Colleti
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Thirty-nine local and regional principals associations and six teacher subject associations have now signed a letter started by teacher union the Educational Institute Te Riu Roa (NZEI) and the Principals’ Federation a month ago and published in newspapers on Thursday.
The letter said six draft curriculums for Years 0-8 in health and physical education, learning languages, science, social sciences, technology, and the arts were not fit for purpose.
The government wanted the learning areas finalised by the middle of the year with schools teaching the new science, social sciences and health and physical education curriculums next year and arts, technology and learning languages from the start of 2028. They would join English and maths, which primary schools had been teaching since the start of 2025.
Signatories to the letter included Māori Principals’ Association Te Akatea and subject associations for teachers of history, social sciences, physical education, drama and art.
There were also principals associations from north to south, including Auckland, Canterbury and Wellington as well as Te Tai Tokerau, eastern and western Bay of Plenty, New Plymouth, Hawke’s Bay, Nelson, mid and north Canterbury, and Otago and south Otago.
Principals’ Federation president Jason Miles said the drafts must be put on hold.
“It’s not going to take much for the minister to say ‘we need to pause, we need to re-engage with the sector, we need to re-write the drafts in their current forms’ and that’s what we’re asking,” he said.
Miles said the drafts ignored the Treaty of Waitangi, concentrated on knowing and doing things without the third leg of understanding that was in the current curriculum, and had been developed with little input from the education sector.
NZEI president Ripeka Lessels said there was so much opposition the government should pause work on the curriculum.
“The change is ill-thought, is ill-consulted-on, and the change is an ideological change, it’s not a good curriculum development change,” she said.
Education Minister Erica Stanford had ignored their demands so far.
Education Minister Erica Stanford.RNZ / Nick Monro
Miles said it was too early to say what might happen if the government forged ahead with its plans.
“We wouldn’t want to preempt any actions,” he said.
“We want to engage, we want to openly sit down with the ministry and look at the draft curriculum and how we can have input into it as professionals. I’d rather put our energy into that than think about what we’re going to do if the minister doesn’t listen.”
Wellington Regional Primary Principals Association president Shirley Porteous said a lot of the opposition was because the government was moving far too fast.
“I’ve heard a lot of feedback that we want the pace to change so whether that is ‘stop’ or ‘slow down considerably’ will be in the hands of the ministry but we certainly cannot continue at the pace we’re at,” she said.
But Porteous said teachers were not thrilled with the content of the draft curriculums either.
“I found it very insightful working with my teachers and watching their faces as they realised just the vast number of things that they are going to have start teaching within one week that they’ve got to now fit in, let alone the content,” she said.
“For those of us who have had the chance to go deep with the content of each curriculum area we are extremely concerned about the actual content and the shift in terms of what we are being asked to teach children.”
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Former Te Pāti Māori president Che Wilson has sparked debate following a controversial haka performed at the Tainui Regional Kapa Haka competition over the weekend.
The haka, directed at ACT MP Parmjeet Parmar, included the phrase “purari karikari iniana”, which has been interpreted as a derogatory reference to Indians. It also incorporated gestures referencing Indian cultural practices, including sitting cross-legged with hands in a prayer position. Wilson appeared to mimic an Indian accent and head movements during the performance.
When contacted by Mata, ACT Party ethnic communities spokesperson Parmjeet Parmar said: “Reports that this performance was composed and directed at mocking Indians are deeply troubling. Many in the Indian community have come to New Zealand seeking opportunity, safety, and a sense of belonging. They deserve to be treated with dignity“.
ACT MP Parmjeet Parmar.RNZ / Blessen Tom
In an interview with Te Arawa FM journalist Kereama Wright posted on Monday, Wilson defended the haka, saying, “Ko te hunga pēnā ki a Parmjeet e hiahia ana te tohutohu mai, ko tāku, haere hoki!”, “For people like Parmjeet who want to tell us what to do, I say you can go”.
Indigenous rights advocate Tina Ngata criticised the performance online, writing that she believed, “Parmjeet Parmar has indeed done a lot of damage, and delivers racist harm to Māori and many others. The answer to that should not be to deliver racist harm back upon her people by mocking them, ridiculing their culture, jeering at the poverty on their lands that comes from the same coloniser, and using racial slurs cloaked in our reo”.
Parmar previously drew criticism after seeking advice from officials on the range of possible penalties for Te Pāti Māori MPs following their Treaty Principles haka in Parliament, including whether imprisonment was an option. She said at the time she was “doing her homework”.
Political connections
Wilson served as Te Pāti Māori president from 2018 to 2022 before being replaced by John Tamihere. He is also a former Deputy Secretary for the Ministry of Environment.
He leads the kapa haka – Te Pae Kahurangi, an affiliate of the kapa haka Te Iti Kahurangi. When Mata first contacted Wilson, it was advised he would not be available to comment due to wānanga commitments.
Te Iti Kahurangi, the senior group, is led by newly selected Labour Party candidate Kingi Kiriona, who announced during the competition that he would stand against Waikato-Hauraki MP Hana Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke.
Kingi Kiriona – Labour candidate for the Hauraki Waikato seat.Supplied / Aukaha
When Mata contacted Kiriona, he provided a statement attributed to Wilson, and reiterated that Wilson had been unable to reply because he had been away at a wānanga.
The statement said: “Haka is a platform to challenge and where relevant, denigrate in response to an issue. The haka was composed and choreographed by a collective known as Te Whānau o Te Pae Kahurangi, and takes aim at ACT MP Parmjeet Parmar for her actions in seeking imprisonment advice for the performance of the haka by Māori MPs in the house last year, as well as her attack on Māori-focussed roles, courses, and spaces at the University of Auckland.
“Te Pae Kahurangi regards these actions as clear examples of prejudice towards Māori culture, and as such, the haka is aimed specifically at Mrs. Parmar and not the Indian community.
“Te Pae Kahurangi does not condone racism. Te Pae Kahurangi apologises for any offence caused to the Indian community, towards whom this haka was not directed”.
Rising tension
The controversy comes as the government prepares to sign a free trade agreement with India. The issue has already created political tension between National and New Zealand First.
On Tuesday Labour leader Chris Hipkins condemned Jones’ remarks which he described as “racist at the least”, adding “there is no room for racist rhetoric in any government that I lead”.
Last year Hipkins was critical of former Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris when he attacked Labour for using “Indians, Asians, Black and Pākehā” to help campaign for Peeni Henare in the Tāmaki
Makaurau byelection.
Labour candidate Kingi Kiriona and Labour leader Chris Hipkins hongi.Supplied / Aukaha
Over the weekend Tāmaki Makaurau MP Oriini Kaipara met with members of the Takanini Gurdwara Sahib in a show of solidarity. She has been vocal in her support of the Sikh community and critical of attacks against them by Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki.
Kaipara who is a founding member of national champion kapa haka Ngā Tūmanako told Mata she was appalled Te Pae Kahurangi’s haka, which she believed had ridiculed the Indian culture.
She said “we were always taught that humility is the quintessence of who we are as Māori. Our values of manaakitanga and whanaungatanga never leave us, even in competition mode”.
The Tāmaki Makaurau MP said haka is often controversial but this is different. She said “I don’t recall a haka as confronting as this. I believe it crossed the line. It is racist”.
In her statement she went on to say “we must do better as Māori, and we need our leaders to lead much better than this, whether on the haka stage, in Parliament, in churches, or in our communities”.
Tāmaki Makaurau MP Oriini Kaipara with the Sikh community.Supplied
ACT response
In her statement to Mata, Parmar said “Racism in any form is unacceptable. It doesn’t matter who it comes from or who it is directed at. It has no place in a country that prides itself on fairness and mutual respect.
“New Zealanders reject the idea that one group is superior or inferior to another. People should be judged on their character and contribution, not their identity”.
Last year Parmar drafted a members bill to prevent universities from giving scholarships based on a person or group’s race or ethnic origin, nor any other financial assistance, accommodation, housing, access to “designated spaces, rooms, or other facilities” or “any other benefit, entitlement, or opportunity”.
“I wrote to the minister for universities to raise concerns about allocation of resources toward students based on ethnicity. This includes special allowances, separate study spaces, scholarships, and course entrance pathways in fields like medicine.”
Parmar also raised concerns students at the University of Auckland were being forced to do a paper on the Treaty of Waitangi, particularly for international students, for whom the course would “hold little value”.
Debate over kapa haka and political expression
Expressing political views through kapa haka is not uncommon, with many groups composing waiata about contentious issues and policies. However, in this case, the use of racial stereotypes on stage has drawn strong criticism. Te Matatini, the national kapa haka organisation, shared clips of the performance on social media over the weekend which have now been removed. When contacted by Mata, Te Matatini chief executive Carl Ross confirmed it had received complaints and acted immediately to remove the haka from its social media and other platforms and contacted Whakaata Māori, which will also remove the haka from all Whakaata Māori platforms.
“We assessed the haka against the standards of the Broadcasting Standards Authority, particularly those relating to discrimination and denigration. We concluded that elements of the performance risked reinforcing negative stereotypes about Indian people, and on that basis, the material did not meet the standard expected.”
Indigenous rights advocate Tina Ngata.Supplied / Tina Ngata
A common sentiment expressed on social media was that political critique should focus on ideas rather than culture. One commentator posted “Werohia ngā whakaaro o te tangata, kaua ko tōna ahurea”, “Challenge the ideas of a person, not their culture”.
Wilson, who is currently a director of Māori consultancy firm Naia, appeared unrepentant in his earlier interview with Te Arawa FM, saying: “Mēnā e riri ana ētahi, e tū ana ngā pihi, kei te pai, kei a rātou tēnā”, “If some are angry or upset about it, that is fine. That is up to them”.
The statement to Mata, attributed to Wilson, said “It is worthwhile noting that there are many examples of haka and kaioraora (derogatory songs), that often include references such as ‘pokokōhua’ (boiled-head), ‘kai a te kurī’ (food for the dogs), ‘porohewa’ (baldhead) used to denigrate people”.
Parmjeet Parmar was critical of Wilson saying “leadership comes with a responsibility to bring people together, not to foster division or target others based on race”.
“Kapa haka is a powerful and respected cultural art form. It should celebrate identity, tell stories, and bring people together, not denigrate a particular racial group. When it is used that way, it diminishes the mana and meaning of the haka itself.”
In response to the interview, Ngata stated on Facebook, “This is a perfect example of how colonial harm turns into lateral racism, and it’s exactly why we, as Māori, need to stop excusing ourselves from anti-racism training. Ka pā pouri ahau mō tōku reo rangatira, kua mahia hei patu i runga i te iwi Iniana, hei āwhina i te kaikiritanga anō hoki.” She said she was sad that te reo Māori was being used in a way that harmed Indian people and reinforced racism.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
As the market slumps again, sellers are facing the prospect of gambling on a recovery or just cutting their losses.RNZ / Quin Tauetau
New Zealand’s property market is facing another slow patch – leaving some owners who bought in the post-Covid peak wondering what to do next.
Cotality’s latest data shows property sales were down 2 percent in March from the same time a year earlier.
It was the third fall in activity in a row, after drops of 8 percent in January and 3 percent in February.
Values were up 0.3 percent over three months but down 1.3 percent over a year and still 17.1 percent from the peak.
Some people who bought at the peak of the market have been facing tough questions about whether to move and swallow a loss that might so far only be on paper, or rent out their houses.
Property investment coach Steve Goodey said he was encountering a large number.
“There is a heap of people who drank the Kool-Aid during the Ardern Government when interest deductibility was being removed and they all decided simultaneously to buy a two-bedroom townhouse that was cashflow negative at full value at the top of the market. There are a lot of people hanging around now with those and mostly they’ve gone down in value by 20 or 30 percent and stayed down because there’s no scarcity to them. You can buy them everywhere.
“These people are $200,000 or $300,000 down in equity and they’re sitting on them or renting them out.
“They are mainly negative cashflow so they’re costing money each week for people to own them, I see so many people in the market at the moment that have that sitting in their portfolio costing them $200 or $300 a week and mostly they come to me and ask me my advice and my advice is either sit on it forever and it’s not going to come right or go interest-only and rent it out and pull through but if you’re facing a $200,000 loss and you’re feeding it $300 a week it’s probably not going to come right and you need to tear the band-aid off to a degree.”
He said holding on for years in the hope it would come right was often not the best plan.
“It’s costing you the ability to buy something else.”
He said some real estate salespeople had started sending listings of their most motivated vendors.
Cotality chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said activity among owner-occupiers moving from one house to the next had also slowed, which could indicate some owner-occupiers were hesitant to take a loss, too.
While first-home buyers were responsible for 27 percent of purchases in the first quarter, investors were about 25 percent and movers were 26 percent, compared to a normal share closer to 28 percent.
“Relocating owner occupiers at the moment are pretty quiet, so I think whatever decision criteria they use at the moment, they’re just deciding to stay put to some extent and when uncertainty’s high, when the economy’s looking a bit shaky, if you don’t necessarily need to move, you kind of stay where you are and we are seeing that in the figures.”
He said while people were often told there was nothing lost if they bought and sold in the same market, there could be a psychological impact.
“The mentality is a little bit different if you did buy at the peak and your first house was that top dollar price and on paper, at least, that equity has been eroded… it does change the mindset, at least.
“It’s a tricky decision for people who are thinking about moving and perhaps thinking it’s going to be hard to sell this house.”
Some might decide to rent it out instead, he said.
But he said most people would reach a point where they had to make a decision and then get on with it.
“You can go around in circles and stress yourself out. At some point, you’ve got to make a call and sort of live with it.
“At the moment, it’s, you know, if you don’t need to sell, it’s probably not necessarily the time to be selling. It’s definitely a tricky market for sellers and an advantageous market for buyers, no doubt about that.”
Opes Partners economist Ed McKnight said anyone weighing up whether to hold on to a property would need to work through a few steps.
The first was to think about whether they would buy the same property back with a 5 percent discount.
“It costs money to sell a house, often it’s around 5 percent of the home’s value, once you take into account real estate agent fees, marketing, staging and lawyers. If you have a $500,000 property, it usually costs $25,000. So a good framing is to flip it around the other way and say ‘would you buy this house if it was on sale’? If yes, you would, then hold on to the property.”
Then, people would need to think about whether they had something better to invest the money in, he said.
“If you don’t, it might be better to hold on.”
But if they did they would need to think about whether there were any exceptional circumstances, such as legal reasons that might make it helpful not to sell, or finance concerns.
“A real estate agent offered me $500,000 for one of my properties. It’s a good price in today’s market. But I said no. He couldn’t believe it. I said no because when the property was worth more I borrowed against it to buy another property. If I sold that property today, I could pay back the debt. But I couldn’t replace it. The bank wouldn’t let me, because I wouldn’t have enough equity. “
He said he said to people that it was possible to buy at different stages of the market and still make money.
“You can even buy at the top of a downturn, and sell at the top of the next downturn at still make money. But you often can’t buy at the top of the market, sell at the bottom and expect to make money.”
He said it was often the case that the best thing was to keep holding a property.
Although national values were not moving, he said, there were places around the country where prices had completely recovered, including Christchurch.
People should get advice from a financial adviser, he said.
Davidson said it seemed likely that the knock-on effects of the Iran conflict could keep the market subdued for the next few months.
In sweeping reforms to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) announced today, the government will cut 160,000 participants from the scheme over the next four years and reduce funding for the average plan by A$5,000 in the next two years.
Speaking at the National Press Club today, NDIS Minister Mark Butler argued the scheme “costs too much and is growing too fast”. He claimed the NDIS was losing its social licence, with six in ten Australians believing the scheme was “broken”.
Without significant changes, he argued, the NDIS “will not be able to deliver what Australians with disability deserve”. Instead, he wants to return the NDIS to its original intent and improve the scheme’s financial sustainability.
So what are these changes? And what might they mean for NDIS participants and their families?
The government’s plan to secure the NDIS will have four pillars:
fighting fraud and stopping rorts
slowing rapid cost increases
clearer eligibility requirements
delivering quality services and support to participants.
To achieve these pillars, Butler set out several changes, including:
introducing a digital payment system so there is better visibility over claims made to the NDIS and to ensure these are genuine
reducing the number of organisations able to operate as plan managers
reducing the number of unscheduled plan reassessments, where people spend their budgets before their plans end
establishing a $200 million Inclusive Communities Fund to support people with disability to participate in their communities to partially replace cuts to individual plans
increasing the number of activities that require mandatory registration of providers
delaying new planning processes (that were due to start in July) until April 2027.
Cutting the cost of the NDIS
The original design for the NDIS predicted it would have 410,000 participants. But today there are more than 760,000.
With more participants than originally predicted, the scheme is more expensive than was budgeted. This year the NDIS is predicted to cost more than $50 billion.
The Labor government has been signalling it wants to curb the growth of the scheme for some time. In 2022, the annual growth rate of the scheme was 22%. A meeting of National Cabinet in 2023 agreed to bring this down to 8%. This year, this was revised down to 5–6% per year.
Butler argued that while the government has tried a number of reforms to meet these targets, progress has been too slow. He will now cut costs by reducing plan amounts and changing eligibility requirements to make it harder to access the scheme and lead to some current participants no longer meeting the criteria.
Reducing the costs of social and community participation
The government plans to reduce the average plan from $31,000 back to the 2023 average of $26,000. One of the main ways it will do this is to cut funding in plans for individual social and community participation.
This funding is for supports outside of the home and helps people to engage in their community and build their confidence. It can include things such as group cooking classes, fitness activities, social outings or skills development.
Butler announced the social and community participation component of budgets will be reduced by 30% and acknowledged these cuts will have a “material impact” on participants.
Instead, the government will allocate $200 million to a new Inclusive Communities Fund. This will be available to mainstream and disability organisations to build up “new options” for people with disability to participate in their local community.
In reality, this funding replaces a fraction of what will be cut from participant plans. It also represents a reallocation of funding away from people with disability and towards organisations that will decide which services are offered. This change is inconsistent with the scheme’s philosophy of personalisation and participant choice.
The timing of these changes is likely to present challenges. Reducing individual funding for social and community participation before the Inclusive Communities Fund has been able to develop alternatives leaves an obvious gap for participants.
This gap requires urgent attention. Decreased access to social and community engagement presents clear barriers to participants’ right to be included in the community. It also increases the likelihood of being neglected and exploited if people aren’t known or embedded in their local community.
Tightening scheme eligibility
The government wants to reduce the number of people on the scheme to around 600,000 by the end of the decade. This is a reduction of 160,000 participants from today’s numbers, alongside those who are not currently on the scheme who will not meet tightened eligibility requirements.
This will be achieved by developing new NDIS eligibility criteria and ensuring there is greater consistency in how people are assessed for the scheme.
The government wants to move away from using medical diagnoses to determine entry and instead focus on functional capacity. In other words, eligibility will be based on the impact a person’s impairments might have on their life, in combination with their environment and aspirations.
Some of this work is already underway. The I-CAN Support Needs Asssessment tool has been selected for use in the NDIS to support standardised, evidence-based, “objective” assessments of a person’s functional capacity.
Butler confirmed the tool will need to indicate a “significant reduction in a person’s functional capacity” for people to gain access to the scheme. The current approach, where some people gain NDIS access based on diagnosis from a list of eligible conditions, will end.
What happens next?
The government’s aim is to reduce the growth of the NDIS to 2% per year until 2030.
While this means the scheme will continue to grow, a current inflation rate of more than 3% means NDIS expenditure will decrease in real terms.
For people with disability continuing to experience cost-of-living challenges, housing unaffordability and increased living costs associated with disability, assurances of continued growth will be cold comfort.
To make some of the announced changes, the government will need to pass new legislation. This will be introduced to parliament during upcoming budget sittings.
A technical advisory group will be assembled to develop new eligibility criteria. This means participants and potential applicants won’t see changes until at least 2028.
However, reductions in social and community participation funding will start to occur as early as July 1 2026.
Updated research has shown up lingering headaches over the impacts of decades-long nuclear testing in the Pacific islands and interventions of outside powers, amid growing threats from climate change, writes Dr Lee Duffield.
REVIEW:By Lee Duffield
The journalist, professor and peace activist Dr David Robie, was one of a media party on the ill-fated voyage of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in 1985, before its sinking by French security operatives in Auckland Harbour.
He wrote a definitive book about the lead-up in the region to the fatal sinking of the ship with limpet mines; unmasking of the plot made in Paris; attempts to obtain justice and a long aftermath with demands for empowerment by former “colonial” people to prevent such outrages in their island homelands.
The book is Eyes of Fire, first published in 1986, then successively updated as the story unfolded, with new facts and consequences of the outrage coming to light.
It ran to three revised editions, the latest out now to commemorate 40 years since the attack took place. It therefore marked 40 years since the death of the Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira, a Portuguese-born Dutch national, aged 35, father of two children, Marelle and Paul, drowned on board after the second of two blasts that hit the ship.
Eyes of Fire is a highly professional work of journalism, built out of investigation and documentation of facts, then fashioned into an accessible read; illustrated also with easy-to-comprehend maps and diagrams, showing where the ship travelled and where the bombs were planted against its hull, plus photographs from a copious accumulation built up as the Greenpeace movement generated publicity for its actions worldwide.
New Zealand author David Robie . . . “a call to conscience . . . I hope it helps inspire others, especially younger people, to get out there and really take action.” Image: The Australia Today montage
Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior One section describes the Rainbow Warrior, appreciatively and affectionately: a former fisheries research vessel, a trawler type, 50-metres in length, with some difficulty converted for sail as well as power, made into a “proud campaign ship”, painted a strong green with a long rainbow-emblem along the sides.
‘The wheelhouse was rather lumpy and unattractive but the rest of the ship was appealing. She had a high North Sea prow, graceful sheerline and round-the-corner stern.’
For the record… The Rainbow Warrior sailed from Hawai’i on the Pacific Voyage — taking on board seven journalists and some leading figures from the Pacific communities, to the Marshall Islands — where it evacuated the inhabitants of a nuclear afflicted island, Rongelap, to an uninhabited island Mejatto on Kwajalein Atoll.
Pacific distances are great. They transported 350 people — with house lumber and belongings — in four trips, 250 km there and back.
The islanders were suffering from contamination by the infamous upwind explosion of the experimental thermonuclear weapon, Castle Bravo, in 1954 — causing thyroid disorders, cancers and constant miscarriages and birthing disorders.
Dissatisfied that health officials sent by the United States administration were more interested in research than care, they decided to leave. The key instigator was the late Marshall Islands legislator Senator Jeton Anjain. He was one of two Pacific Islands leaders with prominent roles in Robie’s narrative.
The other was Oscar Temaru, a nuclear-free town mayor in Tahiti, also elected as the territory’s President on five occasions.
Temaru, now 81, spoke for many when he said:
“The sad truth is that the only ones who tried to help us are the Greenpeace ecologists…”
According to folklore among Greenpeace founders, a native American woman named “Eyes of Fire” told of a legend that where there was dispossession and despoilation of the land and culture, in time mythical warriors — deliverers — would come, who would mend and restore both. So the peaceship offering aid would be a “Rainbow Warrior”.
The author, Robie, in his news despatches for Radio New Zealand and other media (for which he was awarded the 1985 NZ Media Peace Prize, judged the evacuation project a change for Greenpeace towards humanitarian work connected with environmental destruction:
“This isn’t a game or the sort of action publicity stunt that Greenpeace would do so successfully.”
But the next part of the journey was another dramatic action, in Marshall Islands, at the US missile testing base on Kwajalein Atoll. A party from the ship went ashore, got through perimeter wires and hoisted a banner inscribed “Stop Star Wars” onto a space tracking dome, escaping before the arrival of security guards.
The scene was then being set for the tragedy as the vessel made its way 5000 km to Auckland through friendly territory, calling in at Kiribati, the country hosting the former Christmas Island base for British nuclear tests (1957-58), and Vanuatu, where the leader of the then five year-old Republic, Father Walter Lini, a champion for a nuclear free Pacific, organised a big public welcome.
The strike Celebration fitted the mood of the “Warrior” crew a lot of the time, in this account; a group of 11 skilled and idealistic younger people, sharing a mission they considered important to the world, and enjoying it as an adventure. They wanted to protect nature and promote peace, never violent, but charismatic, given to direct action, often enough dangerous.
They had others on board — in the case of David Robie, for an extended time, 11 days, time enough to get to know the characters and introduce them to readers in his book.
A further leg of the voyage was intended, to take them to Moruroa Atoll — where France was continuing with underground nuclear testing — as flagship for a flotilla of protest boats. In the event, the flotilla sailed, led by another Greepeace ship, Greenpeace III. One boat was arrested penetrating the 12-kilometre territorial limit around the atoll, where a series of tests was about to begin.
The planned disruption of activities on Moruroa may have been the death warrant for Rainbow Warrior — a solution to the riddle of what purposes its destruction was supposed to serve.
As the ship made its way towards Auckland, two French infiltrators got to work in that City, penetrating the Greenpeace operation. A group of military divers from a training base in Corsica was en route to New Zealand on a charter boat and two officers of France’s security service, DGSE, Dominique Prieur and Alain Mafart, flew in under cover as a honeymoon couple.
Rainbow Warrior came in on Sunday, 7 July 1985, surrounded by an escort of small boats and was sunk at the dock in shallow water just before midnight on 10 July.
Divers using an inflatable boat set off the two explosions. Prieur and Mafart were spotted picking up one of the divers on a beach by men doing night watch at their boat club, who got the number of their vehicle, enabling the police to apprehend them, and begin a tortured process to try and secure justice.
Aftermath Updating of the book takes in the negotiations over holding Prieur and Mafart, their eventual transfer to France and subsequent early release; the fate of other conspirators spirited home, promoted, decorated, “looked after” in early retirement; intensive and large scale work by the New Zealand police to find out about the charter boat carrying some of the divers, said to have transferred them onto a submarine, the Rubis; and investigative work by the French press to sheet home responsibility for the attack.
Very soon after Rainbow Warrior was sunk, the Defence Minister, Charles Hernu, was sacked and the head of the DGSE Admiral Pierre Lacoste resigned. The book has a positive impression of the replacement Minister, Paul Quiles and the Prime Minister, Laurent Fabius, who admitted the obvious — that it had been done by French agents and was apologetic.
Subsequent negotiations between New Zealand and France, under United Nations auspices were made very difficult; a formal apology was avoided for some time; eventually both New Zealand and Greenpeace received financial packages in compensation and exemplary damages.
After the 1996 death of François Mitterrand, French President at the time, an investigation by Le Monde turned up circumstantial evidence that he knew of the attack in advance and a statement by Lacoste that he had approved it. Fabius evidently had not known.
Mitterrand’s motive was said to have been realpolitik — to support nuclear deterrence against the Soviet Union in tandem with the US, which supplied France with highly strategic computer technology.
Reviewer intercession… Mitterrand, as a highly equivocal and manipulative politician, walked a tightrope, always watching his soft electoral margins — in this case knowing there was 60 percent support for nuclear testing in France.
In office for four years in 1985, it may have been a new government still failing to face down entrenched security identities, undisciplined, considering themselves to be “deep state”, attached to violent solutions, with potential to go rogue.
Most of Robie’s work here is a narrative, a strong true story, but it has space for analysis, and in particular registers the correlation between devastation brought by the nuclear testing, and colonial management and manipulation of islands affairs.
The post-war wave of independence had come to the Pacific, though not to French Polynesia nor New Caledonia. In addition, the United States still held its Micronesian dependencies in trust or, for Sovereign states, via signed compacts of free association, accompanied by substantial aid payments.
France’s position against independence is incentivised by maintaining colonies of more than 200,000 settlers; and in New Caledonia, the nickel deposits, around 15 percent of world resources, as well as the 200 kilometre territorial zone off the long coast of Grande Terre island, opening onto as yet unsurveyed undersea resources.
For the Americans, the priority has been both weapons testing and maintaining a strategic barrier against Russia, then China.
Old problems, future challenges These considerations help to address the always unanswered question of what the plotters thought they had to gain. The book suggests a clumsy and excessive attempt to stop the ship leading a flotilla to Moruroa Atoll as most likely.
It goes on to identify same-old patterns of resistance in latter-day moves, successful, to get better recognition of the impacts of nuclear contamination and in the moves through international forums — such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, South Pacific Forum, United Nations agencies, the international courts — to get recognition and action on the impacts of climate change.
Pacific communities mindful of the rising seas, and other problems like impacts on sea-life, have struggled to get a hearing, finding, again, that “great powers” outside the region which hold resources that can help hold off the crisis, hold back their response.
Nuclear testing in the atmosphere was made to stop in 1974; tests underground on the atolls continued to 1996, leaving a very brief interregnum before global warming reared its head.
The current edition of Eyes of Fire has a prologue by Helen Clark, New Zealand Prime Minister from 1999-2008, a staunch keeper of the faith in a nuclear-free Pacific. Saying, “storm clouds are gathering”, she warns against renewed militarisation especially with Australia and perhaps other Pacific states acquiring nuclear submarines under the 2021 AUKUS agreement.
It is time for “de-escalation, not for enthusiastic expansion of nuclear submarine fleets in the Pacific”, writes Clark in her contribution to the new edition. With its peace policy, New Zealand wanted to be “a force for diplomacy and for dialogue, not for warmongering”.
Clark warns withdrawal of funding from the United Nations, led by the US, is a new threat: “Its humanitarian, development, health, human rights, political and peacekeeping, scientific and cultural arms all face fiscal crises.”
David Robie reports on the 40th anniversary commemoration of the 1985 events by Greenpeace, sending the new purpose-built ship, the new Rainbow Warrior, sometimes known as Rainbow Warrior III, to carry out independent radiation research. He follows up the lives and careers of the crew members and the islanders they worked with, several of whom have passed away.
While the writer’s own message, as in much good journalism, emerges from true handling of the facts, Robie does privilege a quotation from the executive director of Greenpeace Aotearoa, Russel Norman, on the crew of Rainbow Warrior, to close the story:
“They faced down a nuclear threat to the habitability of the Pacific. Do we have the courage and wits to face down the biodiversity and climate crises facing humanity, crises that threaten the habitability of planet Earth?”
Dr Lee Duffield on board the Rainbow Warrior in Fremantle, WA. Image: Independent Australia
Dr Lee Duffield reported on Australia’s dispute with France over atmospheric testing for ABC News in Sydney and then from Paris as the ABC European Correspondent. His work entailed monitoring police actions against Kanak activists in New Caledonia, including the killings on Ouvéa Island; confrontations with French Ministers over the test programme; and negotiations between France and New Zealand, in Paris, on Rainbow Warrior, especially the jailing then early release of Dominique Prieur and Alain Mafart. He later taught Journalism at QUT in Brisbane and was a contributor to Pacific Journalism Review. Dr Duffield is also one of the co-owners of Independent Australia, and the chair of its editorial board. This review is republished from the Independent Australia with permission.
A home care worker’s calling the government out for alleged double standards over mileage rates paid to MPs.
Earlier this month, home and community support workers were given a temporary boost to their mileage rates – from 63.5 cents to 82.5 cents per kilometre.
Relief teachers also received a similar increase.
But the amount politicians can claim for using their private vehicles for work purposes is considerably higher.
Checkpoint confirmed with Beehive sources that MPs can claim mileage up to 14,000 kilometres a year at an IRD rate of $1.17 cents a kilometre for a petrol car and $1.26 for diesel vehicles.
MP’s spouses can also claim the mileage if the vehicle use is connected to parliamentary work – for example, driving the MP to a meeting.
Napier home support worker, Tamara Baddeley called the difference “bloody disgusting.”
“It’s a total double standard. They are on six-figure salaries to begin with, we are on wages of $25 to $32 an hour,” she said.
She said she would like to see MPs do care workers’ jobs for a month with their pay and allowances.
Checkpoint asked Parliamentary Services for the mileage figures but they wouldn’t supply the amounts paid per kilometre, saying the rates were based on AA reports it couldn’t share.
But the programme confirmed the payments from a claim form that shows IRD rates are used.
Those are calculated at the end of the financial year and new rates are currently being calculated for the year ended 31 March 2026.
IRD said they’ll be available soon and will reflect changes to the cost of fuel up to that date.
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When director Tearepa Kahi went with a small crew on a reconnaissance mission to Tunisa for the film Sgt. Haane, a remarkable chance encounter occurred.
“I’m shaking in terms of my memory of this, because it’s almost a year to the day,” he told RNZ’s Nine to Noon.
They were visiting Takrouna, where in 1943 Sergeant Haane Manahi and his comrades of the 28th Māori Battalion secured a key victory for the Allies in World War II.
This video is hosted on Youtube.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Health New Zealand has confirmed a new measles case in Wellington.
It said the case was not known to be linked to any previous cases or overseas travel.
The person may have been exposed to measles at Warbirds Over Wānaka in early April, or at the Ultra New Zealand music festival in Wellington on 10 April.
Health NZ said the person visited a number of places in the capital while infectious over four days from 15 April.
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This marked the fourteenth arrest that had been made under what police called “Operation Beverly”.
Detective Inspector Scott Beard said the charges against the man are for alleged offending against three boys in the early 1990s, who were students at the School.
The man’s charges included three counts of incident assault on a boy aged 12-16 and three counts of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection.
Police said the the man had been offshore and the investigation team had been after him for a number of years.
Beard confirmed the man was arrested in Blenheim on Wednesday.
“I can confirm that this individual returned to New Zealand last week and has been engaged by a member of the investigation team on his arrival.”
“Today’s arrest is a significant development in the investigation, especially for those men who have waited some time for this matter to be heard in the justice system.”
At this stage, two men remain before the Auckland District Court for alleged offending identified through the course of the investigation.
The man will make his first appearance in the Blenheim District Court on Thursday, before the case is transferred to the Auckland District Court for a hearing on 29 April 2026.
Another 73-year-old man charged in late 2025 will reappear in court in April 2027.
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Dozens of people from the Pūtiki community turned up to try out the new bus service.Robin Martin/RNZ
People power – or should that be Pūtiki power – is being credited for the creation of a new bus route in Whanganui.
Championed by the kaumātua and kuia of Pūtiki Marae, it’s the first time the riverside area of the city has had a public bus service in living memory.
Tow buses were required to pick up a crowd of enthusiastic locals keen to try out the first ever Pūtiki loop service.
Witerina Cooper, a member of the Pūtiki Emergency Response Group, said the drive for a bus service came out of a desire to be more resilient after floods in 2015.
“We were mindful that Pūtiki had never had a bus service, never. We only had a school run years ago when Kanui my son was small and that was the only bus we’ve ever know of that came into Pūtiki.
It was Witerina Cooper’s first ever ride on a passenger bus.Robin Martin/RNZ
“So Kanui says ‘no, they’re going to be re-routing and re-doing the bus runs, let’s put in for a bus run’.”
She was still getting her head around where the bus went.
“Oh we’re not sure, that’s why we’re all on the waka. We’re all on here today so it will show us where it goes, but we’ve got a bus route pamphlet and it gives us the runs.
“But I’ve never used a bus in my life a lot of us haven’t, so it’s going to be a new concept for a lot of us.”
Doreen Ngatoka-Hogg, 86, had it sussed.
Doreen Ngatoka-Hogg could see endless opportunities to use the bus service.Robin Martin/RNZ
“I used to walk everyday, but now I’m having problems with my legs so I take a taxi, but would do me fine. I’d be happy.
“I will catch a bus to go into town, to go up to Aramoho Cemetery to visit my son’s grave and the other relations. It will be handy for me because I’m a Romeo. I like to get around and meet people.”
Passenger Piripi Huwyler shared how his koro got around in his later years.
Piripi Huwyler says his koro would’ve loved the opportunity to have ridden the bus into town … rather than his ride-on mower.Robin Martin/RNZ
“He decided we’ll if noone can take me and I don’t want to ask my whanau to take me into town all the time I’m going to buy a lawnmower that you can drive and he used it as a means to get into town.
“And he used it for quite a while until the police stopped him on the bridge one day and said it was really unsafe. He would’ve loved a regular bus service into town.”
The Pūtiki service heads into the city – where it connects with other routes – and then up to St John’s Hill before heading back to the riverside.
Horizons Regional Council passenger transport committee chair, Jono Naylor, said the new Pūtiki route was part of a larger network rethink which included more frequent services, better connections to five different routes and the running buses seven days a week on some routes.
Horizons passenger transport committee chair Jono Naylor.Robin Martin/RNZ
“Look I think the key thing is that you’ve got a community out there who haven’t been served by public transport for a very very long time, so the idea being that actually people can get not just from there to town but right across town as well.”
He was chuffed with the turnout.
“I think it’s fantastic to see so many people from the Pūtiki community coming out. It reinforces what we discovered through our consultation which is that they want this service and they’ve voted with their feet this morning and it’s been awesome to see.”
Meanwhile, Witerina Cooper had enjoyed her day out.
“It’s all new, it’s a novelty never done it before, never been on a bus before around town. It’s lovely, comfy, cosy. I’ve just said what worries me is I’ll get off the bus and I won’t know how to get home.”
Pūtiki locals including Witerina Cooper and Doreen Ngatoka-Hogg (centre) lobbied hard to get the bus service.Robin Martin/RNZ
The trip had opened Doreen Ngatoka-Hogg’s eyes to the possibilities.
“I really enjoyed it, you know, it’s been a long time since I’ve been around here. I can go and visit my sister now in the rest home, but I tell you what we’ve got to learn everything [about riding buses] again.”
All services on the new Whanganui bus network were free until 17 May.
Dozens of people from the Pūtiki community turned up to try out the new bus service.Robin Martin/RNZ
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Southland Girls’ High SchoolGoogle Maps/Screenshot
For more than a century, the top leadership at an Invercargill school was dominated by women.
The streak has now ended with Southland Girls’ High School getting their first ever male principal.
John Grogan, who has spent eight years as the school’s deputy, is making history at the school by taking up a permanent role as principal.
John Grogan.Southland Girls’ High School
He told Checkpoint he was certainly feeling some pressure but was ready to take on the challenge.
“It’s a big job and I have a lot to do and it’s a wonderful place to do it in.”
His first order of business was to sit down and talk with both staff and students.
Even though he’s familiar with most at the school, his goal was to start with a fresh pair of eyes.
“I want to hear from them afresh and find out what they’re thinking, where they think the school should go… We want to grow a school for the 21st century.”
It was Grogan’s predecessor and mentor Yvonne Browning, a recipient of the Member of New Zealand Order of Merit, that encouraged him to take the job.
While he was the first male in the job, he said his appointment had not provoked too many conversations at the school because he was well-known.
“We’re good with it, we’re moving forward.”
“The board did a really good review about what they wanted and where they wanted to go and that was in alignment with what I want to do and how I operate.”
When it came to whether single sex schools should continue into the future, Grogan stood by one of the school’s mottos.
“We say there is no best school but there is a best school for your child.”
He said they have seen girls at their school thrive and wanted parents to have the choice of an all-girls school.
“They know their children best, they know where they’ll thrive and we would really want parents to know that they can choose the best school for their child.”
Grogan said he had seen differences between the way girls and boys learn especially in the middle teenage years.
“Girls intellectually are slightly ahead of boys in the mid-teens and boys catch up, by the end of the school they’re all the same.’
He said girls tend to be more social, collaborative and can show more concern for one another.
“They need to have a confident environment where they can really relate well to each other and be who they want to be.”
“Boys like risk, girls want certainty, they want to know where they’re going, they want to understand the why, they want to understand what they’re going to learn and where it’s going to take them”
In many ways the school encouraged the idea of standing out and one of the ways was through its “sisterhood of the red shoes”.
The red shoes were an iconic part of the uniform at the high school that motivated the girls to “stand out and stand up”.
“So, wherever they go, people know who they are,” Grogan said.
“And so what I say to the girls is you all have red shoes, but you wear them your own unique way and you have your own path that you’re going to follow, but together you’ll succeed. “
Grogan wasn’t sure if he was going to get his own pair of red shoes but said he had them in his heart.
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As the country battles a budding black market for illicit tobacco, concerns are being raised that the issue is being overblown by interest groups.
RNZ has been investigating black-market cigarettes and tobacco being sold over the counter, without any of the mandated health warnings and for a fraction of the cost of retail brands.
Authorities are calling for a crackdown on those selling the smokes illegally, but say they still don’t know how big the market is.
Meanwhile, those with ties to the tobacco industry say the warnings must be heeded.
Retail NZ released its report on the illegal sale of cigarettes earlier this month, calling for a dedicated taskforce of health, customs, and police to address the issue.
The report estimates that over 27 percent of tobacco smoked in 2024 was illicit.
That figure, used in the Retail NZ report, was originally sourced from a separate 2025 report that was prepared for the exclusive benefit and use of Imperial Tobacco New Zealand and British American Tobacco New Zealand.
But Retail NZ said while its paid-up members include those companies, the report it released was researched and written independently by Retail NZ staff.
It said no tobacco manufacturer funded, commissioned, or directed the Retail NZ report, nor did they review or approve its content before publication, and chief executive Carolyn Young told RNZ they were disciplined about what research they used and who they spoke to.
“We were really clear that anything that we put in the report had to be validated by research,” she said.
“We went to great lengths to ensure that we could validate any comment.”
RNZ visited an East Auckland shop in March, where cigarettes were being sold without health warnings for as low as $13 a packet, roughly a third of the retail price.
A screenshot of a video of tobacco products that has been posted on Facebook.Facebook
The director of Action for Smokefree Aotearoa NZ, Ben Youdan, said when it came to tracking and researching the black market, transparency is key.
“The tobacco industry’s got a long history of exploiting a lot of different people and voices in their own commercial interests,” he said.
“I think there’s definitely some genuine concerns for especially small retailers around some of those issues around tobacco, the tobacco industry always has another interest in telling this story, but there’s definitely an issue in there that we shouldn’t just be dismissing.”
Youdan urged leaders to think critically about what they were being told.
“Really kind of asking those questions about whose arguments are they, who’s setting the playbook on this, and really making sure it’s as legitimate as possible.”
“I think that’s incredibly challenging given the long history that industry has had in this debate and stoking the fire around illicit tobacco.”
One such leader was associate health minister Casey Costello, who last year met with former Australian detective Rohan Pike to discuss the illicit market.
Pike confirmed he had been funded a couple of times by industry groups in New Zealand to visit.
Minister Costello said it was not her practise to ask those she meets with to disclose potential conflicts.
She told RNZ the evidence of a black market was there.
“I’d say it’s a bit disingenuous to suggest that this is about scare-mongering from the tobacco industry,” she said.
“We can see it across the board, and we see it from our own, the public, saying this is a problem.”
Rohan Pike said, irrespective of who funds his visits, his warnings should not be dismissed.
“I would again warn against underestimating the problem,” he said
“You’d be better off overestimating it and then formulating a robust response so that you’re ready for an influx of criminal activity.”
He said he stood by his message, that it was better to be prepared than not.
“I have been saying the same things for 10 years. You can Google all of my statements from when I was in the Australian Border Force to now, and I’m happy to stand by everything I’ve said,” Pike said.
“That’s the only thing that I’m beholden to, is the truth.”
“People can choose to listen to my warnings and the expertise that I have built up over many, many years of law enforcement, or they can battle on themselves.”
Those selling black market tobacco face a six-month prison sentence, a $20,000 fine or both.
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An independent review of NZME’s employment practices shows management has more work to doRNZ
The chair of media business NZME says an independent review of employment practices, following the recent dismissal of three executive members of staff, indicate management has more work to do.
“More generally the review found that NZME had more work to do in order to promote and maintain a supportive work environment in which employees and other persons are treated with respect and dignity,” NZME chair Steven Joyce told shareholders at the annual meeting on Wednesday afternoon.
Shareholders also heard year-on-year revenue was up about 3 percent in the first four months of the year, with a more positive outlook for its OneRoof business, which was rocked by the dismissal its chief executive Greg J. Hornblow.
Hornblow recently pleaded guilty to a charge of receiving commercial sexual services from a minor and lost his bid for name suppression.
NZME chief executive Michael Boggs said OneRoof’s performance was back on track, with new leadership in place and a focus on further development of the property-market-related business.
“It was a disturbing time in the business. It was disturbing for people in the business, and you know, we’re very disappointed about that,” Boggs said.
“We do continue to believe, though, that Oneroof is a very important part of our business. . . and we do believe we’ve got significant growth still to come on OneRoof. And we do believe that will be shown in shareholder value in the future.”
Joyce said the board was prepared to hold OneRoof for now, in response to questions about whether the business would be sold or spun-off as a standalone business.
Boggs said the first quarter of the year has been profitable, reflecting the revenue growth as well as ongoing cost savings, though the outlook was subject to heightened economic uncertainty and global volatility.
“Management continues to closely manage costs, prioritise returns on investment, and preserve financial flexibility.”
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University of Sydney’s vice-chancellor Mark Scott appointed a special advisor for the institution’s antisemitism training programme, but forgot to tell anyone until months later. The first of a two-part series on Zionist influence in Australian universities for Michael West Media.
By Wendy Bacon and Cathy Peters in Sydney
The person chosen for the role of Sydney University’s antisemitism chief is Michael Abrahams-Sprod, chair of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies. His role is to help roll out a training programme for “front-line” staff on issues facing the Jewish community, including antisemitism in “contemporary settings”.
University staff only learned about the appointment through a staff intranet notice earlier this month. A university spokesperson told Michael West Media that Abrahams-Sprod’s new position began on January 1, 2026 and continues until December 2027.
Asked to specify the date the position was approved and from whom the vice-chancellor sought advice, the spokesperson said it was approved on the recommendation of the USyd Senate People, Culture and Safety Committee on March 6, 2026.
This was two months after Abrahams-Sprod started his special advisor job. He was previously campus coordinator of Sydney University’s branch of the pro-Israel Australian Academic Alliance Against Antisemitism and works alongside the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal.
This MWM investigation can also reveal that even before his new appointment, Abrahams-Sprod was funded to work on anti-semitism issues by the University.
In 2025, he worked on a collaboration with the Special Antisemitism Envoy, Jillian Segal, and the Sydney Jewish Museum, developing an antisemitism awareness training programme funded by the Universities of Sydney and Melbourne.
Antisemitism training programme In his new role, Abrahams-Sprod will co-deliver 12 sessions with the Sydney Jewish Museum to 120 USyd staff in key areas including Human Resources, Protective and Risk Services, the Student Affairs Unit and the Office of the Vice-Chancellor.
These key front-line staff administer policies, communicate with staff and students staff and respond to complaints.
After completing the training of administrative staff, Abrahams-Sprod will advise on training for all staff within an “overarching anti-racism framework … to align with the expectations of the Australian Human Rights Commission”.
In response to MWM questions, a spokesperson said that Abrahams-Sprod’s appointment recognised “his unique skills and experience, ongoing work supporting our Jewish and broader community and his existing role as an academic leader at the University.”
He will “consult with relevant communities … on how to tackle antisemitism and other forms of discrimination and build a campus that’s safe and welcoming to all”.
Abrahams-Sprod’s appointment is a win for the pro-Israeli lobby.
Equally, it aims to silence other staff and students and deter protests in support of Palestine.
Claims of exceptionalism Last week, USyd Staff for Palestine called on Mark Scott to reverse the Special Advisor appointment and abolish the role.
They accused the university of “exceptionalism” and drew attention to a recent Australian Human Rights Commission finding of high rates of racism experienced by students and staff from First Nations, African, Asian, Jewish, Māori, Middle Eastern, Muslim, Palestinian and Pasifika backgrounds.
In an open letter, they stated that “in creating a unique special advisor role for antisemitism, the university has signalled that racism against Jewish people is being uniquely prioritised above other forms of discrimination”.
Abrahams-Sprod will work across the university sector to fulfill requirements of Segal-appointed former conservative Australian Catholic University VC Greg Craven, who has been tasked to oversee her punitive universities Report Card initiative.
As reported in The Guardian, Craven accused universities of being a ”major factor in making antisemitism respectful” and referred to campus protesters as “mutant radical groups”. Government funding could be withheld from universities found to “facilitate, enable or fail to act against antisemitism.”
Jillian Segal’s Plan to Combat Antisemitism makes sweeping claims about antisemitism in Australian universities, which have been strongly critiqued by the Australian Human Rights Institute.
The assessment will be based on the contentious IHRA definition of antisemitism. This definition is rejected by many Australian university staff and students, including Jews and students from Middle East backgrounds whose families deal with the daily horror of Israel’s genocide, violent occupation, bombings, denial of humanitarian aid and other war crimes.
Bowing to Zionist pressure Abrahams-Sprod’s appointment can be seen as a response to continuous pressure from October 2023 onwards from Abrahams-Sprod and fellow Zionist staff members on senior university managers to discipline staff and students for pro-Palestinian advocacy. Zionist leaders described ($) Scott as
“arrogant and dismissive” at a meeting in April 2024.
Their anger against anti-Israel sentiment grew after a student encampment began that month.
Scott’s initial reaction was to maintain neutrality regarding the protest, assuring the university community that he understood the right of protesters to peacefully assemble and the right of free speech.
However, by July 2024, after the two-month Gaza encampment had disbanded, USyd launched into defensive action, introducing its new Campus Access Policy, which clamped down heavily on future student or staff protests and political speech.
This policy was strongly criticised, including by the university’s Law School, which published this open letter.
Bowing further to orchestrated pressure on Scott and the university, it then commissioned an external review by Bruce Hodgkinson AM SC about the university’s handling of claims of campus antisemitism in relation to the encampment. The External Review Report made 15 recommendations, including strengthening the restrictions on protests and the imposition of a New Civility Rule with strong penalties for breaching it.
In September 2024, a contrite Mark Scott apologised to Jewish students and staff at a Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee Inquiry for “failing them” in his handling of the encampment.
But key lobbyists, including Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Liebler, said Scott had lost credibility and continued to call for his resignation. Scott publicly promised ($) to fix the situation.
One of the ways to “fix” the situation appears to have been to
turn the coordinator of the Zionist complaints into a leader in his own office.
Australian Academic Alliance Against Antisemitism (5A) When announcing Abrahams-Sprod’s appointment to all university staff earlier this month, Scott praised the “wealth of knowledge, experience and critical expertise” that Abrahams-Sprod brings to the new role. He did not mention his activities as the coordinator of the Australian Academic Alliance Against Antisemitism (5A).
5A is a network of academics working to counter antisemitism in universities and medical institutions that was formed in November 2023. It claimed in its opening statement to the NSW Inquiry into Antisemitism that, “they [Jews] are hated because of their nation state, Israel. Anti-Zionism is the new antisemitism disguised as wine but truly an old poison, rebottled, labelled with new academic terminologies that misrepresent and deceive.”
5A’s linking of Jewish identity with the state of Israel, its misrepresentation of anti-Zionism and the BDS movement are antisemitic strategies that the Israeli government has generated over many years to deflect and misconstrue focus on Israel’s war crimes and crimes against humanity.
It claims that campuses post October 7, 2023, became “epicentres of antisemitic activism” and that this was rooted in “protests, university encampments and cancel culture.”
This puts it on a collision course with thousands of pro-Palestinian and human rights focussed staff and students.
In his role as coordinator, Abrahams-Sprod collated at least 100 complaints against fellow staff and students, many of whom he assisted. This puts him at the centre of the campaign to pressure Scott. According to 5A, the number of complaints emanating from USyd far exceeded the minuscule number submitted from the other four large universities in Sydney.
5A labelled campus protests as antisemitic because they “delegitimise the state of Israel”. Similarly, stating that Israel is an apartheid state or that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza is also considered antisemitic, even though these are widely accepted findings of UN inquiries and international lawyers.
The Roth/Segal connection Abrahams-Sprod is also connected to Jillian Segal through the funding of his own senior lectureship. Segal is married to property developer John Roth and was the sister-in-law of Stanley Roth, who died in January this year.
For more than 20 years, charitable foundations associated with the Roth family, along with several other philanthropists, have helped fund the discipline of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies.
In November 2024, the Roth family established the Roth Senior Lectureship in Jewish Civilisation, Education and Israel Studies to which Abrahams-Sprod was appointed. The university spokesperson said that the funders played no role in his selection.
In addition, the Roth family has provided funding to Youth Mental Health at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre.
After his death, Stanley Roth was celebrated as one of Australia’s strongest supporters and most generous funders of Israel. The brothers also received widespread publicity as directors of Henroth Investments, which donated $50,000 to the far-right group Advance Australia in 2023/4.
Given Abrahams-Sprod’s highly partisan role, his appointment will only stoke division rather than build a safe and civil environment on campus. Staff for Palestine has accused the university management of being “hijacked by supporters of Israel”.
But VC Scott’s appointment has done more than signal his capitulation to the pro-Israel pressure and disdain for the pro-Palestinian supporters.
Wendy Bacon is an investigative journalist who was professor of journalism at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). She worked for Fairfax, Channel Nine and SBS and has published in The Guardian, New Matilda, City Hub and Overland. She has a long history in promoting independent and alternative journalism. She is also a long-term supporter of a peaceful BDS and the Greens.
Cathy Peters is a former ABC RN producer/executive producer and Greens councillor on the former Marrickville Council. She also worked for a state Greens MP and is a long-time advocate for Palestinian rights. In 2014, she co-founded PSNA/BDS Australia. She has Jewish heritage, has travelled and volunteered in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Republished from Michael West Media with permission.
The government will slash spending in real terms on the National Disability Insurance Scheme over four years, as it undertakes a massive “reset” of the program.
People with lower support needs will be moved off the scheme and over the next two years the average spending on plans will reduce to about A$26,000 – back to where it was in 2023 – down from the current $31,000.
Spending on third parties who manage most NDIS plans and claims will be cut by 30%, and more providers will need to be registered, particularly those giving personal care.
Announcing the crackdown, Health Minister Mark Butler said the changes would cut the number on the scheme, currently 760,000, by 160,000 to about 600,000 by the end of the decade, instead of the number growing to well over 900,000.
Spending will be about 2% a year for the next four years, only half the current inflation rate, before rising to about 5% annual growth after that. At present the NDIS cost is growing at 10%.
Instead of a projected $70 billion in 2030, the cost of the scheme will be about $55 billion, Butler told the National Press Club. Currently the scheme is costing about $50 billion.
In aged care changes, Butler also announced the government would scrap the higher subsidy for private health insurance for people aged over 65. Butler said this was “not fair between generations”.
“This budget will return the rebate for older Australians back to the level paid for everyone else and divert the money back into aged care,” Butler said.
This includes spending $1 billion to scrap the co-payment for showering and other personal services in home care packages, support the construction of an extra 5,000 aged care beds each year, and invest more than $200 million to expand dementia care.
Butler described the NDIS reforms as “a move away from the let-it-rip market”.
“You need more ID to get into a licensed club than to be an NDIS provider, that will change,” Butler said.
Butler will introduce legislation for many of the changes as soon as parliament resumes for the budget session next month. The drastic federal government changes will throw more of the burden for disability support onto the states, which have been reluctant to do a lot more.
New South Wales premier Chris Minns said the NDIS needed to be on a firmer financial and economic footing.
“I’m not going to throw sand in the gears of the federal government. They’re grappling with an issue that, if I were in their shoes, I’d be doing the same thing.
“I just think we need to be clear. We can’t provide at the state level the same services that were currently provided by the NDIS. This is going to be billions. We don’t have billions. We don’t have billions to throw into it,” Minns said.
Despite earlier speculation, the reforms do not remove particular conditions from NDIS eligibility. Eligibility will depend on people’s level of disability.
Changes will apply to those presently on the NDIS as well as to new entrants.
There will be tighter criteria for unscheduled reassessments of plans, as well as tighter assessment of support for new entrants.
Plan rollovers will be ended and a stop will be put to unspent funds being rolled over. Diagnosis lists will be removed as the means of entry to the scheme.
Butler said: “Part of the challenge we face is that the NDIS has become a soft target for shonks and rorters – as well as the worst elements of organised crime”.
“These reforms are about much more than budget savings. This is about saving the NDIS itself,” Butler said.
“If we act now, we can safeguard and strengthen it, so that it serves Australians it was created to help.
“Then we can make sure that – like Medicare – the NDIS is still changing lives, three decades from now.
“But if we wait, if we hang back, if we imagine that hard choices can wait for easier times. Then the decision will simply be taken out of our hands.
“The social licence will be lost. And the NDIS will not be able to deliver what Australians with disability deserve.”
The government faces a sharp backlash from disability representatives.
Its aim to get its changes flowing quickly will depend on how soon it can get legislation through the Senate. This is likely to depend on the opposition’s attitude.
Is Australia giving away its gas resources, virtually for free?
That question is at the centre of this week’s parliamentary inquiry into the taxation of gas resources.
Over the last decade, Australia has become one of the world’s largest exporters of liquefied natural gas.
But while the gas is extracted from beneath Australian soils, the profits go almost entirely to large multinational companies. Research suggests gas companies have made roughly $A149 billion from exports in just four years. Only a small percentage of this profit has been taxed.
That’s why some politicians, think tanks and environmental groups are pushing for a 25% tax on gas exports.
Modelling by the Australia Institute suggests this tax could raise up to $17 billion a year and potentially lower domestic fuel prices by incentivising producers to sell more gas into the Australian market.
Profits made by companies running oil and gas projects are taxed at up to 40%. At present, this tax mainly applies to offshore producers.
While this sounds good, the tax is less effective in practice. Energy companies have access to generous tax deductions as well as “uplifts”, which allow companies to use the losses from one year to offset the amount of tax they pay the next year. The rationale for allowing uplifts was to incentivise companies to invest in Australian oil and gas projects by letting them recover costs.
The problem is this system allows oil and gas companies to pay little, if any, tax on their profits. As a result, economists and policy analysts have argued this tax is no longer fit for purpose, particularly given how much gas we export.
Onshore liquefied natural gas producers in Queensland are exempt, but are still required to pay the standard 30% company tax rate.
But oil and gas companies are often able to reduce how much they pay here too, using various deductions and accounting practices. This is because the money they spend on construction, drilling and infrastructure is immediately deductible.
The governments of states where onshore gas companies are active can also impose royalties. These are payments which mining companies must make to the owner of the natural resources – the state government in most cases – for the right to extract them.
Royalties are different from taxes in that they are payments for the right to exploit a public resource. The royalty rate is based on the raw value of the oil and gas produced, rather than profit. Companies must pay royalties even if a project is losing money. In Queensland, gas producers pay between 5% and 10% of their revenue in tax. This can generate significant income, but nowhere near as much as a profit-based tax designed with fewer loopholes. That’s because royalties do not scale with profitability.
Australia’s gas export industry has long been under-regulated, particularly on the east coast. For many years producers have simply exported as much gas as possible.
But this is gradually changing. In 2023, the government introduced a mandatory gas code requiring producers to first offer gas domestically on fair, transparent terms. From 2027, the government will require producers to reserve some gas for the domestic market.
Looking overseas
Nations such as Norway tax their natural resource exports much more robustly.
The Norwegian government applies two taxes to petroleum profits – a 22% company tax and a 56% special petroleum tax – which mean companies are taxed on roughly 78% of their profits. Its taxation rules are stricter and more standardised, meaning companies have less scope to carry forward large deductions. The funds raised go to the Government Pension Fund Global, previously known as the Petroleum Fund of Norway, now worth more than $3 trillion. The fund was established in 1990 to shield the economy from oil industry volatility.
Gas giant Qatar also has a high-taxation system giving it a large share of oil and gas profits. Qatar uses these funds to subsidise health care, education and public infrastructure.
Even countries with limited domestic energy resources use these taxes. In 1978, Japan introduced a tax on oil and gas imports. This tax generates significant revenue, raising roughly $8 billion in 2025 alone.
A 25% tax on gas exports would be applied as a flat tax on the value of gas exports, rather than the profits gas companies make from those exports. It’s similar to a royalty, but instead would be calculated as a percentage of the exported product.
This approach would simplify the tax system and could not be minimised in the same way as the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax and company tax.
An exports tax would also raise significant public revenue, estimated at $17 billion annually. That’s enough to provide free childcare or tertiary education for Australians. The revenue could also help reduce government debt, which reached a record $1.6 trillion in 2025.
Backers argue the tax would boost domestic gas supply, as it would encourage producers to avoid the tax by selling more gas locally. This could help lower domestic energy prices, an urgent concern for many businesses and households.
Critics argue the tax would discourage companies from investing in new gas projects, which could reduce gas availability and affect regional jobs.
Opponents also claim the tax would undermine Australia’s reputation as a stable and predictable country to invest in.
Another concern is a 25% tax could make Australia less competitive in global energy markets, particularly compared to lower-cost producers such as Qatar. It may also cause legal issues if applied to existing export agreements.
The bottom line
For decades, we’ve allowed foreign companies to earn billions of dollars from our gas sector, and to be taxed very little.
So despite concerns it may affect gas industry employment and investment, introducing a 25% gas exports tax would ensure all Australians benefit from these public, state-owned resources.
National’s chief whip Stuart Smith has finally addressed media at Parliament, denying reports that he had tried to alert the Prime Minister to flagging caucus support prior to Easter.
The public denial comes after a similar written statement was issued on Tuesday, four days after the story was first reported by the New Zealand Herald.
Before that, Smith had repeatedly refused to talk to media. He was also absent from National’s critical caucus meeting on Tuesday due to a “long-standing personal appointment”. During that meeting, Luxon called and won a motion of confidence in his leadership.
Speaking on Wednesday, Smith insisted that at no point had he attempted to contact Christopher Luxon about discontent in the caucus.
He also denied ever being handed a letter to pass on to Luxon regarding his support.
Smith declined, however, to say whether any MPs had ever raised concerns with him about Luxon’s leadership.
“I don’t discuss anything that goes on with caucus members and the whips’ office. That’s totally confidential,” he said.
“People come to me with lots of things, and they are between me and them.”
Asked why he did not publicly deny the NZ Herald report until Tuesday morning, Smith said: “I didn’t feel it was appropriate.”
He said he also did not feel as if he needed to contact Luxon directly, but revealed he had spoken to his chief of staff Cameron Burrows on Friday.
Smith refused to reveal the nature of that conversation: “That remains between him and I”.
Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Luxon said he retained “total confidence” in Smith as chief whip.
Asked for further comment, Luxon cut off questions: “If you want to talk about things outside the beltway that actually connect to New Zealanders and what’s interesting to them, rather than what may be interesting to you in the beltway and the bubble of Wellington, let’s have that conversation.”
Smith’s written statement on Tuesday was issued by the Prime Minister’s office.
“I did want to confirm that I did not contact the Prime Minister or his office seeking a meeting,” the statement said.
“I am disappointed by recent speculative media coverage. The Prime Minister has my full support.”
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Winston Peters was doing his best to quell concerns there were ructions in the coalition claiming the government was as stable as a “three-legged stool”.
The New Zealand First leader and both National’s leader and deputy all took turns in their Wednesday morning media slots to launch broadsides on their coalition partner before coming together in the afternoon at Parliament to say all was well and stability ensued.
It was Peters who kicked it off on Morning Report saying it would have been wise for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to have told him he was planning to have a vote of confidence in his leadership at National’s caucus meeting on Tuesday.
Peters said the action was “unprecedented” and not one he supported, because it would have consequences.
Within an hour deputy leader Nicola Willis was on Morning Report saying Peters had a “track record of picking Labour over National, and that’s the risk you run with them”.
Luxon was next, using his weekly interview on Newstalk ZB’s The Country to say Peters was the person who put Dame Jacinda Ardern in charge of the country.
He accused his foreign affairs minister of trying to “scaremonger” and having an “anti-immigrant bias”.
By early afternoon, the ministers, on their way to Question Time, one-by-one declared the coalition was as strong as ever, while taking the opportunity for a potshot here and there.
Luxon said he didn’t need to tell Peters he was calling a motion of confidence in National’s caucus, because it wasn’t important enough to warrant it.
Peters’ argument was that under the no-surprises policy of the coalition agreement it would have been “wise” for Luxon to have given him a heads-up.
In response to that Luxon said, “Well, I just say Winston Peters isn’t backing an Indian FTA that’s delivering billions of dollars to the New Zealand people, and as a result, I don’t take all of his advice.”
Luxon added the two parties together with ACT delivered “strong stable government” and in the case of Peters, “we cooperate where we can and we differ where we must”.
Peters told reporters on his way into the House that he wasn’t worrying about Willis and Luxon saying there was a risk New Zealand First could go with Labour.
“We are actually just getting on and doing our job.”
On him having put Ardern into power, he said: “yeah I put Jim Bolger in power too, I put National in power. I put Helen Clark in power. I mean at the end of the day, it the deal that we did and we kept our word”.
He said the suggestion he was “anti-immigrant” was a “nonsense”.
And on whether he was a “mischief-maker” as Willis had claimed, Peters got the giggles as he declared, “I’ve been a most responsible son and boy doing my best all my young age – to call me a mischief-maker, that’s an outrage”.
Just across from him, Willis was at the same time doubling down on her earlier comments telling media it was a “statement of fact” that in 2017 “given the choice to support a strong National-lead government they chose to make Jacinda Ardern Prime Minister”.
“That’s a fact of history, and I’m simply reminding people of that fact.”
She added, when it came to New Zealand First you “won’t always get what’s written on the tin”.
The other coalition partner in all this, ACT, has for the most part stayed out of the tit-for-tat sledging.
Leader and deputy prime minister David Seymour did weigh in on whether New Zealand First might go with Labour though, saying, “it can be a bit of a lucky dip…but right now we are in a coalition, and we’re fixing what matters for New Zealanders”.
Hurricanes player Warner Dearns scores a try.Kerry Marshall / www.photosport.nz
Hurricanes lock Warner Dearns is relishing his time in New Zealand and says he would welcome a return in the future, despite being contracted in Japan for the next two years.
The Japan international is set to head back to the “Land of the Rising Sun” at the end of the season but hasn’t ruled out another stint in New Zealand down the track.
“I’ve got another two years after this season that I’m contracted to Toshiba. I’d always think of coming back in the future,” Dearns said.
“Whether that’s after these next two years, after the next World Cup, or it might be another five or six years before I think about coming back.
“With New Zealand being where I grew up, it’s always a place that I’m open to wanting to come and play rugby.”
Born and raised in Aotearoa, Dearns is the son of former Silver Fern Tanya Dearns and current Moana Pasifika strength and conditioning coach Grant Dearns. He moved to Japan as a teenager when his dad worked for NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu and made his Japan test debut in November 2021.
Hurricanes lock Warner Dearns surrounded by teammates.Kerry Marshall / www.photosport.nz
Now 24, Dearns has spent the past seven years living in Japan but has enjoyed being closer to family during his time with the Hurricanes – even if it has come at a cost.
“My sister’s still in Wellington finishing her studies. She’s been on the phone every weekend asking me to go out for dinner or go out for lunch or something so she can leech a free meal,” Dearns joked.
“Mum’s working for Wairarapa Bush (rugby union). She’s in Masterton, so she gets over (to Wellington) quite a bit and I’ve been over a couple of times to see her. It’s been good to be back in New Zealand, obviously close to family and in a familiar territory.”
Dearns and his partner recently had their first child and he said that will influence his move when he comes off contract with Toshiba.
“There’s a few different factors. My partner and my baby are going to be really important factors obviously in years to come. As much as I can, while I’m young, I want to be able to experience different types of rugby.
“I’ve been thinking about the possibility of going and playing some seasons in Europe. I’ve been thinking about staying in Japan for a bit or possibly coming back here after a couple of years.
“But while I’m young, I want to be able to play as much rugby and experience as much as I can to grow my game. So wherever that may be at the time, whatever I judge is the best place for me to be, that’s where I’ll go.”
The 2.03m lock has been a key component of the Hurricanes success this season and believes his short time in Super Rugby (he’s only signed for this year) has made him a better player.
“Yeah, it’s been great for me. Obviously there’s a bit of a difference between the leagues. The physicality over here is a bit different. Physicality is more relied upon and obviously the guys over here are a bit bigger so it’s good for me in the collision area to gain a bit of experience.
“There’s subtle differences in the way teams play over here compared to how they’d play in Japan but a lot of rugby is very similar so it’s cool to be able to experience it and get a look at a similar system from a different perspective.”
Hurricanes lock Warner Dearns scores try.Elias Rodriguez / www.photosport.nz
Dearns has also been enjoying the relaxed pace of living in Wellington, though he does pine for Japanese cuisine from time to time.
“It’s a lot slower here in New Zealand. There’s a lot less going on than there is in Japan, especially in Tokyo.
“It’s good to come back and be reminded of what it’s like being or growing up in New Zealand.
“Being able to take your time and go out to the beach or go out for a walk or whatever it is that me and my partner want to do on our days off.
“There’s not a lot that I really miss about Japan, other than probably a bit of food with the ramen and all the sweet treats that they’ve got over there.”
Though Dearns has found a local substitute to satisfy his sweet tooth.
“I’m a big chocolate fan so anything chocolate. Obviously being home, I get stuck into the Whittakers, which is probably not too good for my skin folds.”
The Hurricanes take on the Brumbies in Christchurch this weekend as part of Super Rugby’s Super Round, where 10 of the 11 teams are in action with five games across three days.
The Hurricanes are second in the standings, level on points with the Chiefs, but with a game in hand.
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A police car seen behind a cordon as officers attend an incident.RNZ
One person has died following a serious crash on State Highway 1 near Invercargill on Wednesday morning.
Emergency services were called to the two-vehicle crash near Kerr Road, Dacre about 8.10am.
On Wednesday afternoon, police confirmed one person was found dead at the scene.
State Highway 1 remains closed between Dacre and Woodlands, about 20 kilometres north-east of Invercargill.
Motorists were asked to avoid the area and expect delays.
The serious crash unit was carrying out a scene examination.
NZ Transport Agency said on X that north-bound traffic could detour by turning left onto Grove Bush-Woodlands Rd, right onto SH98 and then left back onto SH1. The reverse applies for south-bound traffic.
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Carlson, Professor, Critical Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie University
Much of the current conversation about AI assumes uptake is inevitable, more technology means better outcomes and the main task is managing risk.
But we asked Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people how they are encountering AI in their everyday lives, and a different picture started to emerge. Our Relational Futures project explores Indigenous sovereignty and the governance of AI.
Relational Futures positions AI not as a standalone tool, but as part of a wider system that shapes relationships between people, institutions, data and Country.
We have now reported our findings, and there are clear warnings about what happens when questions of accountability, harm and care are ignored. As one participant told us, AI comes with “no accountability, no checks and balances, no responsibility”.
These systems are often introduced in the name of efficiency. But efficiency for whom, and at what cost?
AI and automated systems do not enter neutral environments. They enter institutions that already have uneven distributions of power, trust and accountability. When things go wrong, the impacts are not evenly felt.
Our project set out to find the first qualitative baselines of Indigenous perspectives on AI, using surveys alongside yarning circles.
We wanted to centre Indigenous perspectives and understand more deeply how Indigenous peoples experience new technologies.
Our participants express limited trust in AI and, in many cases, a clear willingness to refuse using it. That refusal is not about rejecting technology outright. Participants recognised AI can intensify existing inequalities, particularly in sectors such as welfare, health and social services.
There is a strong awareness that automation can make decisions faster – but also harder to see, harder to question, and harder to hold accountable.
Understanding Indigenous data sovereignty
Indigenous data sovereignty centres collective rights and responsibilities in the governance of data. It affirms the authority of Indigenous peoples to control data relating to their communities, lands and resources across the full data lifecycle.
Such governance requires that data practices support self-determination, are grounded in community, and deliver collective benefit without reproducing harm or marginalisation. The participants in our research had a consistent emphasis on community benefit.
The risks identified by our participants go well beyond privacy or data breaches. They pointed to environmental costs, the appropriation and flattening of Indigenous knowledges, and the lack of transparency in how systems are built and deployed.
There is also a clear concern that AI will be used to fill gaps in under-resourced services.
One participant said:
There are times when AI doesn’t quite grasp the depth of First Nations experiences, cultural nuance or community dynamics. It can miss the emotional weight or the context, which reminds me that cultural authority must always sit with mob, not technology.
An ‘AI Elder’
The project also pushed into more speculative territory, asking people to think about what AI could be, not just what it is now. One of the ideas we tested was an “AI Elder”, who could work in areas like reconnecting to culture, or providing advice on cultural matters.
This was the ‘AI Elder’ we presented to our participants.Relational Futures
We asked: what if AI was built around care, cultural knowledge, and responsibility to community, instead of speed and efficiency?
But the reaction of our participants was blunt. Who would that Elder speak for? Who would it answer to? How could it have any real relationship to community?
Elders aren’t just people who hold knowledge. They are part of community: they are trusted because of their relationships, their responsibilities, and their accountability over time.
AI can’t be in relationship in that way, can’t be held accountable, can’t carry obligation. It can’t stand in connection to Country or community.
Even when we try to imagine better versions of AI, there are some things that just don’t translate.
A way forward
AI governance cannot be limited to technical standards or compliance frameworks. It has to engage with authority, responsibility, harm and care.
If AI systems can be designed in ways that are safe, accountable and beneficial for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples – who are often the most surveilled and marginalised within systems – they are far more likely to be safe and effective for everyone.
Designing for those at the margins is not a niche concern. It is a test of whether these systems work at all.
As one participant told us:
My biggest concern is that we get left behind. It’s easy to frame AI negatively, seeing it as a threat. It is just as easy to see the benefits it stands to offer. Clearly we need to be involved positively (we risk being left out otherwise) on how AI systems are designed, trained and used, otherwise there is a risk that existing power imbalances will be reproduced through technology.
Relational Futures offers both a warning and a way forward.
Without Indigenous leadership and relational approaches to governance, AI will continue to reproduce the kinds of harms already seen in systems like Robodebt. The way forward is less about slowing technology down, and more about rethinking what it is for, who it serves and how it is held to account.
Corrections did not alert police that John Tekuru’s battery had gone flat until nearly four hours after they were notified.
Police then found him asleep at his residence on prison land – 10 hours after Corrections staff were notified his battery was going flat.
It comes a week after Corrections told RNZ any non-compliance with his release conditions would be taken “extremely seriously and acted on immediately”.
Corrections say there’s no evidence Tekuru, who last week pleaded guilty to breaching his release conditions by going to a playground, had left the premises.
However, a review is under way with Corrections saying it appears staff should have made further attempts to contact him.
Tekuru was sent to prison for the attempted abduction and released on 10 March.
Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz
But a week later, on 17 March, he was back in custody accused of breaching his release conditions. He pleaded guilty on 16 April and was moved to an address organised by Corrections.
In response to questions from RNZ, Corrections acting director of communities, partners Simon Chaplin said Tekuru was subject to 12 release conditions, including being electronically monitored. He is currently living at a residence on Corrections’ prison land.
Chaplin confirmed that about 6pm on Monday, Corrections’ National Electronic Monitoring Operations staff identified his tracker was going flat.
“They contacted staff at the residence to advise them of the battery alert and the need for Mr Tekuru to charge his tracker. Staff attempted to contact Mr Tekuru via the residence intercom but received no response.
“At 11:41pm, a no communication alert indicated that he had still not charged his tracker and that it had gone flat. Corrections staff and a Field Officer then physically visited his residence. When he did not answer the door, Corrections contacted Police.”
Police found Tekuru asleep at the residence just after 4am on Tuesday and he was arrested, Corrections said.
“This offender has since been released from police custody, and Corrections will sanction him for not complying with the requirement to keep his tracker charged.
“Public safety is our top priority and it is my clear expectation that this offender is closely managed.”
Chaplin said there was “no information to indicate” Tekuru left his premises during the time his battery was flat.
“However, initial information suggests that staff should have made further attempts to contact Mr Tekuru between the time his battery was going flat and the no communication alert.
“A review into this timeline will be carried out, with further reminders provided to staff about the expectation that any potential non-compliance by this offender is to be immediately actioned.”
Chaplin said Tekuru was temporarily located at a residence on Corrections land.
“Corrections is working to find suitable long-term housing for this offender. Any proposed address for people for offending such as this person undergoes an assessment to determine suitability.
“This includes looking at a range of factors including the location of victims, other occupants at the property including any children or people subject to community sentences, location of support services, cellular coverage and power if electronic monitoring is a condition of the person’s order.”
Police would consult with other agencies, including police, as part of the assessment.
“We take our management of offenders in the community extremely seriously, and this person would not be allowed to reside at an address if it was not deemed suitable for them to do so.”
Chaplin confirmed an application had not been made for an Extended Supervision Order (ESO) or Public Protection Order (PPO) in relation to Tekuru.
In order to meet the criteria to be considered for an ESO application, an individual is required to be considered a high risk of further offending and must meet a number of specific criteria under the Parole Act.
“Crown Law makes an application on Corrections’ instruction if an ESO is pursued. ESOs are imposed by the courts and can be imposed for up to 10 years at a time following their release from prison.
“It is a decision for the court as to whether a person’s offending and level of risk meet the legislative criteria and the risk of harm justifies the restriction of an ESO. In some cases the court may decide to impose intensive monitoring for up to 12-months, which is person to person monitoring at all times.”
A PPO is a court order that allows the detention of “very high-risk individuals” at a secure facility within prison precincts.
“Only a very small number of people are likely to be subject to public protection orders, and this is a decision for the High Court.”
A police spokesperson told RNZ that they were called to assist Corrections at 3:30am on Tuesday.
Tekuru was arrested for breaching court release conditions and released from police custody a short time later.
After his guilty plea last week RNZ asked Corrections about Tekuru’s new living arrangements.
Chaplin said at the time public safety was their “top priority and we are closely monitoring this offender to ensure he complies with his conditions.”
“Any non-compliance with these conditions will be taken extremely seriously and acted on immediately.”
Earlier breach
During the court hearing last week, Judge Jonathan Moses said Tekuru was subject to electronic monitoring and had a special condition he not loiter or enter a place where people under 16 are unless approved.
These included the likes of schools, early childhood centres, parks, libraries and churches.
Judge Moses said two days after his release, electronic monitoring information placed Tekuru in a playground.
He was questioned about this and issued with a written warning.
Judge Moses said other electronic monitoring information on 14 March, confirmed Tekuru had gone into the grounds of a school, which had an early childcare centre sharing an access way.
“You had therefore breached your conditions of release in that you were in the vicinity of a school or early childcare centre,” he said.
“You admitted walking past those facilities but said you were only walking within your local area,” the judge said.
A summary of facts released to RNZ shows Tekuru was at the playground at Alfriston Park in Manurewa in Auckland between 4.29am and 4.45am.
After that on 14 March, he was at Alfriston College between 9.28am and 9.32am, and he then went to the Go Bananas childcare centre between 9.36am and 9.40am.
When questioned about that, the summary says Tekuru admitted to walking past early childcare facilities but said he was only walking within his local area.
Judge Moses said he took Tekuru’s age, 20, and his one prior conviction into consideration.
“What I’m going to do today is to convict you and sentence you to imprisonment for a period of one month taking your guilty plea and those other features into account,” he said.
Tekuru had already been in custody since 17 March.
No extra conditions were imposed because Tekuru was still subject to his earlier ones and he will be moved to an address organised by Corrections.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thileepan Naren, Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor, Eastern Health Clinical School, Monash University; Curtin University
The proportion of people diagnosed with and treated for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is growing. Prescription rates have increased 11-fold in 20 years.
But the growth isn’t uniform across the country. This week, ABC’s Four Corners found higher rates of ADHD prescribing in some regions, while other areas were much lower, suggesting ADHD was being missed.
Previously, only paediatricians or psychiatrists could diagnose and start treatment for ADHD. But in most states and territories, GPs can or will soon be able to do this as well.
This is a welcome step to improve access to care, reduce wait times and cut the number of missed diagnoses. But as we show our new paper in the Internal Medicine Journal, we need better safeguards to prevent overdiagnosis.
It’s important GPs are adequately trained and have appropriate time to make the right diagnosis. They also need clear pathways to refer more complicated cases to specialists.
But changes to enable GPs to diagnose and treat ADHD haven’t been standardised across the country. Each state and territory has its own rules and has different requirements about the level of training GPs need.
In Queensland, currently GPs can start and continue ADHD treatment for adults and children aged four and over. In Victoria, a GP can’t currently prescribe stimulant medications without specialist involvement. But this will change later this year.
There is no requirement in Queensland to complete specific training modules, while training requirements vary in other states.
This lack of a uniformity risks creating more disparities, where your diagnosis and treatment depends on where you live rather than your symptoms and their impact.
GPs with less training may be more likely to diagnose and initiate medication when it’s not indicated. ADHD can appear similar to other conditions or occur alongside another condition. One study found 77.9% of children with ADHD also had another disorder.
Assessing someone for ADHD is time-consuming. It includes taking a thorough history, getting information from others and assessing other mental health or psychological conditions that can mimic or occur alongside ADHD.
But Medicare doesn’t adequately reimburse GPs for this time. There is no dedicated MBS item for GPs to diagnose ADHD. And longer consultations don’t attract as high a rebate as shorter consultations, per unit time.
Under time-pressure to diagnose, stimulants are sometimes considered the only treatment option. However, a range of non-medication interventions can also be used to manage ADHD, including lifestyle changes, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and ADHD coaching, as well as non-stimulant medications.
Public ADHD clinics are rare in Australia, resulting in many people seeking private specialists. But these can still have significant wait times and the costs can be prohibitive.
Avoiding the path of medicinal cannabis
Without more stringent guidelines and processes, ADHD medication prescribing could follow the lead of medicinal cannabis.
In this commercial model, medicinal cannabis is often prescribed without clear evidence-based indications.
There are clear financial incentives to provide a script within “vertically-integrated” medicinal cannabis clinics, where the same business prescribes and dispenses the medication.
Safeguards and monitoring will be essential to ensure ADHD care is not similarly reduced to a simple script service, rather than one based on accurate diagnosis and treatment.
There are already concerns about poor prescribing from telehealth prescribers with online prescribing business models. This prompted the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency to update it’s telehealth guidelines late last year.
Similarly to medicinal cannabis, there are also concerns ADHD medications could be diverted for recreational use. One study estimated 18% of people prescribed stimulants for ADHD had given their medication to other people. Increased availability of these medications could exacerbate this problem.
We have an opportunity to shape how ADHD care is delivered throughout Australia, and minimise unintended consequences, by supporting a national, co-ordinated approach.
In our new paper, we propose a framework to ensure patients receive high-quality care when they see a GP for ADHD assessments or management. This includes:
mandatory training for all ADHD prescribers
formalised shared care pathways across GP, paediatric and psychiatric care. This ensures consistency and coordination of practice and the ability to escalate care when people require specialist input
structured templates for GPs, including minimum information required before stimulant scripts can be prescribed. This would include complete health summaries, current and previously prescribed medications, psychiatric history and substance use history
periodic review of medications, side effects, effectiveness and whether they are still needed
stronger regulation of the advertising and business models of prescribing services. Greater penalties are also needed for breaches
research, evaluation and monitoring of the changes to ADHD prescribing including any adverse impacts or medical complications.
Living with ADHD has a substantial impact on people’s ability to work, socialise, maintain relationships and function in society. Enabling GPs to provide ADHD will improve access to diagnosis and treatment, particularly in areas facing an access crisis.
But clear, national guidelines and practising frameworks are needed to ensure people with ADHD receive high-quality, evidence-based care and not just more prescriptions.
Police are increasing patrols in central Nelson to crack down on late-night underage drinking and antisocial behaviour.
Senior Sergeant Byron Reid said officers had observed an increase in large groups of young people gathering in the city over recent weekends.
Reid was concerned that young people were being given alcohol by older teenagers or young adults and engaging in disorder and antisocial behaviour.
“Please take some time to talk with your child … about where they are spending time, who they are with and the potential risks of being in the city late at night,” he said.
“If they are heading into town, it’s important to know their plans, ensure they are with safe and responsible people, and have a plan to get home safely.”
If police believed a young person’s safety or well-being was at risk, they would be returned home, Reid said.
“Please also let your young person know that police are there to keep them safe, not to get them into trouble.
“It’s also important to remember that if you are providing alcohol, it needs to be given and consumed in the home environment and only to people legally in your care – not anyone else’s.”
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A coalition of political parties opposing the Solomon Islands prime minister has accused government lobbyists of trying to woo its MPs with “huge money” bribes to “buy political allegiance”.
It comes amid an ongoing court wrangle over parliamentary moves to oust Jeremiah Manele.
The opposition grouping, which claims to have 28 of the country’s 50 MPs, says it has recorded voice and text messages from lobbyists promising millions of dollars to any five MPs willing to cross the floor to the government.
“We have text messages and recorded voice messages from government lobbyists offering huge money. The price tag has increased from thousands to millions to any 5 MPs to move across. The latest attempt involved an offer in millions over the weekend,” the group said in a statement.
RNZ Pacific has viewed screenshots of text messages purportedly sent by Manele’s staff to certain MPs in the opposition coalition, offering up to S$300,000 (about NZ$63,000) to jump ship.
The Solomon Islands Prime Minister’s Office has told RNZ Pacific he will not respond to the allegations.
Solomon Islands MPs in the opposition grouping. Image: Office of the Leader of the Opposition/RNZ Pacific
Manele will find out today from the Court of Appeal if he would be forced to call Parliament to face a motion of no confidence.
The opposition group says it is collecting evidence of the alleged cash inducements which it will provide to lawful authorities for investigation.
He survived a motion of no confidence in April 2025 after six ministers and five government backbenchers walked away.
On March 15, mass resignations from People First Party MPs — one of the key parties in Manele’s Government of National Unity and Transformation (GNUT) — rocked the Melanesian nation.
Since then, there has been a series of back-and-forths from both sides, with Manele maintaining he has the right to continue governing while the opposition group challenges his claim, arguing that his decision to hold on to power is unconstitutional.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne
While a federal YouGov poll has Labor’s primary vote down three points to a tie with One Nation, that hasn’t been the case in any other federal poll this week, with Newspoll, Resolve and Morgan all much better for Labor. A Farrer byelection poll has given One Nation’s David Farley a 52.7–47.3 lead over independent Michelle Milthorpe.
A Victorian state Resolve poll gives the Coalition a two-point primary vote lead over Labor with 21% for One Nation. The Coalition’s lead would probably be extended after preferences.
A national YouGov poll for Sky News, conducted April 14–21 from a sample of 1,500, gave Labor 27% of the primary vote (down three since the early April YouGov poll), One Nation 27% (up two), the Coalition 20% (steady), the Greens 14% (up one), independents 5% (down one) and others 7% (steady).
By respondent preferences, Labor led One Nation by 52–48, a three-point gain for One Nation. Labor led the Coalition by 53–47, a two-point gain for the Coalition.
Anthony Albanese’s net approval was down three points to -19, with 57% dissatisfied and 38% satisfied. Angus Taylor’s net approval was down four points to -5 (43% dissatisfied, 38% satisfied). Albanese led Taylor as better PM by 44–39 (44–36 previously). Albanese led Pauline Hanson as preferred PM by 50–39.
By 63–13, respondents would be willing to spend $20 billion to boost Australia’s fuel reserves. By 57–21, they supported increasing gas and oil exploration despite net zero targets.
Morgan poll and additional Resolve questions
A national Morgan poll, conducted April 13–19 from a sample of 1,620, gave Labor 30.5% of the primary vote (up 0.5 since the April 6–12 Morgan poll), the Coalition 23% (up 0.5), One Nation 21.5% (down three), the Greens 13.5% (up one) and all Others 11.5% (up one).
By respondent preferences, Labor led the Coalition by 55.5–44.5, a 0.5-point gain for the Coalition. By 2025 election preference flows, Labor led by 54.5–45.5, a 0.5-point gain for Labor.
I previously covered the national Resolve poll for Nine newspapers. In additional questions, US President Donald Trump’s net likeability has slumped 13 points since November 2025 to -43 with Australians (62% have a negative view, 19% positive).
On Trump, 17% said they liked him, 22% didn’t like him but thought him effective (down seven since November 2025) and 52% didn’t like him and didn’t think him effective (up “significantly”).
On Albanese’s national address, by 51–49 respondents said they had not watched it. By 63–34, they were not reassured by the address.
Farrer seat poll
The federal byelection in former Liberal leader Sussan Ley’s seat of Farrer is on May 9. Michelle Grattan reported a Farrer seat poll by uComms for independent Michelle Milthorpe’s campaign. This poll was conducted April 9–10 from a sample of 1,116. Seat polls are unreliable, and polls for a candidate will often be biased in that candidate’s favour.
This poll gave One Nation’s David Farley a 52.7–47.3 lead over Milthorpe, from primary votes of 30.9% Farley, 30.0% Milthorpe, 16.1% Liberals, 7.1% Nationals and 3.8% Greens with 7.9% undecided. If this poll is accurate, Farley and Milthorpe will be the top two, with Farley likely to win after preferences.
Victorian Resolve poll
The Victorian state election is in late November. A Resolve poll for The Age, conducted with the federal March and April Resolve polls from a sample of 1,047, gave the Coalition 29% of the primary vote (down one since the February Resolve poll), Labor 27% (down one), One Nation 21% (up ten), the Greens 10% (down two), independents 7% (steady) and others 6% (down five).
The Victorian Resolve polls are an average of polling in two months. In January, Resolve didn’t list One Nation as a separate option, so they were just in “others”. A graph of the individual monthly readings from February to April (samples just over 500) had One Nation at 22% in February, 19% in March and 23% in April.
Resolve doesn’t usually give a two-party estimate for its state polls. Applying preference flows from the 2025 federal election would give the Coalition about a 51.5–48.5 lead over Labor.
Liberal leader Jess Wilson had an unchanged 39–20 preferred premier lead over Labor incumbent Jacinta Allan. Wilson’s net likeability rose four points to +18, making her the most popular Victorian Liberal since Resolve started polling five years ago.
In a question on preferred Labor leader, 18% selected Allan, 13% Deputy Premier Ben Carroll and 10% Transport Infrastructure Minister Gabrielle Williams, while 59% didn’t select any Labor candidate.
By the November election, Labor will have governed in Victoria for the last 12 years and 23 of the last 27. It’s likely an “it’s time” factor will help the Coalition.
The byelection for the Victorian Liberal-held seat of Nepean is on May 2. At the 2022 state election, the Liberals defeated Labor in Nepean by 56.4–43.6. Labor is not contesting the byelection, with the main contenders likely to be the Liberals, a teal independent and One Nation.
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 22, 2026.
While it wasn’t his idea, Medicare helped make the mythos of Bob Hawke Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Kenny, Professor, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University It was the big-picture reform that defined the Labor prime minister Bob Hawke and infuriated his opponents with its radical promise of a fairer, healthier society. Medicare, Australia’s taxpayer-funded system of universal health insurance, established in 1984, has
Why eating disorder recovery is about more than what you eat or weigh Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Houlihan, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, University of the Sunshine Coast Recovering from an eating disorder can be long and complex. Treatment typically focuses on reducing the unhelpful behaviours and thoughts that characterise these disorders. These include extreme dieting, binge eating, purging, negative body image, and
Green tram tracks cut heat and beautify cities. Why isn’t Australia doing it? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Associate Professor and Principal Fellow in Urban Risk and Resilience, The University of Melbourne Cities are hotter than the surrounding countryside. Paved surfaces such as asphalt and concrete trap heat and release it at night. But as climate change worsens, this is becoming a real
How court cases against Woolworths and Coles could change the future of shopping in Australia Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jeannie Marie Paterson, Professor of Law (consumer protections and credit law), The University of Melbourne The consumer watchdog’s Federal Court case against Woolworths over its “prices dropped” promotions is underway and will run into next week. This – and a separate court action against Coles – are
So much research is already free to read in Australia – but it’s not getting the support it needs Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hamid R. Jamali, Professor, School of Information and Communication Studies, Charles Sturt University Australian universities pay millions to commercial academic publishers each year. This is one of the main ways academics publish their research and have it recognised by their peers. The money covers staff and students’
These shocks to Australia’s food system won’t be the last. Will it learn in time for the next one? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Strating, Director, La Trobe Centre for Global Security, and Professor of International Relations, La Trobe University News of a fragile ceasefire has done little to calm anxieties about the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has choked shipping and the United States has responded with a targeted
No wonder Iran went cold on sham talks, considering the lying US-Israeli track record COMMENTARY: By Tim O’Shea I don’t blame Iran for going cold on another sham negotiation session with the US. After all, why would they take the US or Israel seriously? Or even remotely trust either of them when: They both bombed Iran right in the middle of two sets of previous “negotiations”; and Trump lied
Coral reefs are secretly connected across vast oceans – and that’s crucial for their survival Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Marie Quigley, DECRA Research Fellow in molecular ecology, James Cook University Lord Howe Island lies in the middle of the ocean, about 700 kilometres northeast of Sydney. It’s covered in lush forest and fringed by the world’s most southerly coral reef ecosystem. This reef system isn’t
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From floppy discs to Claude Mythos, how ransomware grew into a multibillion-dollar industry Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anja Shortland, Professor in Political Economy, King’s College London When evolutionary biologist Joseph Popp coded the first documented piece of ransomware in 1989, he had little idea it would become a major criminal business model capable of bringing economies to their knees. Popp, who worked for the
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Police search for missing Wellington man Philip Sutton.RNZ / Mark Papalii
A body has been found during the search for Wellington man Philip Sutton, who disappeared when floodwaters surged through his home.
Search teams, including the dive squad and a dog unit had been searching for Sutton who disappeared from his South Karori Rd home on Monday.
Police were now working to recover his body.
Sutton’s silver Suzuki Swift was found by police just before 11am on Wednesday, and then his body was found about 12.30pm.
They said there was a “substantial distance” between the two.
They said it was too early to determine how he came to be where he was found.
The water level was “extremely high” and they now needed to piece together the events that led to his death.
The car had sustained moderate damage, considering the treatment it was subjected to.
Tuesday brought more rain, and the search was paused due to unstable stream banks, variable and fast-moving water, debris and damaged terrain.
But on Wednesday, the search got underway just after 8am.
The search got under way again on Wednesday morning.RNZ / Mark Papalii
Wellington District Prevention Manager, Inspector Fleur de Bes, asked members of the public to respect safety advice and allow teams to work safely at the scene.
She said Philips’s family were in close contact with police. They had expressed thanks for the public’s concern and support, but asked for privacy.
Philip SuttonNZ Police/Supplied
Inspector Dean Silvester told RNZ the search conditions were challenging.
The location was semi-rural, he said, and there were concerns around debris, water levels, bank subsidence and wastewater contamination.
At the scene, debris could be seen in trees more than a metre off the ground. “So that gives some indication of the ferocity,” Silvester said.
Police had collected the bumper of a silver car from the scene, but Silvester said they had not yet been able to link it to Sutton’s vehicle.
Police loading the bumper of a silver car into a van.RNZ / Kate Green
bank subsidence and wastewater contamination.RNZ / Mark Papalii
However, a group of volunteers were at the scene on Tuesday afternoon. One told RNZ searchers, responding to a call on social media, had found an item of clothing and a bag – although these were not confirmed as belonging to Sutton
Silvester said given the severity of the scene itself, they would “strongly suggest that doesn’t occur”.
The official search had also turned up some “items of interest”, Silvester said, but he couldn’t confirm what those items were.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
