Diesel and petrol prices have now hit $4 per litre on Rakiura Stewart Island.RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Rakiura locals fear surging fuel prices will soon send their power bills rocketing up, and that Stewart Island – which relies on diesel generators for electricity – may face blackouts.
Stewart Island is home to about 400 people and it burns through about 1000 litres of diesel a day to create electricity.
Diesel and petrol prices have now hit $4 per litre on the island as the United States and Israel’s war against Iran continues.
Sharon Ross – one of the owners of the island’s only service station – said the last week had been the busiest they had seen since the Covid-19 pandemic, as people rushed to fill up and beat rising prices.
“People are concerned about how high it’s going to go. There’s been lots of joking that we should have tissues at the counter to mop up the tears after they’ve filled their tanks,” she said.
“People are concerned about the supply, and they’re also concerned that we’ll run out of power because we have five generators operating on diesel, and if they can’t keep the diesel up to them what that would mean to the island.”
Power prices were so far stable, but Ross said it was a waiting game.
“Our average power bill here is between $500 and $700 a month, which is also the same as our home one. So it’s frightening to think how much that might increase,” she said.
“Everything’s affected here because everything arrives by freight to the island so all those cartage bills will go up.”
Southland district councillor Jon Spraggon, from the Rakiura ward, said high diesel prices would likely push up power prices on the island.
“Power is 84 cents a unit here at the moment, where it goes is an unknown factor. Diesel prices have gone up a fairly substantial percentage and I would suspect our price would go up by a similar percentage,” he said.
But his biggest concern was ongoing supply of diesel.
“If we were to run out of diesel, then the electrical supply on the island would cut out. Things like our communication with the mainland, our connections with the mainland, the airline, the ferry services all rely on fuel,” he said.
Spraggon said diesel was delivered to the island twice a week and at the moment that was still happening, but these were uncertain times.
He wanted the government to keep Stewart Island in mind as the fuel situation worsened.
“When they’re looking at it and in future perhaps rationing or anything like that, Stewart Island needs to be a special case because of its remoteness and and it’s total dependency on diesel,” he said
He said the district council was in the process of installing a solar farm on the island to supplement diesel generation, but that was still eight months away.
Stewart Island Backpackers owner Aaron Joy said businesses were being hit hard by escalating fuel prices.
“We run the hostel on Stewart Island and we’re covering the costs at the moment but there will come a time where if it keeps going up we have to pass that onto our clients,” he said.
The Southland District Council said it was monitoring the situation and would discuss its options with the Stewart Island community board.
It said while the Stewart Island Electrical Supply Authority did have reserves, it was not meant to be a buffer for fuel prices.
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Auckland had its busiest day on public transport since 2019 last week, and the capital has seen 10 percent more passengers on the train in the past month. File photo.Supplied / Environment Canterbury
A cheaper bus or train fare would be far better than working from home to avoid rising fuel prices, say commuters, despite the local government minister ruling it out.
Simon Watts says the government is not looking at any change or incentive model in regards to public transport.
“Public transport usage by New Zealanders has already increased, we’ve seen that flow through in our major urban cities,” he said.
“That’s obviously a result of Kiwis making the conscious decision to take public transport versus driving their vehicle and that’s what you’d expect with prices at the pump being higher.”
He said it should be up to New Zealanders to make their own decisions, based on their own circumstances.
But petrol has sky-rocketed by more than 83 cents a litre and diesel has shot up $1.33 since the US and Israel began attacking Iran.
Auckland Transport, Greater Wellington, and Canterbury Regional Councils are asking the government to encourage people to use more buses, trains, and ferries – rather than work from home.
People RNZ spoke to in central Auckland on Monday said they would prefer that.
“I do like working from home but working in the office is also really nice, it’s more collaborative,” said one commuter.
“I would prefer to have cheaper public transport,” said another.
Shay Peters from Robert Walters Recruitment Agency said a lot of jobseekers preferred to work from home.
“As we’re in tougher economic times, people are probably erring on the side of caution and will like to be in the office but I know a number would also like the opportunity on balance to be able to just save cash and be working from home at the moment.”
Greater Wellington Regional Council Public Transport Committee chair Ros Connelly would also like to see subsidised fares.
“There’s no doubt in my mind and from the surveys and customer feedback that we receive that the cost of public transport still is a significant barrier to people. Obviously since we’ve seen the fuel crisis, comparatively the cost of public transport has decreased but still it is extremely expensive.”
She said the train from Masterton to Wellington can cost up to $22.50 each way, per day.
“That is a barrier for many people and so they will look at other options. Working from home is definitely popular but if there was an increased subsidy we’re really confident that we would see more people on public transport and as fuel prices increase this is one way that the government can ensure that people get to work.”
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said it was a no-brainer to make public transport free.
“Fares have gone up by as much as a third in Canterbury, by a quarter in the Manawatū-Whanganui region and Auckland also has seen fare increases in the realm of 15 to 20 percent over the last three years. We need to remove those barriers to access and also be reserving fuel supply for those who actually need it and don’t currently have the option.”
Stacey van der Putten from Auckland Transport would welcome that.
“We’re monitoring it daily so there will be adjustments that are needed but the system does have flex to be able to support it.”
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ASB said Canterbury secured its third quarterly win of 2025.RNZ / Nate McKinnon
ASB’s latest Regional Economic Scoreboard shows Canterbury leading New Zealand’s regional growth, Auckland making strong gains, and Wellington slipping to the bottom of the rankings.
Canterbury finished the final quarter of 2025 on a strong note, once again topping ASB’s Regional Economic Scoreboard as the country’s best‑performing regional economy.
Otago and Waikato tied for second place, while Auckland jumped from seventh to fourth.
ASB said Canterbury secured its third quarterly win of 2025, outperforming the rest of the country in employment, retail spending, housing activity and population growth.
Chief economist Nick Tuffley said the South Island continued to lead New Zealand’s multi‑speed recovery.
“Canterbury has delivered back‑to‑back wins to close out the year, supported by strong dairy incomes, steady jobs growth, resilient consumer spending and the recovery of the tourism sector,” he said.
Otago’s ranking was boosted by a strong tourism rebound, while Waikato benefited from a robust primary sector and an improving labour market.
ASB expects the upcoming Fonterra capital return from the sale of Mainland to further lift dairy farming regions through increased spending and investment.
Auckland’s rise was driven by gains in retail spending, construction activity and consumer confidence, although its labour market remains subdued.
Tuffley said Auckland’s move up the rankings showed the economic upswing was widening beyond the regions that led earlier in the cycle.
At the other end of the table, Wellington finished last, weighed down by ongoing weakness in the housing market, construction activity and discretionary spending, despite relatively strong employment growth.
Tuffley said Wellington’s economy should improve, helped by low interest rates, but emerging challenges could slow the pace of recovery.
Nationally, ASB said the economy showed signs of growth in the final quarter of 2025 as lower interest rates lifted retail spending and employment indicators stabilised.
However, Tuffley warned the conflict in the Middle East would pose fresh headwinds through higher energy costs and rising inflation.
“The situation and extent of any impact to growth and inflation is highly uncertain and will depend on how long the conflict goes on for,” he said.
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The FluMist vaccine is taken in the form of a nasal spray. File photo.123RF
Bringing a needle-free flu vaccine to New Zealand would be a good way to boost the country’s vaccination rates, says a vaccine expert.
FluMist has long been used in the northern hemisphere and started being used in Australia this year.
The vaccine is taken in the form of a nasal spray, bypassing the need for an injection.
Immunisation Advisory Centre principal medical advisor Professor Nikki Turner is calling for pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to bring FluMist to New Zealand, saying needles are “way more of a barrier than we realise”.
“Many, many people are just not keen on needles, so you put off doing things because you really don’t want the needle,” she said.
“So it’s important we recognise that and respond to that, and this is one useful way to do that.”
She said FluMist had only recently become available in the southern hemisphere, because each hemisphere had slightly different flu strains.
“The reason why it’s not well established in the southern hemisphere is that each year you have to change the formulation in the flu vaccine to match the circulating strains, and so they’ve done that for the northern hemisphere but the company haven’t really been in a position to do that for the southern hemisphere [until recently],” she said.
Since the vaccine had been approved for use in Australia, Professor Turner expected it would be easy for the company to get approval in New Zealand.
But she said it was up to AstraZeneca to pitch the vaccine to Medsafe.
“The company has to present it to Medsafe for licensure. That should be pretty straightforward, but it has to be presented by the company to Medsafe and for the company to do that they’d want to know they would get decent sales,” she explained.
“So we want to say this would be great for the New Zealand market, we have a significant burden of flu on our young children and we think this would be a great vaccine to have available to move away from injectible vaccines.”
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The finance minister will reveal “targeted and temporary” support for hard-hit families on Tuesday, as fuel costs continue to rise.
Nicola Willis gave notice of the announcement at Monday’s post-Cabinet media briefing, alongside Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Associate Energy Minister Shane Jones.
Jones also announced plans to align New Zealand’s fuel standards with that of Australia, allowing the import of fuel destined for Australia to New Zealand instead.
Willis said the decisions on support had been taken at Cabinet, and while some of the details were still being worked out, that would not affect how quickly families could get it.
“This conflict is impacting just about every New Zealander, it has pushed up the price of petrol, diesel and jet fuel and those increases are already hurting our people and our businesses. Unfortunately the government is not in a position to mitigate that impact on everyone,” she said.
“The approach we are taking is consistent with the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the response to the Covid pandemic, which highlighted the damage that can be done by untimely, untemporary and untargeted spending.”
It was unclear when the support would be rolled out, with Willis saying that would be made clear when it was announced.
Motorists should fuel up as and when they needed to, she said, with the government’s solution set to target income rather than fuel prices.
‘No concerns’ about fuel supply
For now, there were no concerns about fuel supplies in New Zealand, she said.
“To date, all shipments have arrived as scheduled and fuel importers have not raised any concerns about shipments that are due here in future.
“It remains the case that we have to be prepared for the possibility of disruptions in the medium to longer term, particularly because the refineries in Southeast Asia from which we import more than 90 percent of our fuel may have challenges getting the feedstock crude oil that they need.”
Luxon said the country had at least enough fuel for the next seven weeks, although the government was preparing in case of long-term further disruption.
“If you are someone who has just faced a 30 percent increase in your fuel bill or a 60 percent increase in your diesel bill since the actual crisis, since this conflict has commenced, it’s real.
“We cannot do the Covid learnings and mistakes, which was just spray a heap of money around that has short term gain but long term pain – massive long-term pain – and equally we’ve got to find a way to get people support in a temporary, targeted kind of way.
“The reality is that we are not going to be able to alleviate the pressure of rising prices for everyone, but what we’ve been clear about are the parameters for any support that we provide, which is that it must be targeted, it must be timely, and it must be temporary and not drive inflation or debt higher.”
The latest data from Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment showed stocks for about 47 days of fuel, including about 50 days worth of petrol, 46 days of diesel, and 45 of jet fuel.
The data, accurate to last Wednesday, marks about two days fewer than was reported last week.
One new fuel shipment arrived on Sunday, and two more – carrying between them another 20 days of each kind of fuel – are expected to arrive in the next fortnight.
The next update is due on Wednesday, but the ministry says New Zealand is not yet experiencing the kind of sustained disruption that would justify emergency measures under the national fuel plan.
Luxon said nothing had changed about New Zealand’s position on the Iran conflict, but that Iranians “holding hostage a whole bunch of ships to bring fuel and critical supplies … that’s not acceptable”.
“What we want to see is a quick resolution to this conflict and that means that actually respecting civilians and civilian infrastructure is really important … we think the best thing is de-escalation.”
Willis confirmed some consideration had been given to which industries could be prioritised if fuel rationing was needed, but this would not be revealed until a later date.
“We will not be having to hit the button tomorrow, but we will outline what our proposed phasing of response is … we recognise that it’s useful for people to understand what could be coming under a range of scenarios,” she said.
She noted the high prices would also naturally limit fuel use.
“It is pinching people’s pockets already and that is changing people’s choices. So Auckland transport have reported they had their biggest day of public transport use in seven years, I think that’s people deciding to use their cars a little bit less because it’s pretty expensive right now.”
‘Anzac pact’ in fuel and other standards
Jones outlined the government’s plan to temporarily allow fuel that meets Australian specifications to be supplied to the New Zealand market for up to a year.
Fuel companies had said this could allow them to secure shipments more quickly, and from a wider pool of suppliers.
Jones said long-range vessels typically carried about 120 million litres, and New Zealand consumed about 24 million litres of fuel a day – with about 47 percent of that being diesel, about 35 percent being petrol, and the remainder being aviation fuel.
“Should such a vessel be on its way to Australia then we would have the ability to also benefit from such a vessel.”
He said fuel refined to Australian standards was compatible with New Zealand vehicles, and met safety and quality expectations, pushing back on the suggestion it would allow dirtier fuels than under current standards.
“It’s unkind of us to refer to our Aussie compatriots as dirty,” he said. “There’s two things – whether or not fuel used in a high-temperature northern Australian environment, we are advised that a lot of that fuel is suitable for the North Island … with the South Island the fuel importers assure us that they will have the optionality to service both of those markets.”
He said officials had spoken to Australian counterparts.
“We pushed the idea that at some point in time we should explore and ANZAC pact and I would say to you this is the first step that we’re taking to join forces.
“It’d be fair to say that I’ve got a fair degree of support in our Cabinet to actually move towards permanent harmonisation of not only these standards but a variety of other standards in the economy.”
Willis and the associate ministers of finance would make further improvements, he said.
The government would not follow Australia’s lead in relaxing standards to allow higher-sulphur fuel, he said, at least not yet.
“At this stage it’s not our intention to do so, however, we will take advice should the situation change – and that could be an option that expands our supply.
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Democrats in Congress have sounded the alarm over US President Donald Trump pledging to commit more war crimes in Iran after he traded threats to energy infrastructure with the Iranian government, with the Republican declaring Saturday that he would take out the country’s power plants unless it reopened the Strait of Hormuz to all traffic.
Just a day after Trump claimed that “we are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East with respect to the Terrorist Regime of Iran,” in a post that remains pinned to the top of his Truth Social profile, the president took to the platform with a clear threat on Saturday night.
“If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!” Trump said.
Trump’s post came after Ali Mousavi, the Iranian representative to the International Maritime Organisation, told the Chinese news agency Xinhua on Friday that the Strait of Hormuz — the waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman that is a key shipping route, including for fossil fuels — remains open to all vessels not linked to “Iran’s enemies.”
It also followed the Israeli military — which is bombing Iran alongside the United States — suggesting that the US was responsible for a Saturday attack on Iran’s uranium enrichment complex in Natanz.
According to The Associated Press, with his new threat, Trump “may have meant the Bushehr nuclear power plant, Iran’s biggest, which was already hit last week, or Damavand, a natural gas plant near Tehran, Iran’s capital.”
Responding to Trump’s Saturday post, US Representative Don Beyer (D-Va.) said: “It’s important not to shy away from candidly discussing the president’s increasingly erratic behaviour. His worsening instability is a clear and growing threat, not only to the American people but to the world.”
Trump has no plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, so he is threatening to attack Iran’s civil power plants. This would be an attack on civilians. This is what Putin is doing in Ukraine. This would be a war crime. End this war in Iran.
Hell-bent on destruction Representative Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) was similarly critical over Trump’s pledge “From ‘help is on the way’ for Iranian protestors to threatening war crimes against an entire population. The United States is being run by a maniacal tyrant hell-bent on destroying this country and the world along with it.”
Other critics also pointed out that Article 56 of the Geneva Convention states in part that “works or installations containing dangerous forces, namely dams, dykes, and nuclear electrical generating stations, shall not be made the object of attack, even where these objects are military objectives, if such attack may cause the release of dangerous forces and consequent severe losses among the civilian population.”
The AP reported that after that strike on the Natanz complex, “Iranian missiles struck two communities in southern Israel late Saturday, leaving buildings shattered and dozens injured in dual attacks not far from Israel’s main nuclear research center.”
“Israel’s military said it was not able to intercept missiles that hit the southern cities of Dimona and Arad, the largest near the centre in Israel’s sparsely populated Negev desert,” according to the news agency. “It was the first time Iranian missiles penetrated Israel’s air defence systems in the area around the nuclear site.”
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of Iran’s Parliament, said on X on Saturday that “if the Israeli regime is unable to intercept missiles in the heavily protected Dimona area, it is, operationally, a sign of entering a new phase of the battle… Israel’s skies are defenseless.”
After Trump’s threat, the Speaker added on Sunday that “immediately after the power plants and infrastructure in our country are targeted, the critical infrastructure, energy infrastructure, and oil facilities throughout the region will be considered legitimate targets and will be irreversibly destroyed, and the price of oil will remain high for a long time.”
Jessica Corbett is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams. This article is republished under Creative Commons.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the government will reveal in the next few weeks how it will support New Zealanders struggling with skyrocketing fuel prices.
He says the country has healthy fuel stocks, and the government’s doing everything it can to secure them.
Oil prices have risen as the fall out continues from the Middle East crisis; Brent Crude oil rose about US$1 to be just above US$113 a barrel in early Asia trade.
It comes after US President Donald Trump vowed to ‘obliterate’ Iran energy facilities if it doesn’t open Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Auckland Transport is calling for the government to encourage more people to use public transport.
Follow what happened today in our liveblog below:
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By the afternoon, the former Black Cap had stepped down from the board, saying he could no longer support the organisation’s direction.
“Ultimately, I reached a point where I felt it was the right time to step aside,” he said.
Elected in 2024, Nash’s departure lays bare the divisions at the top of the game, with debate over the future of T20 cricket having already contributed to significant governance upheaval in recent months.
The debate traces back to last year, when a consortium of players, investors and administrators put forward a pitch for a privately owned franchise league aimed at modernising the game and attracting global investment.
Scott Weenink stepped down as NZ Cricket chief executive days before Christmas after finding himself at odds with key stakeholders in the game.Photosport / RNZ composite
At the same time, NZC was considering its own options for the future of the domestic game, including a proposal to field a New Zealand team in Australia’s Big Bash League – an option understood to have been favoured by backed by former chief executive Scott Weenink.
The national body commissioned Deloitte to assess the various pathways, but what began as a strategic review quickly hardened into a fundamental dispute over the direction of the sport, ultimately pitting the CEO and key stakeholders across the game.
Weenink stepped down from his role before Christmas, citing the the fundamental differences with the game’s stakeholders as the driver.
NZC chair Diana Puketapu-Lyndon acknowledged Nash’s exit, thanking him for his service.
“We thank Dion for his dedicated service and valuable contributions,” she said.
“We wish him well in his future endeavours.”
In a statement released earlier on Monday, Puketapu-Lyndon said the board’s decision in favour of NZ20 wasn’t a final commitment, and was subject to reaching key commercial and structural measures.
She said the board thoroughly debated the two options and said several changes to the original NZ20 proposal would need to be negotiated before a final decision was made.
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew King, ARC Future Fellow and Associate Professor in Climate Science, ARC Centre of Excellence for 21st Century Weather, The University of Melbourne
It’s no secret our planet is heating up.
And here’s the evidence: we’ve just experienced the 11 hottest years on record, with 2025 being the second or third warmest in global history.
The annual State of the Climate report, published today by the World Meteorological Organization, suggests we’re still too reliant on fossil fuels. And that’s pushing us further from our goal to decarbonise.
So what is happening to our climate? And how should we respond?
The climate picture
Unfortunately, the most recent climate data makes for grim reading.
Let’s look back at 2025, through the lens of four climate change indicators.
Carbon dioxide
We now have a record amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, about 50% higher than pre-industrial levels. And we’re still emitting large amounts of carbon dioxide through our use of fossil fuels. In 2025, global emissions reached record high levels. The carbon dioxide we emit can stay in the atmosphere for a long time. So each year we keep emitting large amounts of carbon dioxide, the more concentrated it will be in our atmosphere.
Temperature
In 2025, the world experienced its second or third warmest year on record, depending on which dataset you use. The average temperature was about 1.43°C above the pre-industrial average.
This is particularly unusual given we observed slight La Niña conditions in the Pacific region. La Niña is a type of climate pattern characterised by temperature changes in the Pacific Ocean. It typically creates milder, wetter conditions in Australia and has a cooling effect on the global average temperature. But even with La Niña conditions, the planet stayed exceptionally hot.
Oceans and ice
In 2025, the heat held within the world’s oceans reached a record high. And as our oceans continue to warm, sea levels will also rise. Hotter oceans also speed up the process of acidification, where oceans absorb an increased amount of carbon dioxide with potentially devastating consequences for some marine animals.
The amount of Arctic and Antarctic ice is also well below average. This report shows sea ice extent, a measure of how much ocean is covered by at least some sea ice, is at or close to record low levels in the Arctic. Meanwhile, the amount of ice stored in glaciers has also significantly decreased.
Extreme weather
Research shows many of the most devastating extreme weather events of 2025 were exacerbated by human-driven climate change. The heatwaves in Central Asia, wildfires in East Asia and Hurricane Melissa in the Carribean are just three examples. Through attribution analysis, which is how scientists determine the causes of an extreme weather or climate event, this report highlights how our greenhouse gas emissions are making severe weather events more common and intense.
How does Australia stack up?
Compared to most other countries, Australia has a disproportionate impact on the global climate.
This is largely because our per capita carbon dioxide emissions are about three times the global average. That means on average, each of us emits more carbon dioxide than people in all European countries and the US.
Emissions matter because they exacerbate the greenhouse effect. That is the process by which greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, trap heat near Earth’s surface. So by emitting more greenhouse gases, we contribute to global warming. And research suggests Earth is warming twice as fast today, compared to previous decades.
However, Australia is also experiencing first-hand the adverse effects of human-induced climate change.
In 2025, we lived through our fourth-warmest year on record. The annual surface temperatures of the seas around Australia reached historic highs, beating the record temperatures set in 2024. And last March was the hottest March we’ve seen across the continent.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s annual summary highlights how Australia’s climate is changing.
So what can we do?
The 2025 State of the Climate Report shows how much, and how quickly, we are changing our climate. And it is worryingly similar to previous reports, highlighting the need for urgent action.
The priority should be decreasing our emissions. This would slow down global warming, which will only continue if we keep the status quo. Some countries are already decarbonising rapidly, in part through transitioning to renewable electricity supplies. Others, including Australia, need to move much faster to reduce emissions.
Crucially, we must also meet our net zero targets. In Australia, as in many other countries, we are aiming to reach net zero by 2050. The sooner we reach net zero, the more likely we are to avoid harmful climate change impacts in future. To achieve net zero, we need to significantly reduce our emissions while also increasing how much carbon we remove from the atmosphere.
Even if we meet our net zero targets, climate change will not magically disappear. However, by turning away from fossil fuels and cutting our greenhouse gas emissions now, we may spare future generations from its worst effects. That’s the least we can do.
“Cashback” apps make an enticing promise. You download an app or click on a web browser extension. You go about your online shopping as usual, spend money, but then get some cash back. It sounds simple, right?
In recent years, cashback programs have made a serious splash with online shoppers.
And it’s competing in a crowded market, alongside companies such as Freecash, Honey, Kickback, Boost your Super and Grow My Money.
Even some of the big banks are getting in on the cashback trend. Westpac has partnered with Shopback, NAB has its own “NAB Goodies Program”, and Commonwealth Bank has “CommBank Yello”.
Of course, nothing is free. When a “middle man” cashback company is involved, either you or the retailer is paying somehow. Here’s how these programs work – and some of the risks you should be aware of.
Money for nothing?
Cashback programs entice shoppers with incentives such as cash, discounts and rewards when they make a purchase.
Some might be a free app, others a browser extension to use while online shopping. But they’re almost always designed to serve consumers with advertisements and collect consumer information.
The typical model is to track purchases using an app or browser, and then deal out “rewards” once certain conditions are met.
This could include:
meeting a minimum spend
purchasing particular products
waiting until your purchase is tracked and approved.
To avoid products being returned after rewards have been granted, wait times for cash back can be long and indefinite.
Where does the money come from?
There are a few different ways these companies make money.
One is by providing a simple advertising service. Cashback companies will often channel online traffic to retailers in return for a commission. They then use this commission to offer consumers rewards for their purchases (and keep some for themselves as profit).
But they also typically collect extensive data about their users’ online behaviour – including searches for products they’re interested in, shopping history and more.
Cashback apps may track your shopping history across different sites.Marques Thomas/Unsplash
Your data is valuable
When you download an app or use a web extension, you may need to enter information or “accept” that the software will collect your information.
However, even when you “consent” to disclose your personal information, you may not realise the extent of what you’re handing over, including your sensitive information.
Most data collection, use, storage and disclosure is difficult to detect and track. Sometimes consumers won’t know what privacy implications their app or web extension usage will have in future.
In the worst case scenario, a consumer’s identifying data may be sold and bought multiple times online without their knowledge. (However, some apps specifically state they don’t sell that data.)
Consumer data is valuable to companies who are trying to understand consumer behaviour, such as purchasing habits. This data also appeals to companies trying to market products, networks involves in identity thefts, and scams and criminals who take advantage of data breaches.
What the law says
Information privacy is protected by the Privacy Act and the 13 Australian Privacy Principles that restrict how an entity can handle a consumer’s personal information.
This includes strict rules about management, notification, use, cross-border disclosure and security of personal information.
Private information can be subject to a data breach if adequate data security systems are not in place. And even large, well known and trusted companies are not immune to this risk.
For example, in 2023, Singapore’s data privacy watchdog fined Shopback S$74,400 (A$83,300) over a 2020 data breach that impacted more than 1.4 million people.
Private, personal and sensitive information can cross borders without detection and this can lead to wider exposure of information that may be used to identify or impersonate an individual.
Buyer beware
So, while getting 5% back on your purchases, there are a few key things to be aware of.
Consumers need to be careful when disclosing information to these companies and this includes information that can identify them as an individual. For example, personal information might include names, a signature, an address, phone number, date of birth or a photograph.
Sensitive information might include ethnicity, gender, health data or beliefs.
Generally, sensitive information has a higher level of privacy protection than other personal information, and should be treated with an extra level of care.
Financial information is a special category of information and consumers should think carefully before disclosing financial details to a third party – even if there is an incentive offered.
An ‘addiction’ to fossil fuels is driving climate change, the UN Secretary-General says – leading to ever-more severe weather including floods, droughts, and damaging storms.MUHAMMAD FAROOQ
Last year was among the hottest on record, as the world’s “addiction” to fossil fuels continues to drive global warming, new data shows.
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) confirmed the average global temperature last year was 1.43°C warmer than the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average.
2024 remains the hottest year on record, but 2025 was the second- or third-hottest, across the nine major global datasets.
The organisation said the global climate was more out of balance than at any other time in observed history, as greenhouse gas concentrations reached their highest levels in at least 800,000 years.
Most of the trapped heat was stored in the ocean, which is warming at an accelerating pace.
Together with melting sea ice and glaciers, that was driving global sea level rise – which projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change show will continue for centuries.
Arctic sea-ice hit a record low in some satellite datasets last year.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the planet was being pushed beyond its limits.
“Every key climate indicator is flashing red.”
Current major conflicts were exposing another truth, Guterres said.
“Our addiction to fossil fuels is destabilising both the climate and global security.”
Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, after the country was attacked by Israel and the US, has spiked oil and gas prices and prompted fears of global inflation.
The WMO’s State of the Climate report said increasingly severe weather, driven by climate change, was already affecting agricultural production and displacing people from their homes.
“The cascading and compounding impacts of multiple, sequential disasters severely limit the ability of communities to prepare for, recover from and adapt to shocks,” the report said.
That was especially true in places that were already experiencing conflict or other types of insecurity.
In New Zealand, inflation-adjusted data published by the Insurance Council showed that since 2019, insurance companies had paid out nearly $6 billion for extreme weather-related events in New Zealand.
Victoria University professor of climate science James Renwick said the science of climate change had been understood for a century or more now.
“We know what we have to do to stop it,” he said. “Stop burning fossil fuels.”
Policymakers had been given that message for decades but emissions just kept increasing, he said.
He hoped the latest report “moves the dial”.
“The costs of inaction are already astronomical, let’s not make them overwhelming.”
Last week, the High Court in Wellington heard a case taken by two environmental NGOs against the government over its emissions reductions plans, which the organisations argued were risky and unlawful.
The Environmental Law Initiative and Lawyers for Climate Action told the court that the government broke the law when it dismantled dozens of climate policies soon after the election, before it had consulted the public.
The current plan relied overwhelmingly on offsetting emissions by planting forestry, rather than tackling emissions at their sources, the organisations said.
The court has reserved its decision.
Similar cases in the UK succeeded in forcing the government there to re-write its own emissions plans.
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Iran knows it is militarily much weaker than the United States. The US accounts for 37% of military spending worldwide, while Iran accounts for less than 1%. On paper, we’d expect the US to easily win a military confrontation with Iran.
But, as history shows, the US does not win wars against groups that use insurgent tactics. This was made clear in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. The US did not “lose” these wars, but it also could not win them. In each instance, the US eventually withdrew and allowed its opponents to claim victory.
Iran knows this and is using four key insurgency tactics to force a US withdrawal from the war.
Provocation
By hitting critical infrastructure and military bases across the Persian Gulf, Iran is hoping to provoke the US into an escalated use of military force.
This accomplishes specific goals for the regime.
As the US bombing campaign intensifies, support for the war among opponents of the Islamic regime in Iran will begin to diminish. Already, more than 1,400 Iranians have been killed and more than 18,000 wounded in the fighting, according to Iran’s health ministry.
Meanwhile, support for the war will no doubt drop in the US as the cost of expending massive military force grows, without a decisive victory in sight. In one recent poll by Reuters and Ipsos, just 27% of Americans supported the war.
This will likely drive political pressure on President Donald Trump to withdraw.
But if the opposite happens – Iran succeeds in provoking the US into putting boots on the ground – this would enable it to shift to a full-scale insurgency that would cost the US even more lives. And this would be far more disastrous for Trump.
Spoiling
Iran is also hitting out at its Persian Gulf neighbours – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.
This may seem like a risky strategy, as Iran will need to live with these close neighbours after the war is over. But the regime has a purpose – it wants to spoil the increasingly close relationship between the Gulf states and the US.
Plumes of smoke rise after debris from an intercepted Iranian drone struck an oil facility in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, on March 14.AP Photo/Altaf Qadri
For decades, the Gulf countries have been reliant on the US as their ultimate security guarantor. The US exports billions of dollars worth of arms to these countries, and many host US military bases.
By attacking them now, Iran is creating pressure on Gulf leaders to distance themselves from the US.
Across the region, distrust and political antagonism toward the US remains high. Resentment is likely to build further, as economies continue to take a major hit from an American and Israeli military venture.
If Iran succeeds in spoiling the closeness between the US and Gulf countries, this could fundamentally change the security environment in the Middle East and increase its own power in a region where it has few friends.
It is doing this by employing fast-attack boats, naval mines and midget submarines – which are designed specifically to operate in the Gulf’s shallow, murky waters – to threaten attacks against large and cumbersome oil tankers.
This insurgency tactic has given Iran control over an important part of the global economy, restricting the flow of oil, critical minerals and liquified natural gas to the rest of the world.
Targeting civilian infrastructure
Lastly, Iran is targeting civilian infrastructure, such as airports, water desalination plants and energy facilities, across the Gulf.
It is now threatening to destroy this infrastructure completely if Trump follows through on his pledge to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants.
This is ramping up the pressure on Gulf countries by putting their critical economic and humanitarian assets at risk. It is also driving global economic disruption with the closure of international transport hubs in the UAE and Qatar.
A FlyDubai plane is parked at Dubai International Airport as smoke rises in the background after a drone struck a fuel tank early morning, forcing the temporary suspension of flights.AP
Attacks on non-military targets unsettle the entire population. No one knows what might be hit next.
These pressures increase the likelihood that countries in the Gulf and around the world will push for a US withdrawal.
Iran can outlast the US
So, what does Iran’s use of insurgent tactics suggest about how this war will end?
Previous wars that involved a strong military power against a much weaker opponent have taught us a lesson.
The weak actor has to survive long enough for political and economic pressure to build on their adversary, compelling them to withdraw. Despite being severely degraded, the weaker actor can then claim victory.
So, the Iranian regime just has to survive longer than the US political will to fight.
To be sure, the regime has been greatly weakened. It could fall in the medium- to long-term. But it is only concerned with the immediate future right now, using these insurgency tactics to outlast the US in the short term.
How the US should pivot
If the US wants to win, it needs a fundamental pivot and adoption of a central counterinsurgency principle: damage the enemy, but win the hearts and minds of the people.
The US has a long history of attempting this strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan, and can learn lessons from these conflicts.
However, the Iran war, so far, has not shown this to be a priority.
Trump has made surface-level overtures to the Iranian people, encouraging them to rise up and reclaim their government. But he has not put actions behind these words.
There may not be a clear exit strategy for the US at this stage, but supporting a pathway for the long-term viability of Iran beyond this regime means ensuring that civilians are not decimated by this war.
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones.RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has called critics of his Fisheries Amendment Bill “a range of noisy voices” and invited them to have their say at the select committee.
Fishing Host Matt Watson – probably the country’s most famous recreational fisher – is dismayed by the proposals in the fishing amendment bill.
He told First Up the bill’s “designed purely to prioritise the profits of the seafood industry”.
“If these go through unchecked, it is disaster. It’s beginning of the end for our fish stocks, and that’ not over dramatising it.”
Among Watson’s concerns is the proposal to remove the minimum size limits for commercial fishers from a number of popular species, including snapper.
He said it wouldn’t encourage commercial fishers to avoid undersized fish and would decrease overall fish stocks.
The current recreational size limit for snapper is between 25cm and 30cm depending on location, while the commercial size limit is 25cm.
Minimum size limits are imposed to ensure fish can reach sexual maturity before being caught.
“If you start killing fish before they’ve had a chance to breed, you’re going to run out of fish and you don’t need to be a genius to figure that out,” Watson said.
Fishing Host Matt Watson.Facebook
Jones argued that allowing the commercial sector to land and sell undersize fish would prevent wastage.
Currently commercial fishers must dump undersize fish dead or alive, and it doesn’t count against their quota.
“The new provision is that if you catch them, you pay for them,” Jones said.
“With the commercial industry, we know every single kilo that they take and their conduct is now captured by cameras.”
But if Jones’ bill passes, the footage taken by cameras on board commercial boats can no longer be accessed under the official information act, effectively making it off limits to the public.
Anyone who leaks the footage faces a $50,000 fine.
“If you’ve got nothing to hide, why on earth would you behave like that,” Sam Woolford of recreational advocacy group Legasea said.
“When cameras on boats were introduced, we know that the rate of discarding, or notified discards, went up about 46 percent. For snapper and kingfish, it was closer to 1000 percent.”
Jones, a self described apostle of industry, brushed off the concerns about snapper stocks, telling First Up the “amount of snapper in our waters is almost biblical in its profundity”.
“You can almost walk on the water we’ve got so many snapper.”
Coalition support means the Fisheries Amendment Bill should easily pass it’s first reading, but Labour’s fisheries and Oceans spokesperson Rachel Boyack said she would make her concerns heard at the select committee stage.
She said her party would do their “best to make changes to the bill so that it’s not as bad as what it could be.”
Although with commercial fishing a strong feature of her Nelson electorate, Boyack was choosing her words carefully .
“It creates jobs in my local community and it’s important that we are able to produce fish for food and for export, but we also have to ensure that the fishery is sustainable”.
Conservation Minister Tama Potaka’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment, but in a facebook post Northland MP Grant McCallum said he met with Legasea and the sports fishing council over the weekend and would strongly represent the views of the recreational sector in the party’s caucus this week.
Seafood New Zealand’s Inshore Policy Manager Tamar Wells said the commercial sector was trying to make the industry more sustainable.
“Fishers do change their methods. In terms of their selectivity of their nets, they’ll have larger mesh to let smaller fish out.
“There’s also new methods coming in, like Flowmo, which is a type of net that can keep fish kind of contained underwater so they have a higher survivability.”
The Fisheries Amendment Bill won’t require commercial fishers to change their methods though and Jones said there was no plan to outlaw trawling.
“It’s evident to me that the vast majority of the activists opposed to trawling are really seeking to undo the Māori fisheries settlement and terminate the commercial fishing industry and that’s just never, ever going to happen for as long as I’m in politics, and I look forward to being in politics for a long, long time.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on March 23, 2026.
Your smart home can be easily hacked. New safety standards will help, but stay vigilant Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yang Xiang, Professor, Computer Science, Swinburne University of Technology On a quiet suburban street, a modern Australian home wakes before its owners do. The lights turn on automatically, the thermostat adjusts to a comfortable temperature, and the coffee machine begins brewing. A doorbell camera watches the front
Wondering if you really need that dental treatment? Here’s what to ask and how to get a second opinion Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chanae Ihimaera, Senior Lecturer/Kaiwhakaako Oral Health, Auckland University of Technology If the dental bill has ever made you gulp, you’re far from alone. Around three in ten Australian adults say they avoid or delay dental care due to costs. In Aotearoa New Zealand, almost half of adults
Family violence protection orders can be a lifeline, but the system needs reforming Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Heather Douglas, Professor of Law and Deputy Director of the Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW), The University of Melbourne Every year across Australia, more than 100,000 people obtain a family violence protection order. For some victim-survivors, protection orders provide a much-needed
Child protection workers are under pressure in NZ. Can predictive modelling help? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dylan A Mordaunt, Research Fellow, Faculty of Education, Health, and Psychological Sciences, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington; Flinders University; The University of Melbourne Across child protection services, frontline staff are often making decisions in the hardest possible conditions: under time pressure, with incomplete information
Prime Minister Manele holds firm as opposition claims majority in Solomon Islands RNZ Pacific Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele has doubled down on his decision not to convene Parliament as he hangs on to power leading a minority government, following mass defections from his Government of National Unity and Transformation (GNUT). Last week, 19 government MPs — more than half of them cabinet ministers — handed
From nuclear to climate crisis survivors: unfinished business in the Pacific COMMENTARY: By David Robie, author of Eyes of Fire Climate crisis concerns shouldn’t overshadow the legacy of nuclear testing in the Pacific, where there are lingering health and sociopolitical insecurities. For example, there are concerns in French Polynesia about the mysterious fate of a former anti-nuclear investigative journalist and editor of the now closed Les
Using your AI chatbot as a search engine? Be careful what you believe Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kevin Veale, Senior Lecturer in Media Studies, School of Humanities, Media and Creative Communication, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University During the first world war, the British government was looking for ways to help people stretch their limited food supplies. It found pamphlets from a noted
Morgan le Fay was King Arthur’s sister – but also a healer, mathematician and murderer Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Kimball, Casual Academic, School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences, University of Newcastle Morgan le Fay is one of the most infamous characters of Arthurian mythology. A powerful sorceress and, in later stories, King Arthur’s half-sister, Morgan was a healer, a mathematician, murderer, adulteress and
Some schools have stopped running camps as costs rise. What can we do instead? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education, Charles Sturt University School camps have long been a rite of passage for many Australian students in both primary and high school. Typically, camps begin in primary school and continue into the secondary years, ranging from a single overnight stay to
Do petrol retailers really ‘price-gouge’ during oil price spikes? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nikhil Datta, Assistant Professor, Economics, University of Warwick The US-Israel strikes on Iran in late February caused an immediate spike in oil prices, and volatility has only increased since then. It quickly led to fears among motorists of “price-gouging” – petrol retailers raising their prices to take
TVs keep getting more pixels – but we are approaching the limits of what our eyes can actually see Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Renee Goreham, Associate Professor, Physics, University of Newcastle I remember sitting very close to the television as a child and seeing the image was made up of tiny coloured dots, each of which broke down into miniature vertical strips of red, green and blue when I looked
Is it OK to drink in front of your kids? New research shows the age they’re most influenced Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sergey Alexeev, Senior research fellow, University of Sydney; UNSW Sydney It’s a Friday evening and you pour a glass of wine while your teenager sits at the kitchen bench scrolling their phone. They barely look up. But they notice more than you think. My new study found
How much do you really need to retire? It’s probably a lot less than $1 million Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Angel Zhong, Professor of Finance, RMIT University Every few months, someone in the superannuation industry declares that Australians now “need” around A$1 million to retire comfortably. It’s a big, scary number. But consumer advocates say most people can retire with far less. Independent estimates suggest something closer
In the next pandemic, NZ doesn’t need to choose between health and the economy Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paula Lorgelly, Professor of Health Economics, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau This time six years ago, as officials prepared to move New Zealand into lockdown, the public was suddenly introduced to the complex and somewhat bewildering world of pandemic modelling. These highly mathematical models mapped out
Eugene Doyle: Trump celebrates Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour COMMENTARY: By Eugene Doyle You can’t make this stuff up. The President of the United States, while sitting next to the Japanese Prime Minister in the Oval Office, just celebrated the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. When asked by a Japanese reporter on Friday why the US didn’t consult with allies before launching the surprise
No bigger hypocrisy in the world than Israel complaining about Iran’s ‘lawbreaking’ COMMENTARY: By Sarah Leah Whitson In recent days, Israel and the United States have expressed outrage over the deliberate and indiscriminate targeting of civilians and civilian residences and infrastructure in Israel and the Gulf by Iranian forces. They have cited the illegality of such attacks, urged global condemnation, and demanded that human rights organisations speak
All Blacks assistant coach Scott McLeod is crossing the ditch.
McLeod has been recruited by the Wallabies to take up a position as the side’s defence coach for the next three years.
The 53-year-old was a member of the All Blacks coaching team at the last two Rugby World Cups, serving under Steve Hansen and then Ian Foster.
He will join the Wallabies ahead of the 8 August test against Japan, which will mark Les Kiss’ first game as Wallabies head coach.
Born in Brisbane, McLeod was raised in New Zealand and represented the Chiefs across 44 Super 12 games and the All Blacks in 10 tests.
After an eight-year playing stint in Japan, McLeod returned to New Zealand to embark on a coaching career with Waikato, the Chiefs and Highlanders, before taking on the role of All Blacks assistant coach in 2017.
McLeod, pictured here in 1998 for the All Blacks against the Wallabies, played a total of ten tests.Andrew Cornaga
McLeod most recently served as an assistant with the Kubota Spears in Japan’s Rugby League One.
“I am very excited to return to international rugby, especially to join up with Les and the team to build on the foundations that have been put in place,” McLeod said in a statement.
“There is a lot of excitement building within Rugby Australia and I am really committed to doing my part. I am looking forward to connecting with RA, the players and everyone who is invested in this team.”
Rugby Australia director of high performance, Peter Horne, said from the Highlanders’ first Super Rugby title in 2015 to the most recent Rugby World Cup final, McLeod’s resume and reputation are of the highest calibre.
“Scott has a great understanding of the environment and standards Joe Schmidt has driven since joining the Wallabies, having coached alongside him with the All Blacks, and will provide great support to Les as he transitions into the head coach position.”
Laurie Fisher, who has served as defence coach since 2024 under Joe Schmidt, is set to move into a consultancy role.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
On a quiet suburban street, a modern Australian home wakes before its owners do.
The lights turn on automatically, the thermostat adjusts to a comfortable temperature, and the coffee machine begins brewing. A doorbell camera watches the front yard, a baby monitor streams live footage to a parent’s phone, and a smart speaker waits for its next command.
This is the promise of the smart home: convenience, efficiency and peace of mind.
But behind this smooth experience is a hidden risk: every connected device can also be a way for cyber attackers to get in.
The Australian government has responded by introducing minimum security standards for smart devices to better protect households in this increasingly connected world.
These standards recently took effect. So what’s in them? And are they sufficient to keep people safe?
Many smart devices are not designed with security as a priority. Manufacturers often focus on keeping costs low, releasing products quickly, and making them easy to use. Security is treated as an afterthought.
For example, many devices arrive with weak default passwords such as “admin” or “1234”, which users rarely change. This creates an easy opportunity for attackers to gain access.
The Mirai botnet attack in 2016 clearly demonstrated the risks. In this case, hundreds of thousands of insecure devices such as doorbell cameras were hijacked to launch massive “distributed denial-of-service” (DDoS) attacks. This is a type of cyber attack where many computers or devices are used together to overwhelm a website, server, or network with traffic, so it becomes slow or completely unavailable to legitimate users.
More recent research has shown smart home devices can be exploited not only to disrupt systems but also to spy on households. In some cases, strangers have accessed baby monitors, and poorly secured cameras have exposed private footage online.
Another major issue is the lack of regular software updates.
Many low-cost or older devices don’t receive ongoing security patches, which means known software vulnerabilities remain open indefinitely. Attackers actively scan the internet for such devices, exploiting weaknesses at a large scale. Cloud-connected and AI-enabled systems amplify risks.
The consequences of these weaknesses go beyond individual households. Compromised devices can be used as part of larger cyber attacks, forming botnets that target critical infrastructure or businesses.
In effect, an insecure smart lightbulb or camera can become a building block in global cyber crime operations.
What are the new standards?
In response to these growing threats, the Australian government has begun introducing mandatory minimum security standards for connected devices.
These standards took effect earlier this month. They aim to establish a baseline level of protection across all products entering the market.
While the details of these standards may evolve, the key ideas are clear.
First, devices must not use universal default passwords. Each device should either require users to create a unique password during setup or be shipped with a unique credential.
Second, manufacturers must provide a clear vulnerability disclosure policy, allowing security researchers to report issues responsibly.
Third, there must be transparency around how long a device will receive security updates, so consumers can make informed decisions.
These changes shift some responsibility from users to manufacturers. Instead of expecting consumers to fix security problems themselves, devices must be designed to be safer from the start.
In practice, this means fewer vulnerabilities and greater accountability across the industry.
Regulation alone isn’t enough
However, regulation alone is not enough. Household behaviour still plays a critical role in maintaining security. Fortunately, some of the most effective steps are simple.
Changing default passwords to strong, unique ones is one of the most important steps. A strong password should be long, complex and not reused across multiple devices or accounts.
Enabling multi-factor authentication wherever possible adds a second layer of defence, making it significantly harder for attackers to gain access.
Regularly updating device firmware, also known as “software for hardware”, is equally important. Firmware updates often include patches for newly discovered vulnerabilities, and delaying them leaves devices exposed.
Users should also consider their home network design. Placing smart devices on a separate network, such as a guest wifi, can help isolate them from more sensitive information on personal or work devices.
Finally, choosing reputable manufacturers matters. Companies with a strong track record of providing ongoing security updates and transparent policies are generally safer choices than unknown or low-cost alternatives.
Smart homes are becoming an integral part of everyday life, and their benefits continue to grow. But as intelligence and automation expand, convenience must not come at the expense of security and trust.
With stronger standards, better-designed devices and more informed users, it is possible to enjoy the benefits of smart homes without exposing ourselves to unnecessary cyber risks.
If the dental bill has ever made you gulp, you’re far from alone. Around three in ten Australian adults say they avoid or delay dental care due to costs. In Aotearoa New Zealand, almost half of adults overall have unmet dental needs due to cost.
Dental pain or symptoms of infection can be clear signs you might need a dental restoration such as a filling. But like tyres on a car or paint on a house, fillings and crowns wear over time and will eventually need to be replaced.
Let’s look at how long dental restorations usually last, what to ask your oral health practitioner if they’ve recommended these treatments, and how to get a second opinion if you’re still unsure.
How long are fillings, crowns and implants supposed to last?
How long they last depends on the material, how big the repair is, your oral habits, and even how well you care for your mouth at home.
Composite fillings are the most common type used today. They are made from a strong mix of resin and fine glass particles and are designed to blend in with your teeth and bond closely to the layers of teeth (enamel and dentine). Composites typically last 5–15 years. Their lifespan depends on your risk of dental decay, the force of your bite and the size of the cavity. Fillings most often fail when there is new decay or cracks in the surrounding tooth structure.
Crowns are used when a tooth needs more support than a filling can provide, for example after a root canal or when a tooth has large cracks. Most crowns last 10–15 years. Many last longer with regular check-ups and careful home care.
Dental implants are often described as the closest thing to a natural tooth replacement and with good care, can last decades. But they are not a “fit and forget” solution. Implants require long follow-up, not just the first year or two. This should include routine professional cleaning, checks for gum inflammation and monitoring that the implant and screws stay secure.
So your oral health practitioner has recommended treatment? What to ask
If your oral health practitioner recommends treatment, especially if it’s expensive or invasive, consider asking the following questions to get a better sense of your options:
can you explain what the problem is in plain language?
what are my options, including the least invasive?
what happens if I wait or choose not to treat this right now?
are there lower-cost options that would still work well?
are there habits or risk factors that could shorten this option’s lifespan?
can you give me a written treatment plan with itemised fees?
is there anything else I should know before deciding?
Your oral health practitioner should talk through what the treatment involves, why they’re recommending it, the alternatives (including choosing to do nothing), likely outcomes, costs and give you space to ask questions.
Treatment shouldn’t go ahead until you understand everything and feel comfortable agreeing.
If you want to explore your options, seek a second opinion. This is not a sign of distrust – it’s good self-advocacy and ensures your treatment choices align with your values, budget and long-term wellbeing.
So how do you get a second opinion? What might change?
Getting a second opinion can be simple as booking in with a second oral health practitioner and let them know you’re seeking their advice. You can ask your usual clinic to email your notes or X-rays if you want to take them to a second provider.
A second opinion means asking another oral health practitioner for their view on your diagnosis or recommended treatment. People usually seek a second opinion when:
the issue is complex
the treatment is major or expensive
they want to explore less invasive or more cost-effective options
they want to clarify before committing.
This advice can make it easier to decide what course of action aligns with your values, such as whether you favour low intervention or would rather avoid the risks of delaying treatment.
While the evidence is limited in oral health, a study of medical care found 37% of patients received a different treatment recommendation when they sought a second opinion.
Second opinions in medicine often lead to meaningful changes in diagnosis or treatment. Individual studies found changes in as few as 10% or as many as 62% of second opinion cases.
Most patients across the study and review reported high satisfaction with the process.
Australian patients have the right to access their dental records under Australian privacylaws. Clinics must keep accurate information about the patient’s care and provide it when asked.
In New Zealand and elsewhere, some dual UK citizens have spent hundreds of dollars to get new British passports.RNZ / Gill Bonnett
Some British dual nationals are getting permanent exemptions from needing UK passports to travel there – but the carve-out is not going to help those in New Zealand.
A low-key change has allowed EU nationals granted British citizenship after Brexit to circumvent the new border requirements.
In New Zealand and elsewhere, some dual UK citizens have spent hundreds of dollars to get new British passports, trying to avoid writing off thousands more they have spent on pre-booked holidays.
The border requirement – which means British and Irish citizens can no longer use their New Zealand passport to enter the UK – came into force a month ago.
Advocacy groups and immigration lawyers in the UK have since called on the government to rethink several aspects of its programme.
They only discovered the new passport exemption for European dual nationals given settlement status in Britain after Brexit through Home Office correspondence about the ongoing saga two weeks ago.
The British government website now sets out how citizens of EU and other European countries such as Switzerland will not need a UK passport to travel there.
UK lobby group the3million – named after the EU migrants living and voting there – said it welcomed the government’s partial u-turn, but said it still left many others struggling to navigate citizenship and passport complexities.
“It’s for a very precise group – it’s for those EU/EEA/Swiss citizens and their family members who were living in the UK and applied for status under the EU Settlement Scheme,” its spokeswoman Monique Hawkins told RNZ.
“This is the cohort that can benefit from this new concession.”
The group wants the UK government to go much further in changing the passport requirements and allowing a grace period for people who have not yet got a UK passport, or did not know they needed one.
“As the world moves towards digital travel documentation, we do not see that dual citizens should be forced to maintain two sets of expensive physical documents if they do not want to do so.”
Hawkins also took aim at the digital Certificate of Entitlement (CoE), which is an alternative – albeit ‘extremely expensive’ – to keeping a second passport.
“We are fully aware that these no longer need to be renewed; however, £589 [NZ$1347] is still more than six times the cost of an adult British passport, each of which lasts for 10 years,” said a joint letter to the Home Office.
“It would therefore take more than 60 years before the cost of a CoE outweighs the cost of passport renewals, and for a family the multiplied cost is likely to be unaffordable.”
The letter also points out that some European dual nationals will now not even need a passport to enter the UK, but only a national ID card from their country of origin.
“Although this was not one of the measures we had asked for in our letter, we welcome this change for the cohort who can benefit from it. We note it is a significant departure from the general Home Office position that for a British citizen there is “a legal requirement to hold a valid British passport or Certificate of Entitlement” as stated in the Home Office response to our letter.”
Meanwhile, dual nationals in New Zealand are still struggling with the changes, as well as flight cancellations and uncertainty thrown up by the Middle East conflict.
Travel agents and some airlines have been updating passengers, but others remain unaware of the change or even that they or their children could be British citizens by descent.
Some are against the clock to access ID documents for citizenship and passport applications, waiting on deliveries, or have decided they will be relinquishing their UK citizenship altogether.
A New Zealander told RNZ he was lucky to see news about the rule change before his daughter, who was studying in the UK, took a trip to the Continent – as she would not have been able to return to Britain afterwards.
Previously, dual citizens had been able to visit the UK on a New Zealand passport, more recently with an ETA, an electronic online declaration costing about $37.
The UK’s Guardian newspaper has reported cases of dual national Britons, including teenagers, stuck overseas after going on holiday to Europe or elsewhere and then discovering they need a UK passport to return.
RNZ has heard from people planning to try to travel without a British passport, hoping that check-in and border staff will not know they or their children have dual citizenship.
* The full rules around citizenship can be found here https://www.gov.uk/check-british-citizenship and a rundown of the passport requirements are here https://www.gov.uk/apply-first-adult-passport , including information for those who had names changed by marriage, or last had a UK passport issued before 1994.
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A brain surgeon who refused advice from his colleagues has been stood down after his patient died of a brain bleed post-operation.
A report by the Health and Disability Commissioner found his sarcastic remark to a fellow surgeon, who questioned him on his approach, “inappropriate”, and criticised a culture of silence when it came to questioning senior surgeons at the hospital.
The patient, who the report calls Ms A, then aged 51, received two heart valve replacements in 2012, and then in May 2019 was admitted to hospital with vomiting, diarrhoea and fever, accompanied by delerium and speech issues.
Scans revealed a brain aneurysm, and although she needed urgent cardiac surgery to replace her heart valves, doctors decided the aneurysm needed to be treated before they could operate on her heart.
A surgeon referred to in the report as Dr C performed endovascular surgery, with support from other doctors – but one of those doctors told the HDC that their own involvement was “very passive”, as Dr C was “very used to work[ing] by himself”.
An anaesthetic registrar who was in attendance told HDC they witnessed another doctor entering the room to ask Dr C, “Are you sure you want to do it like that?”
HDC heard from that doctor, who said when Dr C was removing a microcatheter that had become temporarily stuck, it “was not adequately controlled and surged forwards, injuring a more proximal vessel (causing a dissecting pseudo-aneurysm)”.
When he asked Dr C what he was going to do about the pseudo-aneurysm, and Dr C replied: “hat pseudo-aneurysm.”
The woman was transferred back to the ICU following surgery, but those complications caused further bleeding in her brain, and she died six hours after surgery.
Dr Vanessa Caldwell, Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner, found despite the surgery being high risk, and Ms A being very unwell, “there were multiple failings in the system and in decisions made on the day of Ms A’s surgery”.
She says according to Health NZ, Dr C’s workload was “significant” at the time of the event, and “the dynamic of the team was such that no staff member felt empowered to speak up to [Dr C]”.
It said Dr C had a history of persevering despite recommendations from others, and a culture of staying silent had developed.
“Dr C reflected that he may have had an unconscious bias against his colleagues,” the report says, “due to their relative lack of experience”.
They had not worked together long, he said, and they were “still relatively unknown quantities” which “played a definite role in his willingness to take advice from them”.
Caldwell, in her report, finds his sarcastic remark – quoted variously in the report as both “hat pseudo-aneurysm” and “What dissection?” – inappropriate.
“Dr C told HDC that this was made sarcastically in reference to the brain-bleeding because it was so obvious that an injury had occurred.”
She also criticised the quality of his handover to ICU staff post-surgery, which contained a lack of information about the injury’s severity.
Dr C was stood down from performing such surgeries, and last did one in May 2019. He accepted the findings of the HDC report, and extended his condolences to the family.
He said the case had had a huge impact on him personally, his work and his career, and on his family.
Caldwell said Dr C described being “burnt out”, and in her view, Health NZ had an organisational responsibility to staff its service safely.
She recommended a written apology to Ms A’s family from both Dr C and Health NZ.
Health NZ has been approached for further comment.
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Executive Director of NZ Drug Foundation Sarah Helm.Supplied
The New Zealand Drug foundation is calling for a “fundamental shift” in drug policies in response to dramatic increases in cocaine and methamphetamine consumption.
The foundation said police wastewater testing showed cocaine use reached an all time high during the last quarter of 2025 – exceeding MDMA consumption for the first time.
In that period New Zealanders used an estimated 9.4 kilograms per week – nearly double the average weekly amount consumed over the previous four quarters of 4.7 kilograms per week.
The wastewater report showed during the last three months of 2025 Kiwi’s were also using nearly 34.7 kgs of methamphetamine every week.
The consumption of the drug had held steady over the previous two years after a sudden surge which saw use nearly double from an average estimated figure of 14.64 kgs per week in the year following 2023.
Drug Foundation Executive Director, Sarah Helm said the results were a “stark illustration” that underinvestment in treatment and harm reduction combined with an over reliance on police to interrupt supply wasn’t working.
“The dramatic increases in methamphetamine and cocaine consumption over the last two years are unprecedented.
“Consumption is at record levels, drug use is diversifying, prices are down, harm is increasing, and new potent drugs are arriving. Every indicator is screaming at us to change our approach,” Helm said.
Helm said since it’s introduction in 1975 the Misuse Drug Act had only seen the problems of drug harm worsen in New Zealand.
“We’ve gone from having a small number of substances – causing a small amount of harm – to mass incarceration, a growth in addiction and much more toxic and new substances appearing all the time. It has accelerated harm and we’ve really given it it’s best,” Helm said.
Helm said the foundation sought to remove criminal penalties for drug use – so that people were encouraged to seek help rather than covering up their substance use – as well as addressing parts of the law that criminalised elements of harm reduction initiatives.
“A bunch of the things that we need to be able to do to prevent people from dying or having harms occur are actually criminalised or are made very difficult to conduct under the Act.
“So we do need new law that is centred on evidence and the well-being of people – rather than what has been historically in place for over 50 years,” Helm said.
Helm said the foundation supported the initiatives outlined in the Government’s Action Plan to Prevent and Reduce Substance Harm – announced last week.
The plan included pledges to strengthen early intervention and prevention measures – such as drug checking and health promotion – as well as improving access to community-based support and better data and monitoring of the health system’s performance in the area.
But Helm said “a more fundamental shift” was needed” to reverse the current trends.
“We need step change if we really want to try and get this growth and change in our drug supply and our drug harms under control. If we continue to just do the same kind of thing we will see the harms continue to grow.
“If we could wave a magic wand, we would do two things: vastly increase the spending on addiction treatment and harm reduction, and change our drug laws.
“While these things won’t remove all problems, the evidence is clear that it would reduce the worst harms and provide us with more tools to tackle the increase in harm. But if we continue doing more of the same, things will continue to get worse,” Helm said.
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Heather Douglas, Professor of Law and Deputy Director of the Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW), The University of Melbourne
Every year across Australia, more than 100,000 people obtain a family violence protection order.
For some victim-survivors, protection orders provide a much-needed safety net. They can help prevent further violence from occurring.
Protection orders are future looking. They aim to stop a specific person (the respondent) using family violence against the victim-survivor in the future.
While they can be helpful, the system is far from perfect. Here’s how these orders work and what could be done to improve them.
What is a protection order?
When a victim-survivor has experienced, or is experiencing family violence, they may apply for a protection order. Any adult, and in some places children, can apply.
Evidence shows most orders are made to protect women against their current or previous male intimate partner. In some places, it’s common for police to apply for the order to protect the victim-survivor.
Generally, a magistrate can make a final protection order when they are satisfied the respondent has committed family violence against the victim-survivor and is likely to continue to do so, or to do so again.
A protection order includes conditions. These may include that the respondent must not commit family violence, that they stay a certain distance away from the victim-survivor’s home, work, or school or that they do not not contact the victim-survivor except in a specific way (such as through a lawyer).
Civil or criminal?
The protection order system is described as a hybrid civil/criminal system.
The process of obtaining a protection order is a civil process, and the magistrate must be satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the order is appropriate.
Police are expected to enforce protection orders. If a condition is breached, the respondent can be charged with a criminal offence of breaching the order.
If the magistrate is satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that a condition has been breached, the respondent will be found guilty. Beyond a reasonable doubt is a higher standard of proof than the civil standard of balance of probabilities.
Depending on the situation, a breach of a protection order can result in a prison sentence. The threat of criminal sanction provides an incentive to some respondents not to be violent.
A court quagmire
The protection order system in each state and territory is slightly different. The orders have different names, the definitions of family violence that underpin them is different, the orders made can have different durations from months to years, and they apply to different relationships.
Protection orders are part of state and territory law. The family law system is part of the federal law system. This state/federal divide can be a problem.
State and territory magistrates have the power to include children as protected people on protection orders across Australia. Magistrates can also vary family court orders, where they think people are unsafe.
However, victim-survivors report some magistrates are reluctant to include children on protection orders. It’s also rare for magistrates to vary orders coming from the family court. This may be because some magistrates see the family law system as responsible for making orders about children.
This state/federal divide often requires victim-survivors to navigate two separate court systems to seek protection and resolve parenting or property disputes.
The disconnect between systems also facilitates systems abuse with respondents playing off systems against each other, delaying legal cases, forcing ongoing contact and further abusing victim-survivors.
More work to do
Despite these challenges, protection orders have been associated with reduced domestic violence. Research from the Australian Institute of Criminology found the orders seem to be more effective where the victim-survivor can be more independent and has fewer ties to the respondent.
In 2017 laws were changed so that a protection order made in one state or territory can be enforced by police in another state or territory. This ensures victim-survivors do not need to apply for a new protection order when they move interstate.
However, the presence of a protection order does not guarantee safety for victim-survivors. In 40% of cases where a woman was killed by a current or former partner, she had a protection order.
In some cases, police misidentify victim-survivors as the violent person and take out a protection order against the wrong party.
The institutions and services that are responsible for keeping victim-survivors safe – including police and courts – have more work to do. This includes better enforcement of breaches of orders and taking allegations of family violence seriously (including non-physical abuse).
Victim-survivors need better support to obtain protection orders through accessible information, trauma-informed practices and greater connections between the different systems.
Protection orders have the potential to improve safety for people experiencing family violence. But, the message from victim-survivors is clear: to save lives, these orders have to be policed properly and taken seriously.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dylan A Mordaunt, Research Fellow, Faculty of Education, Health, and Psychological Sciences, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington; Flinders University; The University of Melbourne
Across child protection services, frontline staff are often making decisions in the hardest possible conditions: under time pressure, with incomplete information and high stakes on every side.
Get it wrong and the consequences are serious. A child may remain in danger. Or a family may be disrupted unnecessarily, with harms of its own.
There is also a triage problem. Some families need urgent intervention. Some need support. Some need monitoring. And some need less intrusion, not more.
In practice, those judgements already rely on reading signals from fragmented information and, in effect, making predictions about risk.
Predictive modelling aims to make that process more systematic. By analysing patterns in large administrative datasets, it can help identify which children may be most at risk of future harm.
With New Zealand’s social workers under more strain than ever, what are the opportunities of using these tools more actively – and what are the potential dangers?
NZ and predictive analytics
New Zealand is no stranger to predictive modelling, nor debate surrounding it.
More than a decade ago, it was among the first countries to seriously explore how predictive modelling could be applied to child protection.
Work led by Professor Rhema Vaithianathan and colleagues at the Auckland University of Technology showed that integrated administrative data could identify newborn children at elevated risk of later maltreatment.
Still, agencies have been deliberately cautious in framing how these models might be used.
The Ministry of Social Development has said they should enhance intake decisions, support rather than replace professional judgement and first be tested in a simulated setting. A Statistics New Zealand peer review echoed that point: a model should trigger closer assessment, not automatic intervention.
Steps to move from research to practice have nonetheless proved contentious.
A proposed 2015 observational study – which would have assigned risk scores to newborns and tracked outcomes – was ultimately halted amid concerns about privacy, bias and the role of the state.
While these concerns have not disappeared, neither has pressure on the system. Oranga Tamariki received more than 55,000 reports of concern in the second half of 2024 – a sharp increase on the previous year.
Recent internal surveys of the agency’s frontline staff meanwhile highlight how cases are becoming more complex and that decisions are being made under uncertain conditions.
Predictive modelling tools, however, are still not used by those workers. To date, testing of the technology has been carefully limited to historical, anonymised data – and carried out alongside extensive ethical, privacy and Māori-led reviews.
Promise and pitfalls
Where predictive modelling has been piloted in the United States, post evaluations have suggested it can help if used carefully.
In Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County, for instance, one pilot programme resulted in fewer children being removed from their homes. In another in Los Angeles, cases where children suffered life-threatening harm was observed to fall by 23%.
This suggests that models can add more precision to interventions. But it hasn’t always been the case.
Authorities in Illinois abandoned one system after it produced too many alerts. It was also criticised for missing cases that resulted in tragedy, despite the children already known to child welfare agencies.
This demonstrated that if a model overwhelms workers with data it can simply add clutter instead of reducing harm.
Another risk facing frontline workers is what are called “false negatives”, such as missed cases, and “false positives”, such as wrongful accusations.
The former can mean a child remains unsafe. The latter can mean a child is removed unnecessarily, with serious and lasting consequences.
This challenges the logic of workers “erring on the side of caution” in their decision-making.
If caution means reflexive removal, it can create a different form of damage. Here, the case for predictive analytics is arguably strong.
Should ‘do nothing’ stay an option?
In New Zealand, there are obvious sociological factors that make this issue more complex. One is the risk that existing patterns of inequality are reproduced, because Māori are disproportionately represented in child protection pathways.
That pattern is not unique to Aotearoa: in Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are around 11 times as likely as non-Indigenous children to be in out-of-home care. That is why Indigenous data sovereignty cannot be an afterthought in any moves to use predictive modelling.
Nor is it enough to simply say a model is “evidence-based”. Agencies need to be clear about what data is being used, what it is trying to optimise, how decisions can be overridden, how bias is monitored and who can challenge it.
It may seem safer to reject these tools on perceived moral grounds. Often, it is simply the more familiar choice.
But doing so does not create a neutral system – it means relying on inconsistent judgements made under pressure, with uneven information and little ability to test whether decisions are improving.
Predictive analytics will not fix deeper system failures. But, if carefully governed, it can help prioritise urgency, target support and make decisions more transparent and informed.
A milk spill on SH73 near Parapet Rock, between Lake Pearson and Castle Hill, means that road users are being asked to stop on demand.Supplied / NZTA
Motorists are being warned that a milk spill is affecting traffic on State Highway 73 in Canterbury.
It comes after an oil spill closed Porters Pass for several hours on Monday morning after a vehicle towing a fuel tank became stuck on the one-lane Porter River Bridge.
Police said there were no reports of injuries.
Fire and Emergency NZ sent crews from Springfield and Sheffield, who assisted with road control.
State Highway 73 has reopened after a vehicle blockage and minor fuel spill this morning.Supplied / NZTA
Waka Kotahi NZ said the milk spill occurred near Parapet Rock, between Lake Pearson and Castle Hill.
Motorists are being asked to stop on demand and should prepare for delays.
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Explainer – With the Iran war leaving supply chains choked off, pain at the pump is rising, but you still need to drive. How can you get the most out of your tank? Here’s some options.
“Nobody has a clue about future petrol, diesel and aviation fuel supplies and their costs,” Massey University Emeritus Professor in Climate Mitigation and Sustainable Energy Ralph Sims said.
There are plenty of other options – public transport, biking or walking if you can, pivoting to electric vehicles – but not everyone can easily take up those alternatives.
If you’re looking to ‘fuelmaxx’ your efficiency, here is more of what experts suggest:
Petrol has risen to more than $3 per litre.Nick Monro / RNZ
Combine your errands
NZTA estimates that short trips use 20 percent more fuel when your engine is cold.
So if you can manage to tie together things like school runs with the grocery shop and a run to the chemist, you can save your overall petrol consumption, AA fuel spokesperson and former general manager of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority Terry Collins told RNZ’s Afternoons.
“Do it all in one trip when the car’s warm – save the fuel, tick off all those little jobs, instead of making them independent trips every time.”
Steady on the acceleration, mate
Sims said that the majority of drivers can save up to 20 percent of fuel use with a few simple changes.
“Most people don’t understand how to drive a car efficiently,” he told RNZ recently.
“I see people accelerate to a red light and then brake heavily, and if you’re running on low tyre pressures, it consumes much more fuel.”
Collins said a lot of it boils down to how you’re driving.
“When we hop in a car what we really want is momentum – movement. So what we do is we use the fuel to gather momentum, but I see every day people wasting that momentum by braking unnecessarily.
“They’re not anticipating the traffic in rush hour, so they’re driving up behind the next car and putting the brakes on. If they could look ahead a number of cars and see that everybody already had their brakes on, they could just drift up behind the other car very slowly and brake.
“Every time you put your foot on the brake, you have lost that momentum for the fuel that you’ve paid for. So think that every time I put my foot on the brake, I’m spending money.”
It’s worth watching your speed on highways, too – Sims said that typically a car at 110km/h uses 10 percent more fuel per kilometre than when travelling at 90 km/h due to greater air friction.
Once upon a time, manual or stick shifts were typically more fuel efficient than automatic transmission vehicles, but thanks to improved technology that’s changing and modern automatics are often as good or slightly better than manuals.
The more you carry, the more you use
Carrying heavy loads will obviously slow your car down, but there are also smaller drags to be aware of.
Modern cars are carefully designed and put through wind tunnels to get the most aerodynamic shape possible, Collins said.
Even leaving roof racks on your car that you never use can add to the drag.
“The moment you put those roof racks on you’re disturbing all that air flow.
“People think ah, they’re OK, but you’d be surprised how much that aerodynamic change affects your fuel consumption.”
New tyres or keeping your old ones properly inflated makes a difference.From Tyrewise.co.nz
Keep up your maintenance
Don’t just think about car services as a way to get your next Warrant of Fitness ticked off. Regular care for your vehicle’s systems can save you money in the long run.
“One of the things we often overlook is just the simple thing of checking your tyres,” Collins said.
Under-inflated tyres can add 10 to 12 percent to your fuel bill, he said.
“You’re just adding drag. … It’s working harder to get that momentum I was talking about earlier.”
Your tyre’s correct pressure should be listed on the vehicle label inside the door or in the handbook. It’s best to check the pressure when the tyres are cold to see how yours are looking.
A dirty air filter or fuel filter can also compromise your efficiency, while old and worn spark plugs may mean you’re not getting enough ignition.
“Just that simple servicing on a regular basis to make sure those jobs are done are going to save you in the vicinity of 10 to 20 percent of your fuel bill,” Collins said.
Some cars have technology designed to make them more energy efficient.RNZ / Nicky Park
To A/C, or not to A/C?
This is one of the great existential questions of driving – is it better to wind down your windows or pump up the air con? Studies have had conflicting results and ultimately it’s better to be flexible.
“While it’s more fuel efficient to have it on at 100km/h than it is to have the windows down creating drag, the air con can use around 10 percent more fuel,” the AA’s website states. “You may need to find that balance of comfort and economy.”
A lot may depend on how old your car is and how well maintained the engine and air con systems are.
It’s best to mix and match if you can – windows down and air con off when you’re at town speeds and windows up and air con on if you’re on the motorway.
In general any other unnecessary widgets on your car may also be creating a drag – such as leaving your rear window defroster on long after it’s done the job, or those heated seats when there’s no need to.
Use the technology if you’ve got it
Many newer vehicles are equipped with Auto Stop-Start systems which automatically shut off the engine when a vehicle is in congestion or at traffic lights. As soon as you take your foot off the brake, the engine restarts without delay, Ford NZ explains on its website.
“Your climate control fan, audio system, and headlamps still work while your engine is off for your comfort,” Ford noted.
Collins said some people turn off these features on their vehicles, but it’s counterproductive if you want to save money.
“Some people find that annoying – it’s there for a reason. It’s because those cars have to meet energy efficiency standards. … So every time you turn (that feature) off, you’re actually defeating the purpose of saving fuel.”
Collins said he often commutes over a hill, and said there’s many tricks you can use to avoid consuming excess fuel. Gravity can help to be your brake when going up a hill, and going down, other methods can help keep your foot off the accelerator – such as using those other driving modes you may often ignore on the gear shift.
“I have an automatic but I put it in sports mode, which holds it in gear longer. That acts as an engine brake, so I don’t really need to brake on a lot of the corners. I just go through them smoothly, not touching, and my fuel consumption’s on zero.”
Avoiding rush hour can cut back your fuel use.123RF
And if you can, avoid rush hour
Sitting idling in traffic will waste significant fuel, so – if your job allows it – consider off-peak travel to avoid those long queues, or working from home certain days a week if your employer permits.
Sims said that many of these steps are easy, but changing habits is harder.
“It’s all pretty basic and the science is well understood for cars, trucks, and buses. But to change human behaviour is always the challenge.”
He called for the government to step up fuel conservation messaging.
“What the government needs to do urgently is to run a national education campaign (similar to what was accomplished during Covid times using all media opportunities) to inform drivers how they can save both fuel and money.”
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Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele has doubled down on his decision not to convene Parliament as he hangs on to power leading a minority government, following mass defections from his Government of National Unity and Transformation (GNUT).
Those who have jumped ship have joined the opposition group, which now claims to have 28 MPs on its side. This means Manele has been left with just 22 MPs in his camp.
The Solomon Islands opposition group claims to have 28 MPs on its side. Image: FB/Peter Kenilorea/RNZ
“I will call our Parliament as and when it is appropriate,” Manele told local reporters during a news conference on Sunday.
He said “the assumption” that his government does not have the numbers “is political and not constitutional”.
“Government decisions are not made based on speculation, on pressure, but on lawful processes and the national interest,” he said.
Manele also downplayed the move by the opposition and “those outside Parliament” petitioning the country’s Governor-General to convene Parliament and to consider a motion of no confidence against him.
‘A matter of political choice’ He branded the decision of those MPs who resigned from his coalition as “a matter of personal and political choice”.
“Your government remains in office under the Constitution and continues to discharge its full responsibilities,” he said.
“What we are witnessing is not a constitutional crisis. It is a normal democratic process provided for under our Constitution; leadership may change within certain portfolios, but the machinery of government does not falter.”
Public services continue, national operations remain stable and uninterrupted, he added.
Manele has been in power less than two years and has already faced two leadership challenges.
He said the confidence in a Prime Minister is tested and determined only through a motion of no confidence on the floor of Parliament.
“This means that unless and until Parliament meets and decides on such a motion, the elected prime minister remains duly in office. I reiterate that Parliament will be convened in accordance with the Constitution and the proper process will take its course.”
New ministers appointed Addressing concerns about MPs resigning from parliamentary standing committees, Manele said “these committees report to Parliament, not to the prime minister or the executive”.
Manele has also swiftly appointed new ministers to his government, including Manasseh Sogavare as his new deputy.
Sogavare was one of four ministers sworn in last Wednesday and has been handed the National Planning and Development portfolios.
Sogavare, who previously served as prime minister four times, was one of 11 ministers who resigned from government last April but failed to topple Manele.
Meanwhile, Peter Kenilorea Jnr, one of the 28 MPs in the opposition group, said Manele downplaying the situation was “truly disheartening”.
“So for me it’s clear, when a situation arises, like the mass resignation of GNUT MPs and those MPs joining those in the opposition and independents with a [numerical] strength of 28 it shows that the PM has lost the support he needs to be PM,” he said in a social media post.
“[Manele] is now in the minority. The honourable thing to do is either resign or test his support/numbers on the floor of Parliament.”
Another key figure in Manele’s coalition, Peter Shanel Agovaka, who was the Foreign Minister, told RNZ Pacific he left GNUT because he could not “work with some of the ministers” who were “trying to push their own agendas”.
He also confirmed that he had been offered the leadership by the opposition group which would see him become the Prime Minister should there be a change in government.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
The dairy company, majority-owned by China’s Bright Dairy, reported after tax result was $85.4m lower than the same period last year.Supplied/ Synlait
Synlait has described its half-year net loss of $80.6 million as disappointing as it pledges to deliver a pathway to recovery.
The dairy company, majority-owned by China’s Bright Dairy, reported after tax result was $85.4m lower than the same period last year.
Revenue rose just over $32m to $949m but debt soared by 88 percent to just over $472m. Synlait’s forecast base milk price rose from $9.50 to $9.70 taking forecast total milk price to $10.10 per kg/ms.
Chief executive Richard Wyeth said the company faced multiple headwinds – a major one being manufacturing problems as it tried to catch up on its supply of inventory to customers.
“The revised plan meant that we had surplus raw milk, particularly over the peak season,” he told an investor call.
“When we looked through the numbers, it became clear that the only option was to sell that milk through the peak.”
Wyeth said some of the milk sales didn’t go to plan and milk was sent back to its Dunsandel plant, which meant workers had to stop their inventory catch-up and process the extra milk into whole milk powder.
“Whole powder is the only ingredient that could be made at short notice without creating significant down time on the dryers, up to 48 hours to change.”
“To create the perfect storm, whole milk powder prices decreased sharply at the end of 2025 which impacted the returns on that ingredient portfolio.”
He described the season as one of the most frustrating seasons in his 18 years in the industry.
“We faced multiple headwinds, and had very little choice as to how we could deal with them. At each juncture, we carefully costed and analysed the options and even with the benefit of hindsight, there’s very little we would have done differently that would have improved this result,” he says.
Where to from here for Synlait?
The dairy company’s deal to sell North Island operations, including Pokeno manufacturing site, to global healthcare company Abbot for $307m is set to be completed by 1 April, Wyeth said.
“The transaction not only helps Synlait’s balance sheet, it removes a loss-making asset from our financial performance, and will deliver a simpler Synlait.
“From there, our stabilised, simplify and scale strategy provides a solid roadmap to return Synlait to success.”
Wyeth said it’s still working to rebuild customer inventory and expects an insurance claim to help cover some of the losses incurred as a result of manufacturing issues in the 2025 financial year.
The company did not provide guidance for the full year, with company chair George Adams saying there is a lot of work to do.
“Behind our roadmap, sits a real determination to ensure the coming 12 to 24 months will be seen as a period where Synlait under promised and over delivered,” he said.
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Divers from Tauranga iwi Ngāti Ranginui during a freediving course run by Waitā.Supplied/Waitā
With the goals of building marae “bench strength” and improving water safety, King Country iwi Ngāti Maniapoto is launching a freediving course for its descendants.
Sam Mikaere is the group Chief Executive of Te Nehenehenui, the post settlement entity for Ngāti Maniapoto. He said when the iwi reached its settlement in 2022 one of their aspirations was to create courses that uplift whānau who were suffering inequities, in for example housing and education, but also courses focussed on “Maniapoto mātauranga.” https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/480111/ngati-maniapoto-describes-apology-by-the-crown-as-a-fresh-start-for-relations
“We have this huge coastline from Mōkau up to Kāwhia. And if you’ve ever been out on the West Coast, it can be a little tumultuous, the moana at times. And so part of our kaupapa is around our ngāhere, our moana and our awa.
“So in the past, we have run river safety courses with our pakeke and our taitamariki and we’ve also done other things like housing and financials, but one of the other parts that was really important to us, especially, is the piece around safety in our spaces.”
Te Nehenehenui have partnered with Waitā Freediving to provide a training course for ten iwi members at the end of April, with graduates earning their Scuba Schools International (SSI) Freediver certification.
Waitā has previously run courses with Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Ranginui, Tūaropaki, and Rotoiti Trust. The group is made up of three Māori SSI Instructors, Rangi Ririnui, Ra Rātapu and Caleb Ware.
A freediving course run by Waitā with Rotoiti Trust.Supplied/Waitā
Mikaere said gathering kaimoana (seafood) for hui or tangihanga is a key part of the work of many marae and hapū so it was simple to step into providing training for the next tranche of divers.
“It’s all about building your bench strength for your marae and making sure that our whānau within the rohe have the people that can go out. You know, I do hope that they understand that once they get the ticket, we’re telling all of their marae and be like, hey, if you need something, this one’s your boy, he’ll go out or she’ll go out.”
Part of the course will include strengthening the divers role as kaitiaki of the environment through practical and cultural knowledge, he said.
This first course will act as a pilot program, but the iwi hope that once everything is in place it can be run a few more times, he said.
“We always wanted to support our marae. That was the intent when we got into this, is to create the skill sets on the ground so that we can strengthen our base and hopefully this will be something that our participants go through and then they can share that with their whānau and we can run it again and continue to fill these courses because it’s an integral one that is important to those that live within the marae area or those that come down from outside of the rohe back to their marae to be able to contribute.
“It’s something to be said about supporting your marae through your mahi on the ground and we just look forward to this, unlocking that potential for our whānau back in Maniapoto. Not that they haven’t got divers already, but you can never have too many in there.”
Divers at Tapuaekura Marae on the edge of Lake Rotoiti during freediving course run by Waitā with Rotoiti Trust.Supplied/Waitā
The course will also have a heavy focus on water safety. Mikaere said given the region is known for its rough conditions building diver confidence is key.
“A lot of our people are naturally swimmers. You know, we all grew up doing manus off the local wharf or wherever we come from, so we could all swim. But when you’re diving, you know, you really need to have your wits about you and make sure that you understand the way the water works. So there’s an absolute commitment here to improve mindfulness and focus in the water, to ensure that we’re building confidence in their swimming capabilities and in making sure there’s safe dive conditions, they understand what’s a safe condition to dive in.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
The council’s chief executive Lynda Keene said while it was not good news, it was a relief that the impact was not being felt during a peak season.123RF
Tourism operators are being hit with international visitor cancellations due to flight disruptions as the Middle East war continues, an industry survey shows.
The Tourism Export Council’s “rapid snapshot survey” of tourism operators found 77 percent of about 70 respondents had visitors from the United Kingdom and Europe cancel travel during March and April 2026.
Many said the cancellations were linked directly to airline flight cancellations, route disruptions or reduced availability on flights transiting Middle East hubs.
Visitors from outside the UK and Europe didn’t appear to be affected, it said.
The council’s chief executive Lynda Keene said while it was not good news, it was a relief that the impact was only being felt at the tail end of the international tourism season, which runs October to March.
“If this had happened in October or November, members would be feeling very, very concerned about how they might get through the summer,” she said.
“We’ve only lost three weeks, really, of the season.”
Bookings for next season were largely unaffected, but concern would grow if travel disruption in places like Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi continued, said Keene.
However the country could also benefit since it’s seen as a safe travel destination, she said.
“There may be visitors, maybe from US or Canada or other countries that might see New Zealand as a safer haven.
“There’s always some form of opportunity that crops up when travellers still wish to travel, they still have the disposal income to travel, and they want to look for alternative destinations.”
It was important that New Zealand continued to welcome international visitors, she said.
“Strong communication with offshore trade partners will be key to ensuring the destination remains front of mind for travellers looking to adjust their travel plans,” she said.
The survey covered providers of accommodation, attractions, transport and guided tour experiences.
West Coast suffering
Development West Coast Chief Executive Heath Milne told Morning Report the region’s tourism industry had been growing before now.
“We have seen already international visitors are dropping, and looking at cancellations going forward,” he said.
“I don’t think that’s just about fuel prices, I think that’s about confidence in … geopolitics and what’s going on around the world.”
Diesel is more expensive to make than petrol but the impact of fuel excise tax usually conceals this.RNZ / Quin Tauetau
Diesel is now only about 20c a litre cheaper than 91 – even though 70c of the price of a litre of petrol is tax.
Data from petrol price monitoring app Gaspy showed that across the country, the national average reported price for 91 was $3.31 a litre, and for diesel it was $3.13. For 95, it has reached $3.51.
91’s price is up 37.67 percent over 28 days, while diesel’s is up 81.75 percent.
Gaspy spokesperson Mike Newton said diesel would normally be expected to be 70c cheaper than 91 because of the petrol tax, but it was only 20c. “The diesel drivers are definitely getting it worse because they’ve still got to pay their road user charges.”
Diesel is more expensive to make than petrol but the impact of fuel excise tax usually conceals this.
Billy Clemens, head of policy and advocacy at Transporting New Zealand, said diesel was usually the second-largest cost for its member businesses, after wages.
“It’s a cost that sits typically around 15 percent to 20 percent of overall costs…. And road freight’s pretty famously a pretty low margin game. So our members are in a position whether they can either pass those costs on or end up in a really difficult position with their business viability.”
He said about half the organisation’s members were likely to be using a fuel adjustment factor.
“That’s a surcharge, essentially. You might have a base freight rate, but you add on a certain surcharge based on how much the diesel price has increased over a set figure. If you’re a freight customer you might be seeing that in freight invoices coming through. That’s a sizeable cost on businesses right across the country, whether you’re in retail or construction or logging… there’ll be a real flow-on impact.”
Clemens said shortages were not widespread and seemed to be driven by demand patterns.
He said transport was about 15 percent to 25 percent of costs for businesses in the loggin industry, and up to 12 percent in grocery.
Simplicity chief economist Shamubeel Eaqub said his concern was more about the volume of diesel. Runing out of petrol could be annoying on an individual level but running out of diesel could have much larger consequences, he said.
Gaspy data shows that the cheapest 91 petrol is at Orams Marine Village – which caters to boats rather than cars, and where fuel is $2.96 a litre. Pukekohe Pak’n Save was next, at $3.08.
Newton said some of the factors that normally drove differentiation in pricing aroudn the country were not as relevant at present.
Previously, local competition had often driven certain regions to be cheaper than others. “It’s hard to know if tha still applies in the current environment because there are not a lot of discount days going on at the moment,” he said.
“In the past when you’ve got discount retailers operating in an area, they tend to drag the price for the whole area down. Then it comes down to remoteness and population density. Places that are off the beaten track and don’t have a lot of customers are going to have higher prices.”
Auckland’s Waiheke Island, for example, is recording prices near $4 for 91.
Newton said Mangawhai had been an area with cheaper prices recently. It had a new Gull station open about five months ago. “Often when a discount retailer opens up somewhere they have introductory pricing, NPD’s really well known for it. They’ll set really low prices for a f w months and often it just brings the price for the whole area down.”
Steven Alker during the 2026 Cologuard ClassicCHRISTIAN PETERSEN / AFP
New Zealand golfer Steven Alker successfully endured another play-off finish to a golf tournament on the PGA Champions Tour.
Alker again came out on top to defend his title at the Cologuard Classic in Tuscon, Arizona.
He also won the 2025 tournament in a play-off.
Alker and Irishman Padraig Harrington played an extra hole after finishing regulation play tied at 15-under par.
Alker then won with a birdie on the first play-off hole.
After starting the three round event with an even par 71, Alker surged up the leaderboard to fifth after round two and then briefly took the lead in the final round.
It was Alker’s 100th start on the PGA Champions Tour.
“Whenever you defend is nice and to do it in my 100th is nice,” Alker said afterwards.”
“I played great today, Friday I didn’t think I had a chance, but it all worked out.”
This was just his second tournament this year having played the New Zealand Open at the end of February.
Alker, 54, has now won 11 times since joining the over 50 tour.
Harrington is a three-time major championship winner.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Climate crisis concerns shouldn’t overshadow the legacy of nuclear testing in the Pacific, where there are lingering health and sociopolitical insecurities. For example, there are concerns in French Polynesia about the mysterious fate of a former anti-nuclear investigative journalist and editor of the now closed Les Nouvelles de Tahiti newspaper.
Early in 2015, a judge upheld prosecution against three men accused of a kidnapping that led to the death of journalist Jean-Pascal Couraud, known as “JK”, in Tahiti in 1997.
More than a decade earlier, JK’s family lodged an allegation of murder with the police following claims that he had been assassinated by a (now disbanded) local presidential militia. An investigating commission had alleged that three men, Rere Puputauki, Tino Mara and Tutu Manate, had abducted JK and dumped his body at sea.
Twenty two years later, the family are still waiting for justice, and fed up with France’s “investigation”. When the Rainbow Warrior bombing on 10 July 1985 is set against its broader political context in the Pacific, it can be seen that this event was much more than the dramatic, isolated episode against the Greenpeace flagship as portrayed by most New Zealand media.
An “Eyes of Fire” video project in 2015, which included more than 40 student journalists, also demonstrated the importance of a continuing interpretation of these events for the future of Aotearoa New Zealand and its citizens. The students looked back at the past, but were asking questions relevant to the present and future when they interrogated me and my Greenpeace colleagues involved in the Rongelap voyage.
My own baptism in French nuclear arrogance and perfidy was thanks to the late Swedish activist, researcher, and writer Bengt Danielsson, who was awarded the 1991 Right Livelihood Award for “exposing the tragic results… of French colonialism”. He and his wife Marie-Thérèse Danielsson wrote the classic and chilling books Moruroa, Mon Amour and Poisoned Reign.
In 2021, a French investigation team published a book and website that introduced new revelations about the nuclear testing programme and its health and environmental harm inflicted on Tahitians. The book, Toxique: Enquête sur les essais nucléaires français en Polynésie, by Sébastien Philippe and Tomas Statius, and the associated website Moruroa Files, were a forensic analysis of about 2,000 French government documents declassified in 2013.
Consistently lied about the tests According to former Auckland University of Technology scholar Ena Manuireva, who was born in Mangareva (an atoll near the French nuclear testing sites of Moruroa and Fangataufa), these publications confirmed what Tahitian people already knew: “That since 1966, the French government has consistently lied about and concealed the deadly consequences of their nuclear tests, which they now seem to acknowledge, to the health of the populations and their environment.”
Following the third test after French nuclear bombs began in the Pacific, on 7 September 1966, local Tahitian lawmaker John Teariki challenged then French president Charles de Gaulle by saying: “No government has ever had the honesty or the cynical frankness to admit that its nuclear tests might be dangerous. No government has ever hesitated to make other peoples — preferably small, defenseless ones — bear the burden.”
“May you, Mr President, take back your troops, your bombs, and your planes.”
De Gaulle ignored the advice. And it took another 30 years and 190 further tests before France stopped its ruthless nuclear pollution in the Pacific.
France’s Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) was reported in early 2025 to have spent 90,000 euros in a big public relations campaign in a vain attempt to discredit the research in Toxique and the Moruroa Files, according to documents obtained by the investigative outlet Disclose.
The CEA published 5000 copies of its booklet, titled ‘Nuclear tests in French Polynesia: why, how and with what consequences’ and distributed them across Oceania.
The Rainbow Warrior bombing, with the death of photographer Fernando Pereira, was a terrible tragedy. But a greater tragedy remains in the horrendous legacy of Pacific nuclear testing for the people of Rongelap, the Marshall Islands and “French” Polynesia; associated military oppression in Kanaky New Caledonia; and lingering secrecy.
Nuclear powers have failed the Pacific More than eight decades on, the “Pacific” nuclear powers have still failed to take full responsibility for the region and adequately compensate victims and survivors for the injustices of the past.
The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), Melanesian Spearhead Group, other pan-Pacific agencies, and the Australian and New Zealand governments still have much work ahead. New Zealand and the PIF states should have vigorously supported the lawsuits of the Republic of the Marshall Islands in the International Court of Justice and the United States Federal Court last year. This was an opportunity lost.
New Zealand and the PIF states should now require full investigation of nuclear testing in French Polynesia and seek a more robust compensation programme than currently exists. New Zealand and the PIF states also need to take a less ambiguous position on decolonisation in the Pacific, give greater priority to that issue and seek a “re-energising” of the activities of the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation.
This is especially important in relation to “French” Polynesia, Kanaky New Caledonia and the end of the Bougainville transitional political autonomy period with a unilateral declaration of independence slated for 1 September 2027.
Decolonisation is also a critical issue that has a bearing on New Zealand’s relations with Indonesia, particularly over the six Melanesian provinces that make up the region known in the Pacific as “West Papua” and Indonesia’s growing politically motivated role in the region over climate change aid.
A massive new transmigration programme under current President Prabowo Subianto is taking place at the same time as Jakarta’s “ecocidal” deforestation regime intensifies in the Melanesian region with the destruction of millions of hectares of tropical rainforest.
“The wealth of West Papua — gas from Bintuni Bay, copper and gold from the Grasberg mine. Palm oil from Merauke — has been sucked out of our land for six decades, while our people are replaced with Javanese settlers loyal to Jakarta,” says a West Papuan leader, Benny Wenda.
The Grey Lynn Library nuclear justice talk poster for 24 March 2026. Image: Grey Lynn Library
Taking the lead It is critically important that New Zealand and the PIF states take a lead from the Melanesian Spearhead Group — at least those states other than Fiji and Papua New Guinea, which have both been co-opted by Indonesian bribery through economic aid.
They should take a more pro-active stance on West Papuan human rights and socio-political development, with a view to encouraging a process of political self-determination and a new, more credible United Nations supervised vote replacing the 1968 “Act of No Choice”.
With regard to climate change issues, it is essential to address the lack of an officially recognised category for “climate refugee” under international law. It is also important to seek an international framework, convention, protocol and specific guidelines that can provide protection and assistance for people crossing international borders because of climate change.
The existing rights guaranteed refugees — specifically the right to international humanitarian assistance and the right of return — must be extended to “climate refugees” or climate migrants.
This issue should be acted on systematically and with a practical vision by the PIF with the Australian and New Zealand governments. Australia and New Zealand need to respond to Pacific Island States’ (PIS) concerns over climate change and global warming with a greater sense of urgency and resolve.
Regional and country specific climate change plans and policies are needed to deal with large numbers of Pacific refugees or climate-forced migrants, in the event of worsening climate-change scenarios in the future.
This is especially important for New Zealand, as a country with a significant Pacific population (442,632 — 8.9 percent, 2023 NZ Census) with island communities well integrated into the national infrastructure and as a country that is well placed to welcome more Pacific Islanders.
In April 2025, the New Zealand government announced plans to double defence spending as a share of GDP over the next eight years under its long-awaited Defence Capability Plan.
Trump-inspired global arms race However, the priority appeared to be New Zealand joining a new Donald Trump-inspired global arms race while the country faced no threat, at the expense of the climate crisis, nuclear free and Pacific peace-making capacity that have forged the country’s global reputation.
Speculation was also rife about the possibility of New Zealand joining a second tier of the controversial AUKUS security pact between Australia, the UK and the US, which would raise geopolitical tensions with little benefit for the Pacific region.
However, the relocation of the islanders four decades ago has revealed that the legacy of nuclear tests remains unfinished business.
“In the current global turbulence, New Zealand needs to reemphasise the principles and values which drove its nuclear-free legislation and its advocacy for a nuclear-free South Pacific and global nuclear disarmament,” says former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark.
“New Zealanders were clear — we did not want to be defended by nuclear weapons. We wanted our country to be a force for diplomacy and for dialogue, not for warmongering.”
“On the fateful last voyage,” reflects Greenpeace Aotearoa executive director Dr Russel Norman, “the crew of the Rainbow Warrior, look at us in black and white through the lens of time, and lay down the wero — the challenge. 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?’
To Ngāti Kura kaumatua Dover Samuels, the Rainbow Warrior was “probably the biggest battleship that ever traversed the oceans of the world. But she wasn’t armed with guns, she was armed with peace”.
An edited extract from the final chapter of New Zealand journalist Dr David Robie’s recent bookEyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warriormarking the 40th anniversary of the bombing. He sailed with the Greenpeace crew to Rongelap Atoll for the evacuation of the nuclear health-damaged community and remained on board for 11 weeks. This article was first published by Greenpeace Aotearoa.
Chris Wood celebrates scoring his team’s third goal during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest FC and Brighton & Hove Albion FC.Michael Regan/Getty Images
All Whites captain Chris Wood could return to action for Nottingham Forest for the last two months of their English Premier League campaign after recovering from a knee injury.
Wood played for the club’s second team over the weekend and Forest manager Vitor Pereira said the prolific striker would rejoin his squad to train during the looming international window and could be available as soon as their next match, against Aston Villa on 13 April.
“Now we have time with him to start working with the team and to increase his level and his confidence,” Pereira told reporters after Forest’s crucial 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in London on Monday.
“And I think he will be able to help us in the next games.”
The update will delight New Zealand fans, with Wood’s place at the mid-year FIFA World Cup having been under a cloud since undergoing knee surgery in December.
The 34-year-old hasn’t played since injuring his knee during a Premier League match against Chelsea in mid-October, with his absence keenly felt.
Wood’s absence for the All Whites has extended into the looming friendly internationals against Finland and Chile in Auckland.
Forest have been sucked into a relegation battle over the closing weeks although their win over Spurs have given them some respite, lifting them 16th and three points outside the drop zone with seven games to play.
Last year he scored a club-record 20 Premier league goals as they finished seventh and earned a long-awaited return to Europe.
Wood scored via a close-range header early in the match for Nottingham Forest B against Newcastle’s under-21s on Saturday, helping them to a 3-0 win.
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kevin Veale, Senior Lecturer in Media Studies, School of Humanities, Media and Creative Communication, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University
During the first world war, the British government was looking for ways to help people stretch their limited food supplies. It found pamphlets from a noted 19th-century herbalist who said rhubarb leaves could be used as a vegetable along with the stalks.
The government duly printed its own pamphlets advising people to eat rhubarb leaves as a salad rather than throwing them out. There was one problem: rhubarb leaves can be poisonous. People reportedly died or became ill.
The advice was corrected and the pamphlets pulled from circulation. But during the second world war, the government was again looking for ways to stretch food supplies.
It found a stockpile of old resources from the previous war that explained unorthodox sources of food, including rhubarb leaves. Reusing the pamphlets seemed an efficient thing to do, so they were sent out to the public. Once again, people reportedly died or became ill.
Those pamphlets were misinformation, but the public had no reason to suspect them either time. They were official resources developed by the government – why wouldn’t they be safe?
That is how misinformation can cause problems even after the initial error is corrected. And the moral of the story still reverberates in the age of generative artificial intelligence (AI).
Chatbots are not search engines
Generative AI is used to generate text and images (and other forms of data) based on original information it has ingested. But it can also be an engine for churning out misinformation faster than people can produce safe information, let alone fact-check and correct it.
And as the rhubarb story illustrates, corrections can’t always properly remove the original contamination.
AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Claude don’t work like a conventional search engine. But people use them as one because they seem to summarise complex topics quickly and require fewer clicks than conventional internet searches.
Search engines rely on articles and text about a given topic, and then weigh how reliable those articles are. Generative AI instead relies on huge bodies of text, from which it measures the odds of words appearing next to each other.
These “large language models” are purely looking to generate reasonable-looking sentences, rather than accurate ones.
For example, if “green eggs and ham” appeared frequently enough in its huge pile of words, it is more likely to describe “eggs and ham” as green if someone asks.
‘Plausible yet incorrect’
OpenAI, which developed ChatGPT, has admitted (based on its own study) there’s no way to stop false information being presented as truth due to the way generative AI works. Explaining why large language models “hallucinate”, the researchers wrote:
Like students facing hard exam questions, large language models sometimes guess when uncertain, producing plausible yet incorrect statements instead of admitting uncertainty.
This can have real-world consequences. One recent study showed ChatGPT failed to recognise a medical emergency in more than half of cases. This can be exacerbated by already existing errors in medical records, which a UK inquiry in 2025 found affected up to one in four patients.
While a doctor might order more tests to confirm a diagnosis, one researcher explained that generative AI “delivers the wrong answer with the exact same confidence as the right one”.
The problem, as another scientist noted, is that generative AI “finds and mimics patterns of words”. Being right or wrong is not really the point: “It was supposed to make a sentence and it did.”
It’s easy to make fun of generative AI when it advises people to eat rocks or hold toppings on a pizza base with glue.
But other examples aren’t so amusing – such as the supermarket meal planner that suggested a recipe that would produce chlorine gas, or the dietary advice that left someone with chronic toxic exposure to bromide.
Look for older information
Education and establishing good rules around the appropriate and cautious use of generative AI will be essential, especially as it makes inroads into governments, bureaucracies and complex organisations.
One safeguard is to try to source more reliable information produced before AI-contaminated text and imagery infiltrated the internet.
There are even tools available to help simplify that process, including one created by Australian artist Tega Brain “that will only return content created before ChatGPT’s first public release on November 30 2022”.
