Source: Radio New Zealand
Paula Miles has “advanced notice” that her days are numbered.
“I’ve been shoulder tapped and said, ‘hey, you know, look out, this is coming sooner rather than later’.”
Miles was originally diagnosed with breast cancer 14 years ago, aged 56. She had some years cancer free before it returned in her ribs, spine, pelvis, femur and around her skull.
Paula Miles.
Supplied
Source: Radio New Zealand
Stressed, overworked and cloudy-headed, New South Wales farmer Brendan Cullen was feeling “pretty crook” back in 2015. When he started talking out loud to himself, he realised something wasn’t right.
Cullen found the courage to walk into the local hospital and ask for help that day. Eventually – with the help of antidepressants and swimming – he clambered out of long-term depression.
In his memoir The Desert Swimmer, he writes about training for and swimming the English Channel – something only 20 percent of people who attempt it actually achieve – despite living on a farm 600 kilometres from the coast.
Last year, Brendan Cullen swam the 32.5 km Catalina Channel in 13 hours and 3 minutes.
YouTube screenshot
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Source: Radio New Zealand
Ishan Kishan of India celebrates his fifty runs ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Grand Final. www.photosport.nz
Defending champions India have thumped the Black Caps by 96 runs in this morning’s T20 World Cup final in Ahmedabad.
Batting first, the co-hosts posted a big total of 255 for 5 and despite a half-century from opener Tim Seifert, New Zealand couldn’t keep up with the required run rate, eventually all out for 159.
Captain Mitchell Santner scored 43 runs at the back of the innings but it was never going to be enough.
Jasprit Bumrah took four wickets for India who become the first team in history to win back to back men’s T20 World Cup titles. It’s also India’s biggest win in a T20 World Cup match.
Jimmy Neesham was the best of the Black Caps bowlers with three wickets.
India batter Sanju Samson top scored with 89 runs with fellow opener Abhishek Sharma and No.3 Ishan Kishan both scoring half centuries.
The Black Caps beat South Africa to reach the final, with India beating England in the second semi-final.
As it happened:
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Source: Radio New Zealand
It could be easier for people to work out whether it was worth buying insurance if vets were more transparent about their fees, says an insurance expert. File photo. ekarin/123RF
Niki Bezzant says that when her cat was dying of cancer, she was relieved to have taken out pet insurance to help with the vet costs.
“I was able to claim for a lot of her very expensive treatment in the last months of her life.”
But she said she was caught out by a feature of the policy that she had not fully understood.
“The excess on the premium in my case was $1000. This is per condition, per policy period. I assumed this meant – per condition – i.e. the jaw cancer that took Lily – per the period I held the policy, which seems fair enough.
“But no, this actually means per condition, per policy year. As it happened, my policy renewed in January, in the middle of Lily’s illness, and with that, another $1000 excess kicked in. So I ended up $2000 down.”
She said she had complained and been offered a small refund as a goodwill gesture.
All up, she said the vet bills totalled $6649 and she was reimbursed $3501.
“That’s not nothing, I paid about $1300 of premiums over the policy life. I suppose it was worth it to know that I didn’t have to weigh up treating my beloved puss with whether I could afford it or not – I knew I’d be reimbursed for most of it. Vet bills are super expensive and I know I’d have really struggled to cover that $6000 if I had not had the insurance. But there are fishhooks.”
She said on balance she thought it was worth having the insurance, which had been in place for a year. “But you could go either way.”
Consumer NZ insurance expert Rebecca Styles said the clause that caught Bezzant out was used across pet and health insurance.
“Insurance contracts are annual, so in the case of pet insurance, an insurer can alter the condition of cover when renewing it and can even decide not to renew it. We think these aspects should be clearly explained before people buy the product and be clearly communicated in the policy documents.”
She said whether it was worth taking out pet insurance was something owners would need to weigh up for themselves.
“When I looked into the prices a few years ago, the cheapest monthly premium for a six-month-old cat was $27.45 and the most expensive $78. For a 6-month-old puppy, monthly premiums ranged from $55 to $106.
“On top of those premiums, if you make a claim, you’ll need to pay an excess – which could be around 20 percent or a fixed amount of $100 to $200 – and in some cases a co-payment as well between 10 percent and 30 percent.”
She said it was also important to look at exclusions.
“Pet insurance won’t cover everything. It’s not often that routine check-ups and vaccinations are included. And some breeds aren’t covered because of known health conditions.”
She said a study in 2019 found most dog owners spent less than $500 a year at the vet and for cat owners, $200.
“Even allowing for inflation, what you pay in premiums may be more than that.”
Canstar said the average cost across all policies was $821 a year, but this could vary a lot depending on the animal insured. It found just over half of respondents had claimed on their insurance.
Southern Cross paid out $15,000 for a dog with immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia in 2025, and $11,000 for a ragdoll cat with pneumonia.
Styles said there were more brands entering the pet insurance market, such as Mighty Ape.
“However, I do think self-insuring – popping some money away regularly to have access to if the worst happens is a good option.”
She said it could be easier for people to work out whether it was worth buying insurance if vets were more transparent about their fees.
“I know when I take my cat or dog it’s hard to guess how much it will cost.”
Moneyhub founder Christopher Walsh said vet costs could quickly add up because treatment and medication was not funded in the same way as for human healthcare.
He said self-insuring was an option for some pet owners but there was also a large range of different pet insurance policies available.
“There are so many options out there… if you want to consider an accident-only pet insurance because you are worried about a dog or cat being run over, rather than the long-term costs that dogs and cats can pick up, it comes down to pricing and getting quotes for what you can afford.”
He said people who chose to self-insure needed to make sure they really were putting aside enough money to cover eventual vet bills.
Research by Leena Awawdeh, now at Charles Sturt University, said pet insurance offered several advantages, including making people more willing to pay for vet care and a reduced likelihood of pre-surgical euthanasia.
“Insured pet guardians tend to spend more on veterinary services, potentially improving access to care. However, pet insurance has limitations, particularly for owners with limited financial resources who struggle to afford premiums or veterinary costs.
“The uptake of pet insurance remains relatively low, with only a minority of pet owners utilising it. Factors influencing insurance adoption include education about treatment costs and disease risks. While pet insurance can reduce the costs associated with veterinary clinics, its uptake has been slow.”
Southern Cross said it insured about 65,000 pets and last year paid out 78,000 claims worth $30.2 million.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
The spill in Akaroa Harbour. Facebook/Environment Canterbury
A wildlife expert has serious concerns for dolphins and seabirds after a navy ship spilled hundreds of litres of oil into Akaroa Harbour yesterday.
About 200-300 litres of lubricating oil leaked from the HMNZS Te Kaha on Sunday morning, due to a defect to an oil cooler on the ship’s starboard engine.
The defence force said the ship had been in Akaroa Harbour doing a training exercise, and the source of the leak had been found and was no longer leaking.
Otago University professor of zoology Liz Slooten said seabirds could have their feathers covered in oil, causing them to lose their insulation, sink, drown or be unable to catch fish.
She said the risk for marine mammals was breathing in polluted fumes, getting oil in their eyes, or eating contaminated fish.
“There’s a whole bunch of health effects that will follow on from these animals taking in oil, or diesel or other petrochemicals, so it’s a really serious problem.”
She said bottlenose dolphins had been seen to lose teeth after swimming in contaminated waters in the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, when a massive 4.9 million barrels of oil spilled into the sea.
Slooten said it was concerning this was the second spill in the Harbour in the past two months, with more than 2000 litres of marine diesel fuel spilling from the Black Cat Cruises boat on 31 January.
“So now we’ve had two oil spills in a marine mammal sanctuary, and these dolphins are already seriously under threat – mostly from fishing impacts.”
Slooten said more needed to be done to stop spills happening, and when they did, there needed to be an “immediate professional response”, rather than the current inadequate one.
But Canterbury Regional Council coast and harbours manager Guy Harris said teams had successfully cleaned up most of the oil today through absorbent booms.
“We think we probably got about 200 litres – so depending on how much went in there, we’ve either got nearly all of it, or two-thirds of it at the worst.”
“Definitely by the end of today [Sunday] we were doing sweeps and getting nothing at all on the booms.”
It was not a large spill, he said, but the oil was quite “toxic” and “thick” for wildlife. Its thickness made it easier for teams to pick up.
Harris said there had been no reports of oiled wildlife on Sunday, but Ecan would keep observing this week and next.
“Our response systems are great, we’re trained by MPRS, the Marine Protection Response Service – we’re experienced, we get to as many spills as we can.”
The deputy harbourmaster will be out on the water early this morning assessing conditions and deciding on the plan for today.
Wainui Beach had been closed to swimming yesterday by the council, and the council would be assessing whether that was needed today, Harris said.
A defence force spokesperson said the ship’s company has been working with the harbour master since 8 in the morning on Sunday to contain and clean up the slick.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
Happiness House manager Léna Boss suspected the cost of living was reaching a crunch point. SUPPLIED
The proportion of Queenstown Lakes residents facing housing insecurity has doubled in the past year, a new survey shows.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council annual quality of life survey found 10 percent of Queenstown Lakes residents had to spend at least one night with friends or family, or in a car, caravan, tent, poor or overcrowded accommodation, or on the street during the past 12 months.
The situation was even more acute for those aged 18-24 with 17 percent having to rely on friends or family for temporary accommodation, ten percent having to sleep in their car, five percent sleeping in the street and five percent sleeping in a tent.
One person told the council they spent three months on the street with their cat and were declined 65 rentals.
Restaurant worker Mateo De Leon was among those who had struggled with housing in the tourist resort.
He thought he had a place to stay in Queenstown this summer, until his flat split up and the landlord pulled the rental from the market.
His backup plan – a van he moved into with his friend – broke down and the situation became even more desperate.
“Ninety percent of the hostels were fully booked out and the ones that weren’t charged like $300 per night. It was absurd. So it was definitely not an option,” De Leon said.
“We decided, the first night, to try to sleep at the restaurant we were working at but that didn’t really work out. So we ended up not sleeping that night.”
De Leon eventually went to Facebook to find urgent accommodation and ended up sleeping in a stranger’s van.
He had since left Queenstown, partly because of the high cost of living.
The previous quality of life survey found only five percent of respondents reported experiencing housing insecurity or homelessness.
Mayor John Glover said it was worrying to see housing insecurity in an otherwise “busy, thriving, prosperous district”.
“It tells me that there are some people who are doing it really hard. The levels have been varying from year to year, but I think we need to be really watchful for any emerging trends,” he said.
He suspected cost of living was a factor but he cautioned against reading too much into the numbers.
The last time 10 percent of the district reported experiencing housing insecurity or homelessness was in 2023, when there were widespread stories of accommodation shortages that prompted some workers to stage a lakeside protest.
“I’m not sensing the same chronic, absolute urgent shortage of accommodation that we had a couple of years ago when, you heard horrific stories of people having to literally, rush somewhere seconds after a listing was [put up],” Glover said.
Coalition to End Women’s Homelessness project director Victoria Crockford said she was not surprised by the reported increase in housing insecurity.
Many people were struggling to find a place to call home, Crockford said.
“I think it’s probably a symptom of an increase in cost of living pressures but also symptomatic of the fact that whilst we have an absolutely stellar record on getting houses consented in this district – and the council has done a very effective job at that – what our record is less golden on is the ability to provide the types of affordable housing that are needed across all segments of the population living here,” she said.
The private rental market was not successfully providing homes for workers and families across many income brackets, she said.
“I genuinely believe that the big gap that we’ve got is that we have failed to plan for workers’ accommodation – good quality workers’ accommodation targeted at the people who come here initially for the short term but often end up staying and actually propel our core industries and keep this town humming.”
Glover said housing affordability was a persistent challenge for the district and the council was hoping to grow the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust’s affordable rental and home ownership schemes.
“Clearly if you’re in a hospitality job, on or at or just above minimum wage, there’s some significant challenges to working out an existence here,” he said.
Crockford said women in Queenstown historically experienced higher rates of housing insecurity than men.
Homelessness and housing insecurity was often not visible on the streets, she said.
“I think that in some ways, because it is hidden, it is even more dangerous. And by dangerous, I mean it’s dangerous because we don’t think it exists and therefore we don’t have any sort of formal response to it,” Crockford said.
Happiness House manager Léna Boss said she had noticed a lot of solo parents seeking food support at the Queenstown community support centre recently.
She suspected the cost of living was reaching a crunch point.
People were often surprised to learn Queenstown had no emergency accommodation, Boss said.
Workers needed to know the true cost of living in the district before moving to the area, she said.
“It’s very hard to be able to afford a place in Queenstown, even if you’re a family. Rents are outrageous … we’re talking about a two-bedroom for $900,” she said.
“Queenstown looks so pretty on the map. It’s touristic, it’s vibrant, there’s this community that looks so amazing and all these things happening. And there’s a lot of work. But the problem is do people do their research before they come to actually find out is there not only work but can they live here? Can they afford to live here? And this is a very big challenge.”
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Source: Radio New Zealand
RNZ
Five years after Who’s Eating NZ, this series revisits where our food goes, but this time through the lens of Kiwi breakfast, lunch and dinner staples. We track how much of what we produce is eaten here, and who has a seat at our global table during meal times. First, let’s tuck into some brekkie.
For many Kiwis, it’s an essential start to the day, but if you think of our dairy produce as a single flat white, New Zealanders get one small swig and the rest is drunk overseas.
There are 4.7 million dairy cows grazing 1.7m hectares of dairying farmland, yet only 235,000 are effectively producing milk to moisten our Weet-Bix at home. According to
DairyNZ estimates we produce enough milk for 90 million people to have 2.5 servings of dairy each day.
This is a boon for our export earnings – and it’s growing. A whopping 95 percent of the dairy we produce is exported, earning billions in the process. Dairy exports were worth roughly $24 billion in 2025, a 54 percent increase from the $16b it earned five years earlier.
China has grown to become our biggest buyer of dairy exports. From a mere $13.5m in 1990, it climbed to $8b last year – about a third of the total.
It’s a long way ahead of the next biggest buyer, Indonesia, which spent $1.2bn buying our dairy last year. It’s a promising market for growth – a new school milk programme in the country is slated for 83m children. Saudi Arabia was the third biggest buyer, purchasing $1.1bn of our dairy.
The flipside to the lucrative export trade is that the prices we pay at home for dairy are tied to prices exporters can get offshore. When international butter rose last year, Kiwis saw the price on local supermarket shelves reach sky-high levels.
In June, shoppers were paying $8.60 for the cheapest 500g block, according to Stats NZ. That same month, Consumer NZ shared a photo of a 500g tub of semi-soft butter priced at $18.29, prompting a flood of frustrated comments. “We make the butter here (WHY IS IT SO EXPENSIVE),” one person wrote. “Apparently NZ doesn’t make butter,” another said, adding they were being sarcastic.
Butter brought in $800m of export earnings, up from $332m in 2020, a 143 percent increase. The United States was the biggest buyer of butter in 2025. Walmart, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, and Costco all sell New Zealand butter, marketing it as grass-fed and richly coloured.
A smear of honey on toast is a sweet treat for many Kiwis, but behind the sticky spread is an industry that has seen booms, busts and stockpiles.
A mānuka honey goldrush spurred on by jars selling for thousands of dollars offshore saw a proliferation of beehives. Some beekeepers say it led to too many bees and too much honey.
Unlike other products, honey can be stored indefinitely. Apiculture New Zealand said between 2018 and 2022 we produced twice as much honey as we were exporting, and a stockpile was created.
When RNZ looked at food exports in 2020, less than 40 percent of honey made its way offshore. Now that figure has climbed to 72 percent, leaving 28 percent for local tables.
Now the number of registered beehives has plummeted from 900,000 to 500,000 and the stockpile is being consumed.
Our export market has shifted. In 2020 China was our biggest buyer, spending $95m, however since 2021 top spot has swung to the US. By 2025, China’s spending dropped to $58m, putting them behind the UK and in third place.
Bad weather has affected 2026 honey harvests.
Fancy a few spoonfuls of zingy kiwifruit for brekkie? While locals enjoy a taste, 95 percent of the fruit is whisked off around the world.
Despite their moniker, kiwifruit aren’t native to New Zealand. They’re originally from China, with seeds arriving in New Zealand in 1904.
For decades they were known as Chinese gooseberries until exporters Turners & Growers renamed them as kiwifruit in 1959, a move Time magazine called “a stroke of marketing genius” and described as effectively hijacking the fruit. The stroke of marketing genius and tightly controlled export rules controlled by legislation has paid off.
New Zealand is the world’s biggest kiwifruit exporter and leads the way with new varieties, which are fiercely protected. In 2025, a Chinese grower was ordered by local courts to rip out 260 hectares of yellow SunGold kiwifruit grown without a license and pay Zespri compensation of $1.8m.
Looking at export numbers it’s clear why Zespri fought so hard to stop its intellectual property being hijacked. In the 2024/2025 financial year, gold kiwifruit was the top seller. According to Zespri’s annual report, 121.8 million trays of SunGold kiwifruit were sold compared to 58.4m trays of green kiwifruit. The new RubyRed variety sold 1.5m trays to 13 different markets.
In the past five years export earnings from kiwifruit have increased 66 percent to $4.5bn, with green, gold and red varieties all contributing. Since 1991, we’ve earned around $37bn from the furry fruit. During this time, the top buyer of kiwifruit shuffled between Europe and China. Japan, South Korea and the US were also large buyers.
At home, prices are seasonal, peaking in the summer and falling during winter. In July last year, StatsNZ reported a 1kg bag cost $3.72.
Stay tuned for Wednesday’s story, where we take a look at who we’re sharing our lunch with and dive into avocado, seafood, apple and water exports.
Where the data came from:
Dairy: Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand and StatsNZ trade data items with a harmonised system description containing “Dairy produce”
Honey: Apiculture NZ and StatsNZ trade data items with a harmonised system description containing “Honey”.
Kiwifruit: Zespri and StatsNZ trade data items with a harmonised system description containing “Fruit, edible; kiwifruit”
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Source: Radio New Zealand
The bank’s cash fund returned 2.8 percent a year over the past 10 years, compared to 4.2 percent for its conservative fund. File photo. 123RF
A woman who did not realise that her KiwiSaver was mistakenly in a cash fund for more than a decade is taking her complaint to the Banking Ombudsman.
Amanda Pringle said she was contacted by her bank, Westpac, in 2014, after she received $17,000 in back payments she was owed in child support.
She went to an appointment with her bank and was signed up to KiwiSaver for the first time.
It was only this year when a friend suggested she look at switching her KiwiSaver that she found she was in a cash fund, with a total balance of about $50,000, despite increasing her contributions to 6 percent of her income.
Morningstar data shows Westpac’s cash fund has returned 2.8 percent a year over the past 10 years, compared to 4.2 percent for its conservative fund, which Pringle thought she was in.
If she had not made a choice and had joined KiwiSaver the next time she changed jobs, she would have been placed in a default fund.
Westpac’s default fund has returned 10.9 percent a year over three years.
Pringle said the staff member who enrolled her in KiwiSaver did not explain how different funds might perform. “I trusted that she had my best interests at heart – I also had minimal life insurance and she upped that, and sort of talked about you know, you’ve got two children it’s important to do that.
“I didn’t really understand the terminology that well because I do struggle to process things along those lines, with a car accident I had when I was 16.
“I haven’t had anyone helping me to understand the terminology financially and I thought they would have my best interests at heart.”
She said even if she was given information noting she was in a cash fund, she would not have known what that meant. “I just thought our verbal discussion was enough to know that she had my best interests at heart and I was signing there because I felt like she was basically trying to help me out.”
When she was able to, she increased her contribution rom 3 percent of her pay to 6 percent, thinking it was the right thing for her retirement. “I was doing what I could and I did receive letters but to be honest I wouldn’t have understood how it worked.”
When she understood what happened, she said, she was “absolutely gutted”.
“I’ve just started online banking in the last few years when I got a new phone and so I didn’t really know, [a friend] said to go in and have a look and see because he thought that it was strange that I had worked so long and not made a lot of interest on it and he said oh my god you’re in a cash fund. I wouldn’t have known what it meant but I felt really annoyed because they had rung me out of the blue to come in and see them.. they’ve done me no favours whatsoever, it’s cost me big money.”
She said if she had been left to default in, she would have been much better off. “I just felt really, really upset.”
Westpac said it would not uphold her complaint.
It said it had looked at how KiwiSaver accounts were set up for Pringle in 2014.
It said when staff helped customers join KiwiSaver their role was to explain how it worked and provide the relevant information and paperwork. “They are there to help customers understand their options however they cannot choose a KiwiSaver fund or tell a customer which fund to select as this is formal financial advice.”
The bank said a recommendation could only be given if a customer chose to receive formal financial advice.
“Where formal financial advice is not being provided the choice of KiwiSaver fund is made by the customer and recorded on the application form. Customers can also review and change their KiwiSaver fund at any time after their account has been set up.
“Regular KiwiSaver statements were sent to you over the years which clearly showed that your savings were invested in the cash fund. The statements also include contact details and explained that you could get in touch with us if you had any questions or needed help reviewing the information.”
It said it had not identified a bank error in how the account was set up or managed.
Pringle said she felt that even if the bank had acted according to its rules, someone should have contacted her about the decision and explained the potential impact.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
“The trend is not good” for the Prime Minister, says Liam Hehir. RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Last week was “disastrous” and a “last straw scenario” for the prime minister, says a former National Party chief press secretary, while another political commentator says National MPs will be considering whether now is the right time for a leadership tilt.
Janet Wilson was chief press secretary for both Todd Muller and Judith Collins and says a recent poll that put National in the 20s was not a “nail in the coffin” for Christopher Luxon.
But she says it encapsulates people’s view of him and the state of play for the National Party as a whole.
Liam Hehir says Luxon’s performance last week when it came to foreign policy did not matter as much as the poll, which reflects a broader trend for him, and “the trend is not good”.
Hehir says first term prime ministers normally get a free run in their first re-election bid, and Luxon is in a “very unusual position for a first term Prime Minister, coming under immense pressure”.
Luxon batted away questions last week about stepping down as party leader following the latest Taxpayers’ Union Curia poll that had National on 28.4 – down nearly 3 points from its poll last month.
Labour was up slightly on 34.4, while the Greens, ACT, and Te Pāti Maori were all up on 10.5, 7.5, and 3.2 respectively.
Luxon told Newstalk ZB on Friday evening none of his Cabinet colleagues had told him to reconsider his future, saying “all of them” back him.
He said he was “absolutely not” considering standing down and said he had the skills to lead the National Party and the country.
Luxon will make his regular media appearances on Monday morning, including on RNZ’s Morning Report, ahead of another week at Parliament that will see the National Party caucus get together on Tuesday for the first time since Friday’s horror poll.
Wilson told RNZ she thought Luxon had lost his messaging and status, “and I think he’s lost his imprimatur at this moment to be a leader”.
She said there were three likely scenarios that could play out this week, the first being what seemed to be occurring now – that Luxon had “dug in,” he would maintain business-as-usual and say he wasn’t going anywhere.
The second scenario was that his senior leadership team had asked him to consider his future, but he says he’s not going anywhere, “it’s a bit like scenario one: status quo is maintained.”
The third scenario, she said, was if Luxon told the senior leadership he wasn’t going anywhere, but the senior leadership team then decided it’s time for change.
She concluded the most likely probability was scenario one, “he is going to dig in and say, it’s only one poll – journalists, the commentariat, have gone mad.”
Hehir told RNZ every single MP in the National Party saw themselves as a potential leader.
“Whenever anyone’s under pressure, whenever the actual leader is under pressure, they will be wondering to themselves whether or not it’s the right time.
“You’d have to be crazy not to assume that in the wake of a series of pretty bad polls, that the ambitious people in the party aren’t considering their options.”
Wilson explained the effect on a caucus when polling was low was “severe,” that it was “horrific, actually”.
“What happens is MPs start doing the numbers, and they start looking at the likelihood of what their chances are for the upcoming election, and whether, in fact, their skin is going to be saved in the midst of the mayhem of what’s going on,” Wilson said.
She got a sense that was occurring right now.
“I think the more that the leader says, ‘there’s nothing to see here, it’s all fine’, the more it exacerbates the problem for those in the back bench.”
Wilson pointed out it was to Luxon’s advantage that a lot of his caucus were newer MPs, “the strategic art of politics is yet to occur to most of them”, though not all of them, she said.
She also referred to the previous political term, where National went through a succession of leaders, and the memory of that time had “frozen” the senior leadership.
“They’ve all been there before, so why would they want to go back to that necessarily?
“They’re aware of the risks. They’re not necessarily thinking about the rewards.”
If there was going to be a leadership challenge, Wilson said it would need to be “quick” and “clean”, and Luxon would need to “sit back.”
Hehir was skeptical about changing a leader in election year.
“It’s a bad idea to change leaders unless you’re absolutely certain that the new leader is going to keep all the votes you currently got and add additional votes.
“It’s the only way that it’s worth the instability, the permutations of a leadership change.”
The complications and difficulties being considered would be the pairing of a new leader and deputy leader, said Hehir.
With the National Party, he said, whenever the leadership is being considered, “you’re not just looking at the ideological factions, but you’re also going to look at the personalities involved.”
“If there was to be a leadership change, it would probably be a disaster unless everything lined up. And I’m just not sure that it does.
“The history of leadership changes in the National Party when they haven’t been managed, has not been good. Very rarely has it resulted in an election win or a changing of a course correction in terms of the overall trajectory.”
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REVIEW: Asia Pacific Report
West Papuan diaspora, academics, students and community activists warmly applauded the screening of the new investigative documentary, Pesta Badi (Pig Feast): Colonialism in our Time, in its pre-launch international premiere in New Zealand last night.
It was shown for the first time back in West Papua at the southeastern town of Merauke, which is centred in the vast denuded rainforest area featured in the film, and also in the capital Jayapura on Friday.
Dramatic footage of scenes of village resisters against the massive destruction of rainforest in one of the three largest “lungs of the world”, shipping of barge-loads of heavy machinery, vast swathes of forest scoured out for rice and palm oil plantations, and of a traditional “pig feast” — the first in a decade — gripped the audience from the opening minute.
This is the largest forest conversion project in modern history — turning 2.5 million ha of tropical forest into industrial plantations under the guise of “food security” and the “energy transition”.
“It is a powerful film, rich with data and stories drawn from the lived experiences of masyarakat adat [Indigenous people],” comments Dr Veronika Kanem, a New Zealand-based Papuan academic and researcher, who was at the premiere with a group of her students.
“The film is also grounded in research conducted by Yayasan Pusaka, along with other national and local organisations.” She is pleased that her home village Muyu is featured in the film.
The audience was also treated to Q&A session with the film director, Dandhy Dwi Laksono and producer Victor Mambor, an award-winning investigative journalist and founder of Jubi Media, who first visited New Zealand 12 years ago.
Documented collusion
Investigative filmmaker Laksono gained a reputation for his 2019 documentary Sexy Killers, released just before the Indonesian general election year and documented the collusion between the political establishment and the destructive coal mining industry.
He was arrested later that year over tweets he posted about state violence in Papua.
Laksono and Mambor, along with co-director Cipri Dale, make up a formidable investigative team.
The storytelling focuses on the experiences of five Papuans and their communities:
Yasinta Moiwend was startled when, on a quiet morning, a massive ship docked at her village pier. The vessel carried hundreds of excavators and was escorted by military forces.
It was the first convoy of 2000 heavy machines to arrive in Papua under a National Strategic Project for food production, palm-based biodiesel, and sugarcane bioethanol.
Yasinta, a Marind Anim woman in Merauke, never realised that her village had been chosen as the ground zero for what would become the largest forest conversion project in modern history.
Vincen Kwipalo, from the Yei community, was likewise shocked when his clan’s land was suddenly marked with a sign reading: “Property of the Indonesian Army.” Only later did he learn that the land had been seized for the construction of a military battalion headquarters, at the very moment when a sugarcane plantation company was also encroaching on his ancestral forest.
Red Cross Movement
Threatened by the same project, Franky Woro and the Awyu community in Boven Digoel erected giant crosses and indigenous ritual markers on their land.
Known as the Red Cross Movement, this form of resistance has spread among Indigenous groups across South Papua.
More than 1800 red crosses have been planted to confront corporations and the military—both physically and spiritually. Though a Christian symbol is central to the movement, local Church pastors condemned it as not part of the church.
Dr Kanem says the film could have explored why the Awyu and Marind people chose to use the red cross, a symbol strongly associated with Christian values?
“Why did they not use their own cultural attributes or symbols instead?” she adds.
Laksono says: “Pig Feast combines detailed field recordings with in-depth research to examine the power structures behind the operation.
“It exposes how government and corporate entities — collaborating with military and religious groups — advance international and national goals of ‘food security’ and ‘energy transition’ at the expense of Indigenous communities and landscapes.”
Multinational corporations
The documentary illustrates the networks of Indonesian elites, oligarchs, and multinational corporations that benefit from the project, providing a vivid depiction of the political ecology of Indonesian governance in Papua.
Pig Feast reveals how the system of colonialism remains intact today.
Asked at the screening how dangerous was the film making, Mambor described the hardships their small crew faced to “find the truth” under the noses of the Indonesian military.
He said they walked up to 17 km a day at times to get the exclusive footage obtained for the documentary.
International journalists are banned from West Papua and a 2019 resolution by the Pacific Islands Forum calling for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit West Papua to investigate allegations of human rights abuses has been ignored by Jakarta.
The film reveals how 10 companies — all owned by one family — gained the backing of three presidents.
The Jhonlin Group, owned by oligarch Andi Syamsuddin Arsyad (aka Haji Isam), ordered about 2000 excavators from Chinese company SANY, considered one of the largest orders of its kind in the world, to clear one million hectares.
‘Second thoughts’ on Gaza
Q&A moderator Dr David Robie, deputy chair of the Asia Pacific Media Network (APMN), notes the massive military involved in the operations in West Papua — as shown in the film — and how Israel has been counting on Indonesia forming “the backbone” of the planned “International Stabilisation Force” for the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza with about 8000 troops because of its experience in “suppressing rebellion”.
“However, since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran it seems that Jakarta has now had second thoughts,” he said.
Indonesia has suspended all discussions on the so-called “Board of Peace” initiative launched by US President Donald Trump, citing the military escalation in the Middle East, reports Anadolu Ajansi.
Critics had argued that joining a council led by the Trump administration could undermine Indonesia’s longstanding support for the “free Palestinian” cause.
Indonesia’s Ulema Council, the country’s top Islamic scholar body, had also called for an immediate withdrawal from the Trump initiative.
The filmmakers and documetary will now go to Australia for screenings in Sydney, Melbourne and hopefully Brisbane.
West Papua updates
Earlier in the day, at a two-day West Papua Solidarity Forum at the University of Auckland, several speakers gave updates and an analysis on political and social developments in the repressed Melanesian region.
Among speakers were Papuan environmental campaigner for Pusaka Dorthea Wabiser, longtime Aotearoa and West Papua human rights campaigner Maire Leadbeater, Papuan cultural advocate Ronny Kareni , Hawai’ian academic Dr Emalani Case, Ngaruahine researcher Dr Arama Rata, PNG academic at Waikato University Nathan Rew, West Papuan scholar Kerry Tabuni, Green Party Pacific peoples and foreign affairs spokesperson Teanau Tuiono, and forum organiser Catherine Delahunty of the West Papua Action Tāmaki Makaurau and West Papua Action Aotearoa.
Viktor Yeimo, international spokesperson of the KNPB (National Committee for West Papua) and PRP (Papuan People’s Petition), and several Papuan community spokespeople shared messages by video link.
Yeimo spoke about how many students, activists, journalists, church leaders and communities of faith in West Papua faced risks when they spoke about justice and political rights.
“To ignite a large log, one must first find many small pieces [kindling],” he said. “Each piece alone cannot produce a great fire, but together they create enough heat to ignite something much larger.”
He said one pathway involved meaningful political reform within Indonesia, including stronger protection of Indigenous rights and genuine regional autonomy.
Another pathway involved inclusive political dialogue between the Indonesian government and legitimate representatives of Papuan society, like ULMWP (United Liberation Movement of West Papua).
A third pathway existed within international law, “it is the possibility of a self-determination process supervised by an international institution [such as the United Nations].”
He pointed to the progress of the self-determination processes of Bougainville and Kanak New Caledonia for example.
Yeimo said Papuans wanted to build a Pacific future “grounded in justice and solidarity”.
A Papuan rapper spoke on screen saying he wasn’t afraid of the repression of authorities, “but they seem to be afraid of me and my music.”
Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz
Source: Radio New Zealand
Follow all the T20 World Cup final action as the Black Caps take on India at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The Black Caps are coming off the back of a stunning win over South Africa, in which Finn Allen hit the fastest century in T20 World Cup history.
Meanwhile, defending champions India staved off Jacob Bethell’s brilliant hundred to beat England by seven runs in a thrilling semi-final.
First ball is at 2.30am NZT.
New Zealand’s Finn Allen plays a shot during the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup semi-final match against South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on March 4, 2026. AFP
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Source: Radio New Zealand
File photo. RNZ / Alexander Robertson
A tour through Parliament is among several new locations of interest connected to a measles case in a traveller who visited New Zealand.
The traveller was infectious during their visit from 23-27 February.
The new locations include both Auckland and Wellington airport, several trains between Upper Hutt and Wellington, and an afternoon parliament tour.
Health New Zealand said anyone who suspected they had measles should phone ahead before visiting their doctor so they could take precautions to stop it spreading.
Symptoms include a runny nose, fever, cough, sore watery eyes and a rash that develops a few days after the fever.
The new locations of interest include:
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Source: Radio New Zealand
The Waitaki District Council is considering allowing people aged over the age of 80 park for free in Oamaru. 123RF
The Waitaki District Council is considering allowing people aged over the age of 80 park for free in Oamaru.
Age Concern Otago has asked the council to consider removing parking fees as part of its upcoming parking strategy after new parking meters introduced last December made some elderly people anxious.
Age Concern’s Waitaki coordinator Kathryn Bennett said fear of receiving a $70 parking ticket meant some people had stopped coming into town.
“There is a need to ensure that seniors are treated fairly and have equitable access to their community,” she said.
“Free parking for people 80 and over would benefit this demographic as they are often the most challenged with technology.”
Parking costed $2 per hour in Oamaru and people could get one hour free by entering their number plate details into machines.
Bennett pointed to Gore District Council which had two-hour free parking for people aged over 80, although Age Concern preferred all-day free parking in Waitaki.
Gore’s over-80s parking scheme was introduced in October 2021.
Permit-holders were identified via a parking sticker on the front window of their vehicle, of which there were 357 currently in Gore.
A Gore District Council spokesperson said the policy was designed to support older residents, remove financial barriers and encourage social connection and participation in the CBD.
A report would go to Waitaki District Council later this year.
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COMMENTARY: By Eugene Doyle
Three more schools and a major hospital have been bombed in Iran and more in Lebanon by the US-Israeli military, all within the first week of launching their latest war.
This is a pattern, not “collateral damage”. Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations Amir-Saeid Iravani said on March 7 that the US and Israel “recognise no red line in committing their crimes” against his country.
Densely populated parts of Tehran are being pounded by wave after wave of US and Israeli bombs. Shahid Hamedani School in Tehran was struck on March 6, the day of the funerals of schoolgirls (6-12 year-olds) killed in Minab, Iran.
UN officials have confirmed that the Minab attack killed 160 children and five staff.
The Palestinians, despite the genocide inflicted on them by Israel and the West, have never become used to the daily killing of children: “The smallest coffins are always the heaviest,” Palestinians say.
Israel has killed many times more women, children and babies than they have Palestinian resistance fighters. There is even a name for this depravity — the Dahiya Doctrine.
Israel’s Dahiya Doctrine and the law of proportionality
International media are reporting that Dahiya, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, is suffering another brutal aerial bombardment from the Israelis.
Dahiya — al-Dahiya al-Janubiya — is home to 700,000 civilians living in high-density housing. The suburb lends its name to Israel’s policy of using massive, disproportionate force against civilians and infrastructure to weaken an enemy’s resolve.
It is, of course, a war crime to do so.
In the 2006 Lebanon War, Israel attacked Dahiya, a popular stronghold of the Hezbollah movement. The massive bombing campaign wasn’t to achieve a military objective; the target was civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Hundreds of children were among the dead.
I have a fabric reproduction of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica on my office wall. It has been coloured red, green black and white – the colours of the Palestinian flag — to draw the important parallel.
The governments of New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Canada and all the others, with rare noble exceptions like Spain, support this depraved criminality. We share values with the Israelis and the Americans, our leaders tell us.
The Principle of Proportionality is critical to protect children
The Americans and Israelis have a bloodlust and openly brag about their destructive abilities. Operation Epic Fury screams to the world: “war crimes”.
What should constrain US-Israeli violence is international law and the principle that there are limits to what is acceptable in “incidental” harm caused to civilians.
Proportionality is one of the foundational concepts in international law, along with other important injunctions like the prohibition of force against sovereign states. Under the Geneva Convention, before undertaking military action states are obligated to consider: Distinction (separating civilians from combatants), Proportionality, Precaution (taking care to minimise civilian harm), Military Necessity (i.e. don’t launch wars of aggression), and Humanity — prohibiting unnecessary suffering.
This is the exact opposite of the Dahiya Doctrine and the American Way of War — from Korea to Iraq by way of Vietnam. Over six million civilians were killed by the US in just those three conflicts alone.
Article 51 of the Geneva Convention
The principle of proportionality is codified in Article 51 of the Geneva Conventions, and affirmed as binding customary international law applicable to all parties in all conflicts. This is further affirmed by the International Committee of the Red Cross’s Rule 14 which states:
“Launching an attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated, is prohibited.”
The West has torn up its copies of international law but we need to keep its spirit alive. New Zealand, Australia and most of the “civilised world” are signatories to various treaties that require them to enforce humanitarian law upon belligerents. Instead, our countries work day and night to support Israel and the US in their evil work. Evil is the appropriate word here.
I will give the last word to the Israeli commander who led the 2006 terror bombing of Dahiya, General Gadi Eisenkot, chief of Northern Command:
“What happened in the Dahiya quarter of Beirut in 2006 will happen in every village from which Israel is fired on. We will apply disproportionate force on it (villages) and cause great damage and destruction there. From our standpoint, these are not civilian villages, they are military bases. This is a plan. And it has been approved.”
Eugene Doyle is a community organiser based in Wellington, publisher of Solidarity and a contributor to Asia Pacific Report. His first demonstration was at the age of 12 against the Vietnam war. This article was first published by Solidarity.
Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz
Source: Radio New Zealand
[embedded content]
Lights, camera, action, Ōtepoti! A new pitch is hoping to put Dunedin centre stage as the next Hollywood A-list film location.
Enterprise Dunedin has teamed up with Dunedin-raised comedian James Mustapic to entice location scouts, filmmakers and producers to set their sights on the southern city for their next project.
The showreel was designed to sell Dunedin as a place to film, with Mustapic testing his acting chops playing some familiar characters in parodies of famous films.
Around him, the city transformed from a deserted island, the Big Apple, an alien planet to an English Estate.
A movie poster for the showreel Supplied/ Enterprise Dunedin
“Dunedin and its amazing locations are the lead actors, quite the ensemble, I’m just here in a sort of supporting role really,” Mustapic said.
He grew up in Dunedin, but said he had a new appreciation for the city after returning for filming.
“Not many actors can claim to have been in a New York crime drama, historical fiction, sci-fi adventures and fantasy epics all in one location for the same project,” he said.
“The city (and I) got to be cinematic chameleons.”
James Mustapic swaps the Scottish Highlands for the Otago Peninsula. Supplied/ Enterprise Dunedin
Film Dunedin, which is part of Enterprise Dunedin, produced the showreel.
Film Dunedin head Stefan Roesch said the city and its surrounds had a lot to offer and was under-utilised as a filming destination.
“You can literally film any genre here, be it sci-fi, zombie. We’ve got [these] beautiful sweeping vistas around Middlemarch which could be amazing for fantasy films or for certain sci-fi genres, and it’s all within half an hour to an hours’ drive if you’re based in Dunedin,” Roesch said.
Supplied/ Enterprise Dunedin
The showreel was created entirely in-house by Enterprise Dunedin.
Research into screen-influenced tourism showed a significant increase in interest for some locations once a production gained traction, Roesch said.
“A recent report commissioned by the New Zealand Film Commission estimates that $2.7 billion in international tourism expenditure is linked to screen industry output.”
Roesch wanted the showreel to cut through the noise and offer a different take on a typical destination pitch.
“We wanted to do something completely different and create a story that hopefully will garner some attention, and at the same time showcase the width and breadth of our locations in a way that already gives production companies ideas what genres could be filmed in Dunedin,” he said.
The city has a good history of attracting productions – X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Power of the Dog, The Hobbit and Uproar to name a few.
Netflix’s 2022 release The Royal Treatment was filmed in Dunedin and saw more than 42 million viewing hours within the first four days of its release.
“It generated thousands of bed nights … it was a crew of 120-130. I believe 60-65 percent of the crew were locals so there was a great upskilling part in that,” Roesch said.
Dunedin was still underutilised as a filming destination and Roesch said he would love to welcome more sets to the city.
Supplied/ Enterprise Dunedin
Dunedin Mayor Sophie Barker could not wait for more people to see the showreel.
“Super excited about it. When it was shown to all of us councillors there was clapping at the end. It was just such fun and I think the wonderful thing was how much it showcased Dunedin,” she said.
“We have so many different landscapes, so many quirky spots and you don’t really want to be everything to everybody, but I think we are.”
Filming was a boon for accommodation and local hospitality, but she said it also encouraged viewers to become visitors to the city.
“Film brings huge numbers of people into town. It also is great for our city profile because things like The Royal Treatment had huge numbers … watching it…
“We know that people come and see places that were in films.”
She did not want to play favourites when it came to suggesting locations, but said the Hereweka/ Harbour Cone could possibly make a striking Mount Vesuvius on film.
The showreel cost almost $20,000 to produce, with about half the budget covered by income from location permitting fees.
Now the showreel has been launched, there were hopes Dunedin would soon feature on more film call sheets into the future.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
Brent Randell, who has taken five wickets in five balls, known as a triple hat-trick. www.photosport.nz
Central Stags pace bowler Brett Randell has achieved a cricketing rarity, taking five wickets in consecutive balls, which has been described a “triple hat-trick”.
New Zealand Cricket statistician Francis Payne said Randell becomes the first player in first class cricket history to take five wickets in five balls – and the first to take six wickets in eight balls. His deed of seven wickets in 12 balls has been bettered just once.
The 30-year-old’s feat came in the Stags’ Plunket Shield match today against Northern Districts at McLean Park in Napier.
He eventually finished with seven for 25, which is the second best in Central Districts history, betterd only by left arm spinner Bryan Yuile’s nine for 100 in 1966.
“I’m pretty blown away,” Randell told the NZC website.
“The high was pretty crazy, it was like a pinch-me moment.
“I was trying to stay level-headed and keep putting the ball in the same area and then after the actual hat-trick, just the same things – trying to put the ball in the same area.
“It gets drummed into us a lot that we don’t want to go searching for wickets, so I was trying to just keep bowling the same ball, and our “Plan A” that we’d talked about, and it came off.
“I had no idea that it was the first time it [five wicket in five balls in first-class cricket] had happened in the world, it’s seriously cool. I mean, I don’t really have any words at the moment, to be honest. I’ll take it.”
The Stags had scored 373 in their first innings and thanks to Randell dismissed Northern for just 82. Central enforced the follow-on and at stumps in their second innings Northern were five for 152, with Randell this time wicketless.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
Kiwi Liam Lawson trails Mexican Sergio Perez during the Australian Grand Prix. AFP
Kiwi driver Liam Lawson has finished 13th in Formula One’s Australian Grand Prix, after a disastrous start in a race, won by Briton George Russell.
Italian Kimi Antonelli completed a Mercedes quinella in the F1 season-opener, while Charles Leclerc of Montenegro finished third, with Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen next in that order.
In an often chaotic race at Melbourne’s Albert Park, any advantage Lawson had by claiming eighth place on the grid dissipated at the start.
He dropped back to 18th, as he complained on the Racing Bulls team radio of mechanical issues.
“What is my battery doing?,” he exclaimed.
He was able to climb to 13th place, helped by withdrawals during the race, finishing a lap behind Russell.
Before the race, Australian Oscar Piastri crashed on a reconnaisance lap. While not injured, his McLaren was too damaged to take part in the race.
Lawson’s Racing Bulls teammate Arvid Lindblad finished eighth in his F1 debut.
After dominating qualifying, pole-sitter Russell’s first win at Albert Park underlined Mercedes’ promising pre-season form.
The Briton finished nearly three seconds ahead of Antonelli, with Leclerc more than 15 seconds behind on a cloudy afternoon at the lakeside circuit.
Russell engaged in a thrilling early duel with Leclerc, as the racers swapped the lead seven times in the opening nine laps, but Mercedes soon put daylight on the rest.
After swapping out medium tyres early, following a virtual safety-car deployment, Russell rode the hard compounds for 45 laps and Mercedes’ pace did the rest.
“Great job everybody, it’s been a long time since we’ve been here,” he said over the team radio.
McLaren had a tough day, with Piastri’s race over before it began some 40 minutes before the start.
Teammate and defending champion Norris finished fifth, one place behind seven-time world champion Hamilton of Ferrari.
Only 20 of the 22 cars started, with Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg scratched just before the race, due to a reliability problem.
Another three cars failed to finish, Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar among them.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
After 15 years bringing the iconic character Riff Raff to audiences across the world Kristian Lavercombe says he experienced a kind of mourning when he stopped playing him.
Lavercombe holds the world record for the most performances in The Rocky Horror Show, he has performed as Riff Raff 2622 times.
Now touring he’s New Zealand as The Narrator, in a production of the evergreen Richard O’Brien cult classic.
Kristian Lavercombe as The Narrator.
Supplied
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Thousands of British anti-war demonstrators yesterday marched through central London, calling for an immediate halt to US and Israeli military operations against Iran and an end to arms sales to Israel, Anadolu Ajansi reports.
According to the Manchester Evening News, the protest drew between 5000 and 6000 participants, based on estimates from the Metropolitan Police.
The rally began at Millbank near Victoria Tower Gardens at noon and was organised by a coalition of activist groups, including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), Stop the War Coalition and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
Protesters marched toward the US Embassy carrying placards reading “Stop Trump’s Wars” and “No War on Iran,” while others waved Iranian and Palestinian flags.
Some demonstrators also carried portraits of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Organisers described the military strikes as “illegal” and warned that escalating conflict could place millions of civilians at risk across the Middle East.
Chris Nineham, vice-chair of the Stop the War Coalition, said the situation represented one of “the most dangerous global moments in decades.”
‘Murder and mayhem’
“[US President Donald] Trump and [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu are creating murder and mayhem across the Middle East,” Nineham said in a video posted on social media from the protest.
“They are risking spreading war across the Middle East, and they are creating the conditions of volatility and instability around the world, and what is disgraceful is that our government is allowing British bases to be used to promote this mayhem.”
He added that many people in Britain opposed the war and called for a broad and vocal movement to mobilise against the conflict and advocate for peace.
Tensions in the Middle East have escalated since the US and Israel launched a large-scale attack on Iran on February 28, killing more than 1300 people, including Khamenei and more than 165 schoolgirls, and senior military officials.
Iran has retaliated with sweeping barrages of its own that have targeted US bases, diplomatic facilities, and military personnel across the region, as well as multiple Israeli cities. At least 11 Israelis have been killed.
Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz
Source: Radio New Zealand
Sam Cosgrove heads in for what was subsequently ruled to be an own goal by Perth Glory in their A-League clash at Mount Smart Stadium, 8 March 2026. www.photosport.nz
Auckland FC’s run for the A-League men’s premiership has suffered a hiccup with a 2-all home draw with Perth Glory.
The Auckland side picked up a point for the draw, but trail leaders Newcastle Jets by four points. The two teams meet next weekend in a clash that Auckland must not lose if they are to stay in realistic contention.
It looked great for the Aucklanders when Sam Cosgrove who after a melee got the ball past Glory goalkeeper Matt Sutton in just the seventh minute.
Perth levelled in the 39th minute when Brian Kaltak found the back of the net with a diving header.
Stefan Colakovski gave Glory a 2-1 lead when he got one past Auckland goalkeeper Michael Woud in the 57th minute, but four minutes later Cosgrove got higher than the Perth players surrounding him to head one into the right post, with Sutton unable to contain the richochet and the ball falling just behind him into the goal.
The referee initially called a foul on Cosgrove, but after VAR intervention he changed the decision, with it ultimately decreed an own goal by Sutton.
There were six minutes of extra time, but neither team could break the deadlock.
The draw leaves Auckland FC three points ahead of Sydney FC who are in third place.
The Glory take on the Phoenix in Wellington next weekend.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
Police launch Lady Elizabeth IV found the boat about 6km off the coast.
Police and Westpac Rescue Helicopter have rescued a diver and boaties in windy and choppy conditions off Wellington’s south coast this week.
The police maritime unit responded to an emergency call from two people on a 5.4m runabout about 4pm Thursday, after they struck difficulties with 88km/h winds and two-metre waves, and were being blown out to seas.
The boat owner, who was the only occupant who knew how to drive the boat, had been scuba-diving and was still in the water closer to shore.
Police called in the rescue helicopter and volunteer coastguard to assist, and about 4.30pm, the police launch Lady Elizabeth IV found the boat about 6km off the coast.
Constable Stephanie Cox was able to board the boat in tricky conditions and drive it back to Owhiro Bay.
An hour later, the diver was located on a remote shore, after surfacing and realising his boat had gone. He was airlifted to Wellington Airport.
No-one was harmed, but all three were shaken by the experience.
“These two men can consider themselves lucky,” senior launch master Constable Nicko McGregor said. “These difficult weather conditions were no place for a small runabout to be.
“This is a reminder of how quickly situations at sea can change. Good preparation and formal training make a real difference, when things don’t go to plan on the water.”
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Source: Radio New Zealand
RNZ / REECE BAKER
One person has died after a crash on State Highway 1, just north of Tūrangi, near Rawhira Road.
The road remained closed and diversions were in place around the western side of Lake Taupō.
Motorists were advised to continue avoiding the area.
The past 24 hours have been treacherous on the roads, with four other people dead in separate crashes.
One was killed on Coast Road in Karitane on Sunday morning and a motorcyclist died in a crash on Foxton Shannon Road in the Manawatū soon after.
At about 12.30am, an occupant was killed in a single-vehicle crash at Paparoa.
On Sunday afternoon, police also confirmed the driver of a vehicle involved a Dome Valley crash on Saturday evening died at the scene.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
The oil spill is contained on Akaroa Harbour. Facebook/Environment Canterbury
A Royal New Zealand Navy vessel has spilled hundreds of litres of oil into Akaroa Harbour on Saturday morning.
About 200-300 litres of oil leaked from the HMNZS Te Kaha, due to a defect to an oil cooler on the ship’s starboard engine, a defence force spokesperson said.
Immediate steps were taken to clean up the oil.
Crew used absorbent pads to clean up surface oil and an inflatable boat to disperse the oil.
“The source of the leak has been isolated and no further oil is leaking,” she said.
The ship has been in Akaroa Harbour on a training exercise and remains anchored there on Sunday.
Environment Canterbury Regional on-scene commander Emma Parr said teams were helping clean-up efforts, focused on containing and recovering the oil from the water’s surface.
Parr said the method was working well.
“We’ll continue this approach as long as weather, daylight and sea conditions allow.”
Parr said anyone who saw or smelled oil should report that to Environment Canterbury’s Pollution Hotline, 0800 765 588.
“If you observe any affected wildlife, please do not touch it. Keep a safe distance and call us on the number above.”
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ANALYSIS: By Hana Saada
In an era when images can circle the globe in seconds and newsrooms claim to uphold universal humanitarian principles; one might expect the killing of 165 schoolgirls inside a primary school to dominate international headlines.
One would expect emergency debates, moral outrage, and relentless coverage.
Yet in the southeastern Iranian city of Minab — where Israeli-American strikes obliterated classrooms filled with children — the world’s most influential media institutions have responded with something far more revealing than condemnation: they have responded with silence.
These were not combatants. They were not militants. They were children seated at their desks, pens in their hands, notebooks open before them, studying, whispering to classmates, and imagining futures that stretched decades ahead.
In seconds, that ordinary school day turned into a massacre. Desks became splintered wreckage, classrooms collapsed into dust, and rows of coffins replaced rows of pupils.
Yet the names of these girls — 165 lives extinguished before they truly began — barely entered the global conversation.
This omission is not the product of oversight. It reflects something far more structural: the hierarchy of victims that governs much of the contemporary information order.
In theory, modern Western media institutions present themselves as defenders of human rights and guardians of moral accountability. In practice, their editorial priorities often mirror geopolitical interests with striking precision.
Human rights losing integrity
When the deaths of children generate outrage in one context but indifference in another, the moral language surrounding human rights begins to lose its integrity.
When tragedies reinforce established narratives about adversarial states, they are amplified, dramatised, and transformed into global moral spectacles.
But when tragedies expose the human cost of the military actions carried out by Western powers or their closest allies, they are quietly displaced from the front page —if they appear at all.
The massacre in Minab illustrates this logic with devastating clarity.
The deaths of 165 Iranian schoolgirls do not fit comfortably within the dominant geopolitical storyline that portrays Israel and its strategic partners as defenders of stability and order in a turbulent region.
Acknowledging such an atrocity would inevitably raise difficult questions: about the legality of strikes on civilian infrastructure, about the ethics of military escalation, and about the widening humanitarian toll of ongoing Israeli-American attacks across the region.
It is therefore far easier to look away.
Minab not isolated tragedy
But Minab is not an isolated tragedy. Across Lebanon, relentless bombardments have repeatedly struck civilian neighbourhoods, reducing homes and streets to rubble.
Across Palestine, entire communities have endured cycles of destruction that claim the lives of children whose only battlefield was the ground beneath their feet. Hospitals, schools, and residential blocks have all entered the expanding geography of devastation.
These events do not occur in a vacuum. They form part of a broader pattern in which military power operates alongside narrative power. Missiles shape the physical battlefield, while selective reporting shapes the battlefield of perception.
What emerges is not merely a media bias but a form of narrative engineering. Certain victims are elevated as symbols of universal suffering, while others — often far more numerous — are rendered invisible. Compassion itself becomes curated, distributed unevenly according to political convenience.
For Western audiences accustomed to believing in the neutrality of their information systems, this selective visibility should provoke serious reflection. The credibility of humanitarian discourse depends on consistency.
The girls of Minab deserved the same recognition afforded to any victims of violence anywhere in the world. They deserved to have their stories told, their lives acknowledged, and their deaths confronted with the seriousness such an atrocity demands.
Instead, they encountered a second form of erasure.
First came the missiles that ended their lives. Then came the silence that followed.
Selective visibility needs reflection
For Western audiences accustomed to believing in the neutrality of their information systems, this selective visibility should provoke serious reflection.
In the contemporary information age, propaganda rarely announces itself openly. It often operates through absence — through the stories that never reach the front page, the victims whose names remain unspoken, and the tragedies that disappear before the world has time to notice.
The massacre in Minab therefore stands as more than a local catastrophe. It exposes a deeper crisis in the global information order — one in which the value of human life appears disturbingly contingent on political context.
And if the deaths of 165 schoolgirls in their classrooms fail to trigger universal outrage, the question is no longer about geopolitics alone.
It becomes a question about the credibility of the moral system that claims to defend humanity itself.
Dr Hana Saada is an Algerian university lecturer and journalist, and editor-in-chief of the English edition of Dzair Tube. She holds a PhD in media translation and writes on geopolitics, media narratives, and international affairs. This article is republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons.
Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne
Two Victorian polls have One Nation at 23–24% with Labor on top on primary votes in one and the Coalition in the other. Labor has a huge lead in New South Wales as the right vote is split under optional preferential voting. A record number of candidates will contest the March 21 South Australian election.
The Victorian election is in late November. A Freshwater poll for The Herald Sun, conducted February 19–23 from a sample of 1,030, gave Labor 28% of the primary vote (down two since the November Freshwater poll), the Coalition 27% (down ten), One Nation 23% (not previously asked for), the Greens 13% and all Others 9%. After preferences, Labor and the Coalition were tied at an unchanged 50–50.
The close result on voting intentions comes despite Labor Premier Jacinta Allan’s -33 net approval (down one point). Liberal leader Jess Wilson’s net approval was steady at +15, and Wilson led Allan as preferred premier by 46–30 (47–31 previously).
By 59–25, respondents thought the government is doing a bad job running Victoria. The Poll Bludger said that by 74–7, respondents supported a royal commission into alleged corruption within the CFMEU.
A Victorian Redbridge and Accent Research poll for The Australian Financial Review, conducted February 18–27 from a sample of 2,165, gave the Coalition 28% of the primary vote (down 12 since the December Redbridge poll), Labor 25% (down six), One Nation 24% (not previously asked for), the Greens 13% (up one) and all Others 10% (down seven).
By respondent preferences, the Coalition led Labor by 52–48, a two-point gain for the Coalition. Labor led One Nation by 53–47.
By 59–25, respondents did not think the Allan government has the right focus and priorities (59–26 previously). But by 44–27, they did not think Wilson and the Coalition have done enough to deserve to win the next election (43–25 previously). By 65–21, they thought Victoria was headed in the wrong direction.
While these polls both give One Nation 23–24% of the primary vote and have it just behind both major parties, they don’t replicate the Victorian SMS mid-February Morgan poll that had One Nation on 26.5% and first on primary votes.
It’s over eight months until the election, but current polls imply a Coalition government dependent on One Nation support is a distinct possibility. I believe Allan’s dismal ratings will drag Labor further down.
The New South Wales state election is in March 2027. A DemosAU and Premier National poll for The Daily Telegraph, conducted February 24 to March 4 from a sample of 1,032, gave Labor 34% of the primary vote (down three since the October DemosAU poll), the Coalition 23% (down seven), One Nation 21% (not previously asked for), the Greens 15% (up two) and all Others 7% (down 13).
After preferences, Labor led the Coalition by 61–39, a two-point gain for Labor. NSW is currently the only Australian jurisdiction with single-member seats to use optional preferential voting. This hurts the right in this poll as the two right-wing parties are at 21–23% and many of their preferences would exhaust.
Labor Premier Chris Minns had a +21 net positive rating, with 38% positive and 17% negative. Liberal leader Kellie Sloane was at net +3 (22% positive, 19% negative). Minns led Sloane by 48–24 as preferred premier (44–25 vs Mark Speakman in October).
Half of the 42 upper house seats will be up for election using proportional representation with preferences. Upper house voting intentions were 29% Labor (down one), 22% One Nation (up seven), 21% Coalition (steady), 13% Greens (steady) and 15% for all Others (down six).
This poll contrasts with a Morgan SMS NSW poll, conducted February 16–19 from a sample of 2,108, that gave One Nation 30% of the primary vote, Labor 25%, the Coalition 19%, the Greens 12.5% and all Others 13.5%. I’ve previously written that SMS polls may have too many motivated respondents.
It’s less than two weeks until the March 21 South Australian state election. ABC election analyst Antony Green said a record 388 candidates will contest the 47 lower house seats, far exceeding the previous record of 302 candidates in 2002. That’s an average of 8.3 candidates per seat. Labor, the Liberals, One Nation, the Greens and the Australian Family Party will contest every seat and Family First 35 seats.
Eleven of the 22 upper house seats will be elected using statewide proportional representation with preferences. There are 47 candidates for the upper house in 17 columns, down from 50 candidates and 20 columns in 2022.
The Liberals will recommend preferences to One Nation above Labor in all seats on their how to vote material. One Nation will not be recommending preferences.
A byelection occurred Saturday in the one Greens-held Northern Territory seat of Nightcliff. Labor gained from the Greens, defeating them by 51.9–48.1, a 2.3% swing to Labor since the 2024 NT election. This gives Labor five seats out of 25 in the NT parliament.
Primary votes were 33.5% Greens (up 11.5%), 28.9% Labor (down 3.9%), 20.3% for the governing Country Liberal Party (down 3.4%) and 17.3% for a teal independent (new). In 2024 another independent had won 19.2%. Labor won despite the big swing to the Greens on primary votes by improving their share of preferences.
A national Morgan poll, conducted February 23 to March 1 from a sample of 1,554, gave Labor 30.5% of the primary vote (down 0.5 since the February 16–22 Morgan poll), the Coalition 23.5% (down 0.5), One Nation 22% (up 1.5), the Greens 11.5% (down one) and all Others 12.5% (up 0.5).
By respondent preferences, Labor led the Coalition by 56–44, a 1.5-point gain for Labor. By 2025 election flows, Labor led by 53.5–46.5, a 0.5-point gain for the Coalition.
I previously reported the late February Redbridge poll for The Financial Review. The Poll Bludger reported that Barnaby Joyce’s net favourability was up two points since January to -17 and Nationals leader David Littleproud was up one to -13.
Cost of living, healthcare, housing affordability and immigration were rated the most important issues. The Coalition and One Nation combined led Labor and the Greens combined by 37–31 on cost of living, 33–30 on housing and 54–21 on immigration. The left’s one lead was on healthcare by 38–32.
Respondent preferences suggest that in a contest between Labor and the Coalition, One Nation preferences would split 77–23 to the Coalition. However, if it’s Labor vs One Nation, Coalition preferences only split to One Nation by 69–31.
– ref. Two Victorian polls have One Nation at 23–24%, but differ on which party is in the lead – https://theconversation.com/two-victorian-polls-have-one-nation-at-23-24-but-differ-on-which-party-is-in-the-lead-277331
Source: Radio New Zealand
A cache of firearms seized from a property in Gore in 2025. Supplied / NZ Police
An IT project behind the overhaul of firearms regulations has been put on hold, due to uncertainty over what is needed.
A Treasury report from last September, released this week, rated the ‘Arms Transformation’ project as red.
It suggested the police minister intervene to “resolve major issues”.
“Yes, it has been rated red, however nothing has gone wrong,” police told RNZ on Friday.
Usually a red rating in a quarterly investment report meant real doubt a project could be delivered.
In this case a so-called ‘Gateway’ review was done and found “there was uncertainty about the ICT and system requirements that would be required should a new regulator be created”.
Setting up a new regulator depended on a bill still before Parliament.
“The work has been paused, while the legislative process is ongoing,” Firearms Safety Authority business transformation director Richard Wilson said.
He said the Arms Transformation Programme had gone well since it began and was previously rated green/amber.
A digital registry of firearms was built on budget in 2023 and this was being expanded. A review last year found the registry should achieve public safety objectives, once it was fully embedded.
The authority was working with Treasury and the Ministry of Justice on it, Wilson said.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
Climate Liberation Aotearoa’s Jen Olsen said all the figures show electric vehicles are a better option. AFP
A climate activist says it is up to individuals to do the right thing if the government will not do more to reduce vehicle emissions.
The government is considering scrapping the clean car standard, which limits the average carbon dioxide emissions from the tailpipes of new cars brought into the country.
In November, the government slashed the fees importers pay to bring in high-emitting vehicles by 80 percent.
Climate Liberation Aotearoa’s Jen Olsen is urging people not to buy luxury vehicles, such as SUVs, which she said could emit three to four times the amount of carbon per kilometre that petrol vehicles do.
“Carbon emissions are causing the climate emergency and all of the severe weather events that go with it. To go backwards like this for the sake of the motor industry is very disappointing.
“It is going to have to be individuals who decide no, we don’t want these vehicles.
“In a time of climate emergency, when we all need to be thinking about reducing our climate footprint, some things we can live without. Luxury cars are one of them.”
She said opting for an electric or hybrid vehicle was far better for the environment.
“When you’re going to buy a car, there’s always information about the emissions it produces. I would ask people to look at this and take it seriously.
“All the figures say that electric vehicles are far better. Even a hybrid car will use a fraction of the petrol that a petrol car does, saving you money and saving emissions.”
During storms in October 2025, a fallen tree damaged Olsen’s Dunedin home, which she said made the issue even more personal.
“Its been quite a big clean up. I was lucky there was little damage inside my house. But extreme weather is happening more and more, and it’s not going to go away. That’s why I’m so disappointed about where the government is going.”
She said luxury emissions in general were a concern to Climate Liberation Aotearoa, and they were also opposed to people taking luxury cruises and plane flights.
“If you’re going to take a holiday, please don’t take a cruise.
“If people are going overseas to visit family members that’s a different thing, but if you can take a holiday at home, think twice about taking a flight.”
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ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on March 8, 2026.
ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for March 7, 2026
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on March 7, 2026.
Source: Radio New Zealand
The brand has grown to include household items such as jams, teas, wine and honey and is expected to continue beyond the partnership.
“As ever is grateful for Netflix’s partnership through launch and our first year,” a spokesperson for As Ever said in a statement shared with CNN.
“We have experienced meaningful and rapid growth and As ever is now ready to stand on its own. We have an exciting year ahead and can’t wait to share more.”
Netflix released a statement praising both the former Suits star and her products.
“Meghan’s passion for elevating everyday moments in beautiful yet simple ways inspired the creation of the As ever brand, and we are glad to have played a role in bringing that vision to life,” the statement read. “As it was always intended, Meghan will continue growing the brand and take it into its next chapter independently, and we look forward to celebrating how she continues to bring joy to households around the world.”
Markle’s Netflix show – in which she shares both cooking and entertaining tips, sometimes with celebrity friends – and her product line have been in keeping with a familiar lane for her.
Prior to meeting and marrying Prince Harry in 2018, she had a lifestyle blog titled Tig, which featured similar content.
The couple now live in Montecito, California, with their two young children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4.
With Love, Meghan ran for two seasons last year on Netflix, with a special holiday episode streaming in early December.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
Police said initial indications are that there are serious injuries. RNZ / Marika Khabazi
A two-vehicle crash just south of Motutere has closed State Highway 1.
The crash was reported near Rawhira Road just after 1.10pm on Sunday.
Police said initial indications were that there were serious injuries.
Motorists have been advised to avoid the area and expect delays.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
Karaka’s whānau confirmed his death in a statement shared on social media.
Combining the influences of Bob Marley and the music of their Polynesian heritage, Herbs were pioneers of a Pacific reggae sound.
Born in 1950, Karaka co‑founded the band in Auckland in 1979 with Toni Fonoti, Spencer Fusimalohi and Fred Faleauto.
He was the band’s regular guitarist and lead singer for the next 40 years.
Herbs collaborated with some big local names including Tim Finn (‘Parihaka’), Annie Crummer (‘See What Love Can Do’) and most successfully with Dave Dobbyn on the hit single ‘Slice of Heaven’, off the movie soundtrack Footrot Flats.
It shot to no.1 in October 1986 and stayed there for eight weeks, AudioCulture reported.
A film about Herbs, a group that grew out of the social activism of the late 1970s and 1980s, was released in 2019, called Herbs: Songs of Freedom.
Herbs were inducted into APRA’s New Zealand Hall of Fame in September 2012.
In the social media post his family say Karaka will be taken to Ōrākei Marae on Monday, 9 March, where he will lie in state for one night before being taken to Whaatapaka Marae, where he will lie for two further nights. His burial will also take place there.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
The kayak was found washed up near Blaketown where a person was swept up. SUPPLIED/POLICE
A Search and Rescue operation is continuing in Greymouth on Sunday after a person was swept out to sea.
Emergency services got the call around 6pm on Saturday a person was swept out in the Greymouth/Blaketown area.
Police said a kayak was found washed up near Blaketown at around 7.30pm on Saturday and enquiries were being made to find out whether this is linked to the person that was seen.
Senior Sergeant Mark Kirkwood, West Coast Search and Rescue, said the extensive search had involved Police, Fire and Emergency New Zealand, Kotuku Surf Lifesaving and Garden City Helicopters.
“The Emily B Drifter was also deployed, the drifter replicates where a person in the ocean may be.”
Police were asking anybody who recognised the kayak, or has not heard from somebody who was kayaking in Greymouth on Saturday to contact Police via 105, quoting the reference number P065678948.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
MetService says there is a moderate chance of Southland’s heavy rain watch being upgraded to a warning. UnSplash/ Nechama Lock
Downpours are set to strike the lower South Island, with Fiordland and Southland both under heavy rain watches.
MetService warned that the rainfall could approach warning criteria.
It said there was a moderate chance of Southland’s watch being upgraded to a warning.
The watches are in place from 9am on Sunday, with Fiordland about and north of Dusky Sound’s watch ending at 9pm.
Southland is under a heavy rain watch until 7pm.
️Heavy Rain Watches for Far South ️
A front moves up, slow at first, allowing accumulations to climb a bit in the far south, hence the Heavy Rain Watches. The front then speeds up as it moves northward over the rest of the South Island on Sunday.
We can see the North… pic.twitter.com/D5VmRs2Vl8
— MetService NZ (@MetService) March 7, 2026
Much of the South Island’s east coast, however, is set for a scorching Sunday, with temperatures almost reaching 30C.
MetService said northwesterly winds and sunny conditions ahead of a cold front were driving the hot temperatures.
It said Blenheim was expected to reach 29C, while Christchurch is forecast to hit 28C. Timaru is also expected to hit 25C, while Ashburton could expect to reach 27C.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
Former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern in the Pacific. SUPPLIED
More than $5 million has been granted for a programme to eliminate cervical cancer across the Pacific, with the support of former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern.
The University of Auckland has found the incidence rate of cervical cancer is up to nine times higher in the Pacific Islands than in Australasia.
It said cervical cancer is a largely preventable disease but remains a leading cause of cancer death among Pacific women prompting the university to support the rollout of safe initiatives across the Pacific.
It comes as the Matariki Fund has granted $5.1 million for a programme to eliminate cervical cancer across the Pacific.
The Matariki Fund, administered by Dame Jacinda Ardern, is supporting the programme by expanding access to new and existing locally led cancer prevention initiatives for more people across the Pacific.
Ardern said Pacific women were disproportionately affected by a disease that could be eliminated.
“There is such excellent leadership within the region – this funding is simply about supporting them to save lives with solutions that should be available to everyone.”
Run through University of Auckland’s Centre for Pacific and Global Health, the programme will focus on the Cook Islands and Niue.
Professor Sir Collin Tukuitonga said cervical cancer was preventable, yet too many Pacific women continued to die from it.
The programme aligns with the WHO Global Strategy to Eliminate Cervical Cancer by supporting countries to achieve the “90-70-90” targets by 2030.
This means aiming to achieving 90 percent of girls aged 15 years receiving the HPV vaccine, 70 percent of women screened by age 35 years, and again at 45 years; and 90 percent of women with pre-cancer and invasive cancers treated.
“This investment allows Pacific countries to work together – sharing expertise, strengthening systems, and supporting women leaders – to achieve elimination,” Tukuitonga said.
It would also look to facilitates timely diagnostics to enable treatment for pre-cancerous lesions and invasive cancer.
Professor Judith McCool, head of the School of Population Health and co-director of Te Poutoko Ora a Kiwa, said the funding enabled sustainable, system-level change.
“This grant allows us to move beyond isolated interventions to a truly collaborative, Pacific-led approach. By strengthening leadership, governance, and regional partnerships, we are building the foundations for long-term health equity.”
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Source: Radio New Zealand
Highways, hospitals, schools, etc: MPs agree politics is detrimental to infrastructure decision-making and things need to change, but can’t help getting political about it. VNP / Phil Smith
Analysis – The centrepiece of Parliament’s week was a two-hour-long special debate on the recently released National Infrastructure Plan.
The Plan is a worthy and fascinating read. The debate had a different tone to many, with general agreement that New Zealand needs to do better on infrastructure.
“They have made a compelling case for change,” Chris Bishop said, introducing the Infrastructure Commission’s work. “We face significant challenges as a country: ageing stock, a backlog of maintenance and renewals, an ageing population, and increased exposure to natural hazard events.”
MPs all agreed that infrastructure planning is too important to be tinged with politics. MPs attempted to reflect this sentiment in the amiable debate, lauding others’ observations, even across the most bitterly fractious party divides.
From the start, despite genuine effort, the debate failed to avoid politics. Minister for Infrastructure Chris Bishop lauded his own government for commissioning the Infrastructure Plan. Labour speakers focused on their former colleague Grant Robertson’s role in forming the Infrastructure Commission and commissioning a strategy.
The jealous guarding of credit is likely more automatic than deliberately political. It demonstrates one of the political bidi-bidis in the sock of bipartisan endeavour – other obvious contenders are blame and parochialism.
It would be an odd politician who highlighted his opponent’s success and his own failings. Each party came up with different examples of bad political decisions. For example National’s Katie Nimon pointed to the stop-start work on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway, while Labour’s Tangi Utikere pointed to the Interislander ferry (iRex) project.
But the sniping was comparatively minimal and MPs were even buoyed by the general positivity. National’s Nancy Lu said she was impressed by the opposition’s “willingness to work together for the long term betterment of our country”. Out of context that may sound absurd, but it illustrates that MPs tend to presume the automatic rejection of any proposition by those across the political divide.
All parties agreed that politics is detrimental to infrastructure decision-making, and that things need to change. Labour’s spokesperson on Infrastructure and Public Investment is Kieran McAnulty, who called for the Infrastructure Commission to have a stronger role.
“If all Crown infrastructure went through the independent assurance process that the Infrastructure Commission has set up, then we will go a long way to avoiding the cancellation of projects that we have seen in the past.
“It is about confidence and about certainty. And one way to assure that is if we get the settings right, then it doesn’t actually matter what is going to happen at an election, because they know that infrastructure projects have been properly assessed, and nothing has been promised without an ability to pay for it.”
Chris Bishop lauded his own government for commissioning the Infrastructure Plan. RNZ/Marika Khabazi
Megan Woods, who has opted to be a list candidate in the next election, also observed a political tendency that, ironically, she will soon be freed from.
“Even in this debate, where I think we’ve had some very thoughtful contributions, we can’t have missed some of the … pork barrel politics that has underwritten infrastructure for too long in this country – that thinking being a good politician is talking about the ‘wins’ in your local patch.”
Typically, National has more electorate MPs, and in this debate they frequently lauded infrastructure projects underway on their own patches. Among them, Grant McCallum (MP for Northland) defended the imminent Northland Expressway, which had attracted strong criticism during the debate: “Is that investment a wise investment? Well, for the people of Northland, it is. And it’s because we’re making up for generations of a lack of investment.”
Green MP Julie Anne Genter had earlier noted the difficult cost-benefit choices involved, arguing that the possible cost of the Northland project was equivalent to seven new Dunedin Hospitals. McCallum wasn’t alone though. ACT’s Simon Court had earlier decried the state of the highway in Northland, while New Zealand First’s Andy Foster touted the project’s economic benefits.
The only MP who loudly decried a new road on their own patch was Green Wellington Central MP Tamatha Paul, who said of Wellington’s new double tunnel project: “if you want to save money for the people of New Zealand, don’t do that project”.
Despite the calls for a bipartisan approach, Labour’s MP Ayesha Verrall sounded pretty glum about the projected health needs in the report, as well as the impact of politics on their delivery. (The plan notes we are likely to need 4900 additional hospital beds by 2043, to add to the current 12,000.)
“New Zealanders want roads, they want hospitals, they want schools, they want an electricity grid that works, and yet, it’s too tempting for us to lean into the politics around infrastructure that is detrimental to us achieving those outcomes.
“I am so grateful for the thoughtful contributions that I’ve heard today that suggest something else might be possible. I don’t underestimate the challenge of maintaining this posture from here, though. How easy is it going to be, in the next seven months, to promise a road, to oppose a road, to try and make political hay out of cancelling or promoting an infrastructure project?”
Ayesha Verrall sounded glum about the projected health needs. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Some MPs appeared to doubt they can be collectively trusted to sufficiently eschew politics to plan infrastructure effectively, but none were suggesting that infrastructure should be entirely removed from their oversight and control.
The Infrastructure Plan is an attempt to instil strategic thinking in government planning. It is not the project ‘to do’ list that its title might imply.
It is a fascinating read though, full of revealing details of the sorts of things that should guide investment decisions. For example, in education, projections suggest an increase in school-aged Māori, while Pākehā school-aged populations decline (possibly meaning an increased demand for Māori immersion schools); while a shifting population distribution has led to 11 percent of schools (224 schools) being less than 50 percent utilised.
The Infrastructure Plan looks forward 30 years. A few MPs referred to climate change and referenced ‘resilience’, but no one raised the potentially politically unpalatable impacts of three decades of accelerating weather events and coastal inundation. No one raised whether, for example, some of our significant coastal infrastructure will become physically or financially impossible to retain, and the implications of that on local populations.
The Infrastructure Plan can be found here.
The Hansard record of the debate can be found here.
* RNZ’s The House, with insights into Parliament, legislation and issues, is made with funding from Parliament’s Office of the Clerk. Enjoy our articles or podcast at RNZ.
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Source: Radio New Zealand
Oscar nominee Timothee Chalamet is the frontrunner to take home the golden statuette for Marty Supreme, but he definitely has not won fans in the ballet and opera worlds.
In a town hall discussion late last month with Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey hosted by CNN and Variety, the 30-year-old Chalamet was discussing the future of movie theatres and whether the advent of streaming will spell doom for cinemas.
“If people want to see it — like Barbie, like Oppenheimer — they’re going to go see it and go out of their way to be loud and proud about it,” Chalamet said.
“And I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this anymore.’ All respect to the ballet and opera people out there,” he added, to laughs from the audience.
“I just took shots for no reason.”
The world’s opera and ballet companies were not entertained.
In the French American actor’s native New York, the Metropolitan Opera posted a backstage video with his quote plastered across it and the caption: “This one’s for you, @tchalamet…”
The Paris Opera riffed on “Marty Supreme,” in which Chalamet plays a 1950s table tennis player with big dreams.
“Plot twist, there is ping-pong in opera too,” it said on Instagram, with a video clip from “Nixon in China,” now playing in the French capital.
The Vienna State Opera shouted out to Chalamet: “Consider this your personal invitation to Vienna. Our stage is waiting.”
And in London, the English National Ballet posted Friday: “Dear any celebs that believe no one cares about ballet or opera… We’re happy to report that ballet is not only alive and well, but thriving.”
The Seattle Opera used the actor’s remarks as a marketing opportunity and ran a promotion for an upcoming performance of Carmen.
Posting on Instagram it said: “All we have got to say is use promo code TIMOTHEE to save 14% off select seats for Carmen, through this weekend only. Timmy, you’re welcome to use it too.”
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Source: Radio New Zealand
Lea Tahuhu has called time on her one-day international career. PHOTOSPORT
The White Ferns all-time leading ODI wicket-taker Lea Tahuhu has announced her retirement from one-day international cricket.
She will continue to be available for selection in the T20 format.
Tahuhu has consistently been ranked inside the world’s top ten ODI bowlers and is one of just 12 players to have played more than 100 ODIs for New Zealand.
She also featured at four World Cups.
Tahuhu said the time was right to step down from the ODI format.
“To get one game was an amazing feeling. To have been able to wear the shirt and represent my country and my family over 100 times in ODI cricket is something I never could have dreamt of.
“I’ll treasure every moment and walk away from the ODI game incredibly proud of what I’ve been able to achieve in the format.”
Tahuhu made what was her final ODI appearance for New Zealand against England at the 2025 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in India.
Selectors have announced she is part of the squad for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Source: Radio New Zealand
RNZ headlines the broadcasting minister’s response in the House. RNZ Mediawatch
“There’s a power imbalance and it’s also off-the-record in an ‘under the desk’-style and I just find that dangerous,” former broadcasting minister Marian Hobbs told RNZ politics show The Whip last Wednesday.
She was reacting to current broadcasting minister Paul Goldsmith telling reporters in Parliament earlier that day TVNZ’s board chair Andrew Barclay had called him the previous weekend.
Goldsmith said that during the call Barclay raised a TVNZ 1News story aired last week – about the rising number of gang members – which had irritated Goldsmith and others in the government.
It didn’t come up on The Whip, but back in 2005 a former Labour colleague Hobbs appointed to the TVNZ board – Dame Anne Hercus – resigned in the wake of a row in which she was accused of leaking information about Judy Bailey’s salary to the government.
The scandal that followed created pressure on the entire TVNZ board to quit.
“The broadcasting law is clear that no minister can give media instructions about political coverage or anything like that,” Goldsmith said when questioned about it in Parliament the next day.
The editorial independence of TVNZ is protected by the TVNZ Act 2003, which says no minister should interfere with news at the state-owned broadcaster. TVNZ’s own editorial policy also has rules on influence from inside and out.
TVNZ board members are not supposed to exert influence on news or respond to complaints about it either.
You could be forgiven for thinking that only the media and political people would care about what seems like an obscure line that might be crossed. But while instances are rare – or rarely become public – it does matter if it happens.
It was sparked by another story aired on 1News last Tuesday – all about the latest Crime and Victims survey showing 49,000 fewer victims of violent crime than in 2023.
Those figures were announced five days earlier – and hailed by the government as an endorsement of the government’s policies.
But they were not reported on 1 News on that day, when the same senior political reporter – Benedict Collins – instead reported on the official number of gang members overtaking the number of police officers.
Collins also pointed out the PM had said – in a pre-election debate in 2023 – this would not happen. The story also included Hamiltonians saying crime appeared to be getting worse there.
“Absolutely unbelievable that on a day that the Government announces 49,000 fewer victims of violent crime and a 22 per cent decrease in serious repeat youth offending — 1News chose instead to engage in unbalanced journalism,” police minister Mark Mitchell vented on Facebook.
Cabinet colleagues endorsed the post as “a must-read”.
On Newstalk ZB’s afternoon show the next day, Mark Mitchell said TVNZ had called him and apologised for that story.
“My message to them was: ‘if you want to maintain public confidence, just engage in balanced journalism. You shouldn’t be a mouthpiece for the opposition either.’”
It’s very unusual for a broadcaster to apologise formally to a politician like that.
It came under the headline: The Govt gets its wish from 1News – a headline on fewer crime victims.
Newsroom co-editor Tim Murphy cited “concern within the wider TVNZ operation about who in the company was involved in discussions about broadcasting a second story that would include the Government-favourable statistics”.
“If there is evidence of the directors being across the decision, or involved in encouraging a second report to assuage Government criticisms, the company can be sure of another round of political attention – from opposition parties.”
And the media.
On Wednesday, Mark Mitchell told the House he did not contact TVNZ or its board members.
But Paul Goldsmith – who’s also the Justice Minister – told reporters the TVNZ board chair Andrew Barclay had called him last weekend. He insisted that when the gang numbers story came up, he told Barclay he couldn’t discuss it.
Asked in the House the next day if the Chair should have raised TVNZ reporting with the minister at all, Goldsmith said: “in the context of a board focusing on improving levels of trust … I don’t have a particularly strong view. He probably shouldn’t have, but it’s certainly not a major issue”.
But it would be if TVNZ news responded to pressure or instruction from within the broadcaster as a result of complaints from government ministers – or its own governors acting on them.
An earlier statement TVNZ said it chose to run the follow-up story in the interests of balance.
TVNZ said the board takes an interest in how editorial standards are maintained, [but] decisions on how stories are covered are made independently.
TVNZ told Mediawatch chief executive Jodie O’Donnell concluded the positive crime stats could have been included in the otherwise-accurate gang numbers story aired on Thursday last week.
She asked news leaders last Monday to look at the story, but TVNZ says that process was already underway.
Mediawatch asked to speak to TVNZ CEO Jodie O’Donnell. TVNZ declined citing “a full dance card” on the day TVNZ released its latest financial results.
On Friday the New Zealand Herald quoted Jodie O’Donnell – also the company’s editor-in-chief – as saying there was “no political or board interference.”
But she also told the Herald the TVNZ chair Andrew Barclay had asked her: ‘Are you comfortable that we’ve maintained editorial standards?’”
Mediawatch asked TVNZ if the government’s criticism of the gang numbers story was discussed by the TVNZ board members. And if so, was the board’s response then communicated to CEO Jodie O’Donnell – or to broadcasting minister Paul Goldsmith?
TVNZ said Minister Mitchell’s Facebook post was raised by board directors with CEO Jodi O’Donnell but “Board Directors have not discussed the story with the CEO – or given any editorial direction.”
TVNZ also told Mediawatch the CEO did not direct political editor Maiki Sherman to apologise to the Minister of Police last week.
TVNZ also said O’Donnell had no role in the follow-up story last Tuesday – and has not given reporters any instruction about changing their approach to balance in future political reporting as a result of complaints about the original ‘gang numbers’ story.
RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
The TVNZ Act 2003 says no shareholding minister – or any minister – can “give direction to TVNZ in respect of its programmes, content or any complaints about its content or the gathering or presentation of its news and current affairs”.
“‘Direction’ isn’t defined in the act, but … a ‘direction’ is something that is quite formal. It’s more than seeking to influence pressure on an organisation. It has to be a formal requirement,” University of Otago law professor Andrew Geddis told Mediawatch.
“This is more a question of the sort of relationship we think the governing body of TVNZ ought to have with a minister – and what he should be talking with the minister about in private.”
“If it’s to gauge how upset the Minister is and what sort of risk of blowback there is for the organisation, that’s troubling because it would seem to indicate the board is worried that how news is operating may harm the wider organisation in the future.”
Police Minister Mark Mitchell criticising TVNZ’s “unbalanced” news journalism would not breach the TVNZ Act.
“What it does do though is raise this question of how ought ministers seek to express their disappointment or disagreement with media. There is a formal structure for complaints … through the Broadcasting Standards Authority,” Prof Geddis said.
“Complaining to that body and getting a formal ruling on does have a kind of disciplining effect on the media.”
Two years ago David Seymour criticised a Benedict Collins story including a health advocate who David Seymour said had earlier criticised him. He also criticised TVNZ correspondent John Campbell for quoting and linking to a left-wing blogger.
“We are not asking for sympathy but are asking for our politicians to respect the independence of our media so they can get on with their work,” TVNZ said at the time.
Last week, TVNZ’s political editor Maiki Sherman apologised to Police Minister Mark Mitchell about that gang numbers story that aired last week.
The ‘good news’ crime survey stats could have been included as relevant and newsworthy context, or mentioned in the introduction, or even reported elsewhere in the bulletin.
But news shows and their reporters have every right to zero in on an angle when they see one. As Benedict Collins pointed out in his report last week, gang membership overtaking the police was part of a trend. It also contradicted a previous promise from the prime minister and it was tied to the parallel issue of police recruitment targets.
As Newsroom’s Tim Murphy pointed out on RNZ’s Midday Report, the Ministry of Justice surveys come out frequently and recent ones have also recorded significant falls in reported crime.
Questions about influence on the news were also raised last year when Trade Me bought a share in Stuff Digital last year – and when NZME created an Editorial Advisory Board (EAB).
That came out of the bid by activist shareholder James Grenon to persuade other shareholders to replace the entire NZME board – and introduce greater oversight news at the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB.
The appointment this week of Hamish Rutherford as chair of the EAB raised eyebrows.
He was a business journalist before becoming Chief Press Secretary to Christopher Luxon until late 2024 when he left to become a PR professional.
This week NZME told Mediawatch that Rutherford would continue working in PR while chairing the board advising NZME on its editorial matters.
“I’ve been upfront with [NZME] chairman Steven Joyce about my other work and will continue to be,” Rutherford told The Post.
Steven Joyce told The Post the EAB did not make editorial decisions and “all members are subject to our conflict of interest policies”.
Joyce is also a consultant who has contracted for government projects such as a medical school for the University of Waikato.
The PR firm Hamish Rutherford works for – BRG – told The Post it sees no conflict of interest problems.
“If any perceived or actual conflicts of interest arise, we will manage them quickly and appropriately,” managing director Georgina Stylianou said.
But that won’t be done in public – all behind closed doors at NZME, unless details are shared with investors in scheduled briefings or if it comes up from the floor at AGMs.
“So NZME – chaired by a former National Party cabinet minister and campaign manager – has appointed an editorial board that’s going to be chaired by a former National Party press secretary,” Labour leader Chris Hipkins told The Post when he was made aware the appointment.
And there are two other former press secretaries on the four-person board, one of whom – Brent Webling – also served National party leaders.
And this alarmed the Democracy Project’s Dr Bryce Edwards – a longtime advocate of tightening up on lobbying.
“A practising government relations lobbyist is now leading the body that provides “advice, support and constructive challenge” to NZME’s editorial team. The board advises on editorial standards, audience development, and – tellingly – “strategic positioning in New Zealand’s evolving media landscape,’ Dr Edwards wrote.
He said while NZME is a private company and is entitled to appoint whoever it likes, “public perception is the whole point of being a news organisation.”
The other main thing news organisations do telling the public things they need to know.
NZME wasn’t willing to talk openly about the work of its EAB this week.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Source: Radio New Zealand
Psychopaths might account for only about 1 percent of the general population, but they account for a disproportionate share of violent crime.
Distinct from other conditions like sociopathy and antisocial personality disorder, psychopaths tend to show traits such as an absence of remorse or guilt, a lack of empathy and a charming and manipulative interpersonal style.
You may find it hard to imagine how someone without much empathy can change. And early psychological treatments were not successful. But advances in research are showing that a deeper understanding of psychopathy may help to create more effective interventions.
To help psychopaths change, we first need to understand them.
Unsplash
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Source: Radio New Zealand
Shore plover fledgling banded on Pitt Island. Supplied / Department of Conservation
The Shore Plover Recovery Group has confirmed the first fledgling of the bird from Pitt Island in 150 years.
Pitt Island is the second largest of the Chatham Islands, which the shore plover – also known as the tūturuatu in te reo Māori, or tchūriwat’ in ta rē Moriori (Moriori language) – are native to.
There is a population of 250, which live in Māngere and Rangatira, as well as on Portland Island – south of Māhia Peninsula in Hawke’s Bay.
A shore plover in Māngere. Supplied / Department of Conservation
The fledgling is a result of a feral cat control programme to increase the population by the community living on Pitt Island.
Chairman Dave Houston said feral cats had eliminated the population on Pitt Island, as well as the mainland of New Zealand, in the 1870s.
But the programme allowed the shore plover to breed and for their chicks to survive after hatching, Houston said.
“The community were really engaged in that during the Jobs for Nature period after Covid.”
Shore plover. Supplied / Department of Conservation
Houston hoped for another fledging next year.
“It really depends on the cats on Pitt Island.
“We need sustained cat control to continue, or even better, to have the feral cats eradicated from the island.
“That’s a bit of a long term project, but it’s sort of a glimpse of what could be if we could have cats eradicated and get double the shore plover population, so go from the current 250 birds in the total world population to maybe 500 or more. That’d be great.”
Shore plover fledgling banded on Pitt Island. Supplied / Department of Conservation
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