AI has powerful uses for First Nations oral cultural knowledge. Here’s how

March 4, 2026

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Vaughan, Rock Art Australia Kimberley Research Fellow, The University of Western Australia

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of people who have died.

Much of the conversation about artificial intelligence (AI) and Indigenous peoples focuses on harms, such as cultural appropriation, cultural flattening and digital exclusion. These risks are real.

But behind them sits an assumption that rarely gets challenged: because Aboriginal cultures are ancient, they must be static. Rooted firmly in the past, to stay there. That they cannot adapt to something as disruptive as generative AI.

This misreads tens of thousands of years of history. And it misses something our work with Traditional Owners in the Kimberley in Western Australia has made increasingly clear: Indigenous cultures are not only capable of adapting to AI – the way they have always held and transmitted knowledge may make them natural users of it.

‘Say it properly’

When I (Liz) first began working with Wororra people in the Kimberley, the late Janet Oobagooma taught me Wororra words. A senior cultural Elder for the Dambimangari community, she was exacting. When I got tongue-tied, she would growl at me: “If you’re gonna talk, say it properly”.

That strictness is structural, not personal. Wororra is an oral language. There is no written form to fall back on.

All societal laws, historical records, kinship information and cultural practices accumulated over millennia must be held in living memory – encoded across an entire population in songs, mythology, art, dance and ceremony. Nothing is filed in a single place. Everything is distributed, collectively maintained, and must be practised to survive.

This is fundamentally different from Western text-based, institutionalised knowledge systems.

And it raises a practical question: if oral knowledge was never meant to be read off a page, are libraries and archives really the best way to return it to the communities it belongs to?

Locked away in archives

The renowned Wororra lawman Sam Woolagoodja – co-author Francis Woolagoodja’s grandfather – worked with anthropologists, filmmakers and linguists over decades. Among them were missionary linguist Howard Coate, filmmaker Michael Edols, and bush adventurer Malcolm Douglas, who filmed Sam repainting Wandjina rock art at Raft Point.

Malcolm Douglas’s film ‘Beyond the Kimberley Coast’ featuring Sam Woolagoodja in 1976.

Over more than 40 years Sam shared cultural knowledge with these researchers. The recordings, field notes and translations captured during this period contribute some of the most detailed documentation of Wororra culture in existence.

Today, this material sits in institutions across the country, thousands of kilometres from the communities it belongs to.

This isn’t only a matter of preservation. For Aboriginal corporations managing Country, this data informs modern governance. Genealogies determine who speaks for Country. Heritage records shape native title decisions – as traditional owners have said to each other in management forums: “people are making up their own story about us”.

What AI made possible

Working with Sam’s descendants, we set out to gather his legacy of archived cultural material and explore ways to return it to community.

We began using a generative AI tool – Claude, made by Anthropic – to assist in making sense of data provided to Howard Coate by Sam.

We used it for deciphering difficult handwriting in decades-old field notebooks, cross referencing genealogies across multiple sources, and organising hundreds of extracted PDF scans into usable files. Work that normally takes months could be completed in hours.

Howard Coate’s notebook that records the walk with Sam Woolagoodja to Doubtful Bay. Author provided

But the real shift came when we began directing the AI to work only within a defined set of curated sources – published research, verified archival material, community-approved records – rather than drawing from the open internet.

Within that controlled environment, we could ask questions about Wororra culture in plain language and receive grounded answers drawn only from material we trusted.

It became a way of learning through dialogue rather than reading dense academic text. For those of us working to understand a culture’s depth from scattered published sources, it accelerated learning dramatically.

This experience gave us an idea. If a curated AI environment could help researchers engage with cultural knowledge through conversation, could a purpose-built system do the same for community members – especially younger generations living in town, away from Country?

Howard Coate and Sam Woolagoodja pictured together in 1936 or 1937. Photo courtesy of the State Library of Western Australia, from the Ron and Margaret Ross collection of photographs of the Derby Leprosaurium, Kunmunya, Munja and Wotjulum (BA3502/1/22)

The limitations of AI

General-purpose AI still has serious limitations. It has no understanding of cultural protocols or Indigenous data sovereignty, no concept of restricted knowledge governed by gender, age or ceremonial authority.

It can present errors with complete confidence, mixing up sources, misattributing cultural information, or presenting guesswork as fact. In heritage work, accuracy is not optional.

So we are developing a purpose-built concept. A closed-system AI governed by the community, where sources are verified, culturally appropriate and collectively endorsed.

The intent is not to replace oral tradition but to give communities a way to interact with their heritage through dialogue using AI. That’s closer to how this knowledge was always meant to be used than any library shelf or academic paper.

Janet Oobagooma and the Elders who contributed to the Dambimangari community’s published history, Barddabardda Wodjenangorddee (“we are telling all of you”), always emphasised that culture is not a museum exhibit.

It is alive, it adapts, and it demands to be spoken. AI is just the latest tool that could help make that happen – if communities are the ones holding it.

– ref. AI has powerful uses for First Nations oral cultural knowledge. Here’s how – https://theconversation.com/ai-has-powerful-uses-for-first-nations-oral-cultural-knowledge-heres-how-276043

How to live a long and healthy life, according to the ancients

By The Conversation -

March 4, 2026

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History, The University of Western Australia

Just like in the modern world, people in ancient times wanted to know how to live a long and healthy life.

Greeks and Romans heard fantastic tales of far-away peoples living to well beyond 100.

Greek essayist Lucian (about 120–180 CE) writes:

Indeed, there are even whole nations that are very long-lived, like the Seres [Chinese], who are said to live 300 years: some attribute their old age to the climate, others to the soil and still others to their diet, for they say that this entire nation drinks nothing but water. The people of Athos are also said to live 130 years, and it is reported that the Chaldeans live more than 100, using barley bread to preserve the sharpness of their eyesight.

Portrait of Lucian of Samosata — Greek essayist Lucian had lots to say about how to live a long and healthy life, as did ancient doctors. Library of Congress, Washington DC/Wikimedia

Whatever the truth of these tales, many ancient Greeks and Romans wanted a long and healthy life.

This is how they thought this could happen.

An ancient doctor’s perspective

Ancient doctors were interested in what people who lived long lives were doing every day and how this might have helped.

The Greek physician Galen (129–216 CE), for example, discusses two people he knew personally in Rome who lived to old age.

First, there is a grammarian (someone who studies and teaches grammar) called Telephus, who lived to almost 100.

According to Galen, Telephus ate just three times a day. His diet was simple:

gruel boiled in water mixed with raw honey of the best quality, and this alone was enough for him at the first meal. He also dined at the seventh hour or a little sooner, taking vegetables first and next tasting fish or birds. In the evening, he used to eat only bread, moistened in wine that had been mixed.

Galen also tells us Telephus had some bathing habits that might seem unusual to us today. Telephus preferred to be massaged with olive oil every day and only have a bath a few times a month:

He was in the habit of bathing twice a month in winter and four times a month in summer. In the seasons between these, he bathed three times a month. On the days he didn’t bathe, he was anointed around the third hour with a brief massage.

Second, there was an old doctor named Antiochus, who lived into his 80s.

According to Galen, Antiochus also had a simple diet.

In the morning, Antiochus usually ate toasted bread with honey. Then, at lunch, he would eat fish, but usually only fish “from around the rocks and those from the deep sea”. For dinner, he would eat “either gruel with oxymel [a mix of vinegar and honey] or a bird with a simple sauce”.

Alongside this simple diet, Antiochus went for a walk every morning. He also liked to be driven in a chariot, or had his slaves carry him in a chair around the city.

Galen also said Antiochus “performed the exercises suitable for an old man”:

There is one thing you should do for old people in the early morning as an exercise: after massage with oil, next get them to walk about and carry out passive exercises without becoming fatigued, taking into account the capacity of the old person.

Galen concludes that Antiochus’ routine probably contributed to his good health well into advanced age:

Looking after himself in old age in this way, Antiochus continued on until the very end, unimpaired in his senses and sound in all his limbs.

Galen stresses that Telephus and Antiochus had some obvious things in common. They ate just a few times a day; their diet was of wild meats, whole grains, bread and honey; and they kept active every day.

Depiction of eye examination, Roman copy of Greek original — An eye exam is under way. But there was more to staying healthy in ancient times. Rabax63/Wikimedia, CC BY-SA

What can you do?

Not all of us can live to 100 or more, as the Greeks and Romans were well aware.

However, Lucian offers us some consolation in his essay On Octogenarians:

On every soil and in every climate people who observe the proper exercise and the diet most suitable for health have been long-lived.

Lucian advised that we should imitate the lifestyles of people who have lived long and healthy lives if we want to do the same.

So, if you lived in Rome in the 2nd century CE, people like Telephus and Antiochus, who had a simple diet and kept active all their lives, would be good role models.

– ref. How to live a long and healthy life, according to the ancients – https://theconversation.com/how-to-live-a-long-and-healthy-life-according-to-the-ancients-274975

‘Silky’ doesn’t mean it’s made from silk – how confusing textile language can harm the environment

By The Conversation -

March 4, 2026

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Van Amber, Senior Lecturer in Fashion & Textiles, RMIT University

If you care about sustainability, buying something as simple as a pillowcase can feel surprisingly hard.

Search for “sustainable sheets” and you’re flooded with familiar and tantalising promises: silky, bamboo, vegan, antimicrobial, breathable, organic. The language sounds reassuringly scientific and ethical, suggesting comfort, health, and environmental responsibility all wrapped up in one product.

The problem is that, in textiles, these words rarely mean what consumers think they mean.

The fashion industry is full of greenwashing, with brands using language to manipulate consumers.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s 2023 sweep into greenwashing claims identified textiles, garments and shoes as one of the most problematic sectors.

As textile researchers, we spend a lot of time unpacking product descriptions that look authoritative but often conflate different fabric components (fibre, yarn, fabric construction and finishes) into a single performance or marketing claim.

In one recent example, it took us more than 20 minutes to decode what was being sold as a “regenerated silk” fibre.

If two textile academics struggle to decipher a product description, the problem isn’t consumer literacy. It’s the way the information is being presented.

The case of the ‘silky’ pillowcase

Silky pillowcases have been heavily marketed as wellness products that will reduce wrinkles, prevent acne, and keep hair smooth and tangle-free. The promise is that a simple switch can quietly improve your life while you sleep.

In functional terms, there is some truth here. Smooth, “silky” fabrics like satin exhibit properties that are beneficial for skin and hair.

But “silky” isn’t a fibre at all.

Silk is the only naturally occurring filament fibre (meaning it is long and continuous), and most commercial silk comes from the Bombyx mori caterpillar.

Other common filament fibres are polyester and rayon (also known as viscose, which is often marketed and sold as bamboo), which are manufactured by extruding liquid polymers through spinnerets and solidifying them into long, continuous fibres.

When filament fibres are spun into yarns and woven in a satin structure, the resulting fabric is incredibly smooth.

The promises of wrinkle reduction and curl preservation being sold as features of a silky pillowcase cannot be completely attributed to a specific natural fibre’s biology. These claims are just as much as result of simply weaving smooth filament fibres into a satin weave – thus there is the exact same mechanism at work in polyester satin pillowcases that make no sustainability claims at all.

For example, bamboo is often presented as the sustainable middle ground between silk (often prohibitively expensive) and polyester (plastic) as bamboo is plant-based, fast-growing, and natural.

To make bamboo feel silky, the plant material is dissolved and extruded into viscose, a regenerated fibre, a process that strips away the original fibre structure entirely, along with many of its associated properties, such as being antimicrobial.

Conventional viscose/rayon production involves dissolving wood, bamboo or other cellulose using carbon disulfide, a chemical with health hazards, especially for exposed workers.

And while rayon is often marketed as “sustainable” because it comes from renewable resources such as trees and bamboo, old-growth forests are still often harvested to produce it.

‘Silkiness’ is vastly different to silk

At this point, the confusion isn’t just understandable — it’s structural.

Consumers are being asked to make complex ethical and sustainability judgements using language that collapses fibre, yarn type and fabric construction into a single sensory promise.

In other words, “silkiness” arises from a combination of fibre type, yarn and fabric construction, rather than whether a fibre is natural or synthetic.

This is why three very different fibres – silk, polyester and rayon – can all be turned into satin pillowcases that may feel remarkably similar, while carrying completely different environmental, ethical and end-of-life consequences.

Polyester comes from petrochemicals and releases plastic microfibres every time it’s washed. And unless rayon comes from a certified source, there’s a risk old-growth forests were harvested for the wood pulp feedstock.

By focusing on how a fabric feels, brands can imply a product inherits the cultural value of silk – luxury, smoothness, naturalness – even when the fibre itself is fossil-fuel derived or heavily chemically processed.

5 questions to ask

When assessing a sustainability claim in clothing or textiles, consumers can start with simple questions, such as:

1. What’s being highlighted and what’s being left out? Marketing often draws attention to a single fibre, plant or property while avoiding details about blends, chemical processing or finishes.

2. Where does the advertised claim come from? Is it from the fibre itself, the yarn, the fabric construction, or a surface treatment? Comfort words like “silky” or “breathable” can come from any of these.

3. Are scientific terms being used precisely or suggestively? Words like antimicrobial, organic, biodegradable and regenerated sound technical, but in clothing they’re often undefined, loosely applied and rarely backed by scientific testing.

4. What design choices shape end-of-life? Small amounts of blended fibres or elastane can prevent composting or recycling entirely, regardless of how sustainable the product claims to be.

5. What isn’t visible on the label? Finishes, coatings, sewing threads, dyes and trims are rarely disclosed, yet they materially affect durability and disposal.

Time for change

In Europe, a digital product passport on all items from 2027 will require companies to disclose not only fibre type, but also chemicals and processes used in production.

To protect consumers, it’s time Australia followed suit.

– ref. ‘Silky’ doesn’t mean it’s made from silk – how confusing textile language can harm the environment – https://theconversation.com/silky-doesnt-mean-its-made-from-silk-how-confusing-textile-language-can-harm-the-environment-271406

Why doesn’t travel insurance cover war?

By The Conversation -

March 4, 2026

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Latimer, Adjunct Professor, School of Law, Swinburne University of Technology

You might think it was exactly the kind of scenario you’d buy travel insurance for in the first place. A major, unforeseen international event causes travel chaos.

Flights are grounded around the world, leaving you and thousands of other travellers stranded with their travel plans in disarray. The knock-on effects lead to cancelled hotels, hire cars, work events, tour bookings and more.

That’s where the world found itself this week, as major conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran broke out in the Middle East.

But some people were caught off-guard, as they discovered cover for any impacts of war was explicitly written out of their insurance policies.

One might argue everyone needs to read the fine print. But it’s also been a long time since Australian travellers have had to grapple with a large-scale conflict affecting an entire region.

For the thousands of Australians currently stranded in or unable to travel through the Middle East, it’s almost impossible to predict how long this conflict and disruption will last.

So, are these exclusions fair? And for impacted travellers – are there any other options for support?

The costs of the unknown

Insurance is there to cover you against the unknown. It works by transferring risks and spreading losses.

Instead of an individual having to bear the devastating cost of something going wrong alone, they pay money (premiums) into a pool, along with many other people who face similar risks.

Insurance companies are happy to take on this risk, because they’ve carefully estimated how many people will actually make a claim, and how much they’ll need to pay them, versus those who’ll pay for cover but will statistically probably never need it.

In short, people take out insurance because they bet they’ll need it. Insurers sell it, because they bet enough people won’t.

What’s in the fine print

Despite this, almost all insurance policies have explicit exclusions: things written into the contract that the policy won’t cover.

It is very common for insurance contracts to exclude claims caused by war.

But with the travel plans of thousands thrown into disarray this week, many now possibly forced to foot the bill, there’s a broader question of fairness.

Smoke seen rising near Dubai International Airport following an Iranian strike. — Smoke seen rising near Dubai International Airport following an Iranian strike on Sunday. Altaf Qadri/AP

What makes a fair contract?

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) Act defines contract terms as “unfair” if they:

cause a significant imbalance in the rights and obligations of the parties under the contract
are not reasonably necessary to protect the legitimate interests of the party who gets an advantage from the term, and
would cause financial or other harm to the other party if enforced.

For example, a contract may be unfair if one party can avoid or limit their responsibility, but the other cannot.

A further consideration is whether the conduct of a company could be unconscionable. This is defined as exploiting a consumer’s “special disadvantage” for financial gain.

Are these exclusion clauses fair?

Do travel insurance cover exclusions due to “war” fit the definition of an unfair contract term?

One could argue your insurance company can certainly avoid or limit its liability to pay out your claim, while you cannot.

There are also complex questions around how you actually define terms such as “war” and whether the current conflict in the Middle East qualifies as one.

Until 2021, insurance contracts for consumers were carved out of a key consumer protection under the ASIC Act – the “unfair contract terms” law.

Now, however, these contracts are covered under the ASIC Act. This means a court or tribunal could rule a particular contract term in an insurance contract is “unfair”, voiding it in the contract.

However, those impacted by the current travel chaos may be clutching at straws if they are hoping for any relief via this avenue.

Most policies are bought under “standard form contracts”, meaning they are prepared by one party (the insurer) and not subject to negotiation by the other (the customer). Exclusions for war and conflict are well established and highly standard across the industry.

It’s worth noting that if the chaos is prolonged and has severe impacts, we could see class actions emerge on this issue.

Think carefully before cancelling your flight

If your travel plans have been impacted by the conflict in the Middle East and you’re worried your insurance won’t cover you, there are still some steps you can take.

First, if you are booked to travel through the region, do not cancel your flight without consulting your airline.

Many airlines are already implementing their own refund and rebooking schemes, and cancelling independently could limit or void your access to compensation under Australian Consumer Law.

Other steps you can take

If you have questions about what is or isn’t covered in a particular policy, contact your insurer.

Consider seeking independent legal advice if you have concerns. Community legal services can often provide general advice for free.

To lodge a formal complaint about any financial product, contact the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) on 1800 931 678 or via their website. AFCA will make a decision to uphold or reject a consumer’s claim.

Alternatively, you can contact the relevant small claims tribunal in your state or territory.

The Australian government’s Smartraveller website provides up-to-date travel advice for Australians.

– ref. Why doesn’t travel insurance cover war? – https://theconversation.com/why-doesnt-travel-insurance-cover-war-277363

Auckland mayor objects to ‘expensive’ housing plan request

By Evening Report -

March 4, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown. RNZ/Marika Khabazi

Auckland Council has less than two weeks to respond to a letter from the government wanting the council to outline its plan for housing intensification.

But mayor Wayne Brown says the council is already spending millions on the project and the request is too costly.

In February, Minister for Housing and RMA Reform Chris Bishop announced that Cabinet agreed to reduce the city’s minimum housing capacity requirement from 2.08 million to 1.6 million.

In a letter to Brown dated 24 February, Bishop asked for an outline of the approach the mayor intended to take to review the plan, and of what areas or suburbs may be affected by the change.

Brown refused. “We’ve spent $10 million on Plan Change 78, and by Christmas we’d blown another $3 million on Plan Change 120, as well as having 50 staff reading 10,000 submissions… so this is expensive,” he told a planning committee meeting on Tuesday.

“Preparing maps requires investing significant time and money. It’s not as simple as pushing a button. In this organisation you’re lucky to get a lift by pushing a button. We’ll be telling the government what Aucklanders want, not the other way around.

“What’s important is for Auckland to lead the process from here, not producing maps to see if some ministers worried about their jobs might like them.”

A spokesperson from Chris Bishop’s office later clarified to RNZ that the minister had never asked Brown for a map.

Brown was adament that Auckland Council would not invest any more resources.

“I’m reluctant to commission a hell of a lot of expenditure, which may not meet an unknown criteria from an unknown number of Cabinet Ministers. Most of them don’t live in Auckland.

“That’s just stupid. I’m not going to do that. I’m the mayor of Auckland. If they want to be the mayor of Auckland, have a crack at me.”

Bishop asked Brown to respond to the letter by 17 March.

Councillor Shane Henderson agrees with the mayor’s approach saying the council should not provide an outline until feedback from the public had been considered, and accused the government of “political desperation in an election year”.

Councillor Sarah Paterson-Hamlin was concerned Aucklanders would have to be consulted again.

“I’m really conscious that we asked a lot of Aucklanders,” she said.

“We asked them for feedback on a really complicated thing over Christmas and they came to the party, 10,000 submissions is a lot for a process like that. I don’t know how we can go back out in good faith, and how we communicate to those 10,000-plus people that they will be heard.”

However, deputy mayor Desley Simpson did not understand why it would be too difficult.

“Respectfully it does seem pretty obvious, for me, for a layman, surely if you just up-zoned along the major transport corridors and around the stations added the city centre you’d get a number.

“Why can’t you just tell us straight away what those suburbs would look like going up and the suburbs that would look like going down? That seems like, from a layman, quite a logical thing to ask.”

Auckland Council chief of strategy Megan Tyler responded that it would be too time-consuming.

“It’s not simple. If it was a button, I would happily show you the button. You can press the button yourself. There isn’t one.”

Auckland Council will meet again on 10 March, where Bishop’s letter will be on the agenda.

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

Dog attacks keep happening in NZ. Why hasn’t the law kept up?

By The Conversation -

March 4, 2026

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere, Associate Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

In February of this year, the media in New Zealand both captivated and horrified the public with sensational stories of dog attacks.

That line could have been written last week. It wasn’t. It appeared in an article in the New Zealand Law Journal more than two decades ago.

The recent attacks that led to the death of a woman in Northland and left a father and son critically injured in Christchurch have once again forced dog control into the national conversation. But the sense of déjà vu is hard to ignore.

Writing in that article back in 2003, legal scholar Jill Jones was responding to a similar spate of attacks and the government’s proposed amendments to the Dog Control Act 1996.

Those changes were touted at the time as “significant and comprehensive”. In reality, they focused narrowly on banning the importation of particular breeds and introducing new classifications of “menacing” dogs.

The legislation was enacted within months, despite concerns it would do little to reduce attacks and risked becoming kneejerk lawmaking: a response to moral panic rather than to the underlying causes of the problem.

Reform in name, not in effect

Ultimately, the concerns were well founded. The legislation did little to solve the problem of dog attacks. In fact, a 2022 study published in the New Zealand Medical Journal showed that the problem has got steadily worse.

Those researchers identified “a nearly eight-fold increase in the risk of hospitalisation from a dog bite injury compared to forty years ago, with an incidence of 1.7 per 100,000 in 1979 rising to 13.4 per 100,000 in 2018/19”.

They also note that “this increase has come about despite regional attempts by each territorial authority at addressing this worsening problem”.

Thus, stories with sensational headlines such as “Deadly surge: Councils warn more deaths likely under weak dog laws” need to be read in context.

Despite the recent interest by news media – and the moral panic it might provoke – the awful attacks that occurred earlier this year are not out of the norm: this is a persistent issue. The public’s worry and its demands to address the problem are also entirely justifiable.

Soothing that worry will require much more emotional responses from politicians calling the owners of dogs who attack “feral” and “degenerate” and calling for stricter punishments.

Local Government Minister Simon Watts, who is in charge of the issue, has stated that “overhauling the Dog Control Act is not something that we have capacity for this term”. That raises the prospect that any short-term action will once again take the form of piecemeal, regional and ultimately ineffective responses.

Already, some local authorities have begun reviewing their bylaws in response to the media focus and public concern it has generated. However, no efforts are underway to develop a national solution.

From punishment to prevention

If the government is serious about reducing dog attacks, it would need to engage with expert advice and consider major reform.

The Dog Control Act turns 30 this year. While it has been amended over time, its core structure remains largely unchanged. Experts have long questioned its effectiveness and whether its decentralised design – which delegates the responsibility for dog control to local authorities – is still fit for purpose in addressing today’s patterns of dog ownership and harm.

This is one reason why the SPCA last week wrote an open letter to parliament calling for, among other things, a “comprehensive overhaul” of the act that would “replace outdated breed-specific provisions with evidence-based, nationally consistent risk management tools focused on individual dog behaviour and responsible ownership”.

Current legislation requires all councils to have the basics – such as a registration system and dog control officers – but leaves the details of implementing dog control policy to each individual council.

This explains the extreme regional variation in fees, educational programmes and enforcement. The 2022 study found a “seven-fold difference in the incidence of dog bites between territorial authorities with the highest and lowest rates of dog-bite injury”.

Another report found Invercargill has five times the number of prosecutions compared to Wellington, despite similar levels of registered dogs and reported attacks.

With an estimated 830,000 dogs in New Zealand, many people have important relationships with them, whether they be companions or colleagues.

There is a need for thoughtful, evidence-based policymaking that reflects the place of dogs in society and the nature of human–dog relationships. It should also consider which regulatory systems – including overseas models – have been shown to reduce harm.

Addressing the issue effectively requires national coordination and long-term planning, rather than inconsistent regional responses or short-term measures aimed primarily at easing political pressure. Any reform should focus on preventing attacks, not simply responding to them after the fact.

Progress on that work is overdue, given the harm experienced by victims and the broader responsibility to ensure safe and responsible dog ownership.

– ref. Dog attacks keep happening in NZ. Why hasn’t the law kept up? – https://theconversation.com/dog-attacks-keep-happening-in-nz-why-hasnt-the-law-kept-up-276737

Live: Israel’s army ordered to seize territory in Lebanon, Trump vows to ‘cut off all trade’ with Spain over Iran

By Evening Report -

March 4, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

Follow the latest with our live blog above

Fresh strikes have hit half a dozen countries across the Middle East in the widening conflict surrounding Iran.

The latest blasts were reported in Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as Israel urged countries to cut ties with Iran.

Israel said its air force had launched a new “large scale” wave of strikes “targeting the Iranian terror regime’s infrastructure in Tehran”, following the latest salvo of missiles fired from Iran, including in Tel Aviv and in several sites in central Israel.

Iran, in turn, appealed to the UN Security Council to step in, while warning of more intense attacks on US forces and Israel as the war raged for the fourth day.

Iranian drones struck the US embassy in Saudi Arabia after previously hitting the mission in Kuwait.

In Lebanon, air strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, an area where Hezbollah holds sway, while Hezbollah said it had targeted a military facility in Israel in response.

Israel ordered its forces to take control of more positions inside Lebanon to create a buffer zone, and the Lebanese army pulled back some of its forces.

Explosions were also heard in the Bahraini and Qatari capitals of Manama and Doha.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said a key Iranian nuclear site, Natanz, was damaged, but “no radiological consequence” was expected.

The UN refugee agency said the escalation of hostilities has displaced at least 30,000 people in Lebanon, and the Iranian Red Crescent said more than 780 people have been killed nationwide.

Follow the latest with our live blog at the top of this page.

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

Dozens of Auckland homes compulsorily bought by council for flood relief plan

By Evening Report -

March 4, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

Close to 50 homes in an Auckland suburb are being compulsorily bought to make way for new flood plains and uncover a buried stream.

This is in Rānui, where some homeowners are relieved to get out, while others wish they could stay.

It’s just the start of Auckland Council’s plan to reduce the risk in flood-prone areas of the region and it says there are more property acquisitions ahead.

Emily Stewart is one of those affected. RNZ / Marika Khabazi

Emily Stewart, her husband and two children moved out of their house in Rānui’s Clover Drive a few weeks ago.

It’s been bought under the Public Works Act because a piped stream is being uncovered.

“The stream is going to come through approximately through here…right through our house.”

On Sunday, the home was relocated to Waikato.

default RNZ / Marika Khabazi

Stewart said they planned to sell the house three years ago before the storms hit – some of her neighbours had to kayak from their houses.

The Stewarts weren’t eligible for a risky-home buyout, so had repairs done, then learned their house would be acquired to daylight a stream and create a flood plain.

The family has bought and moved to another part of the city.

“It’s bittersweet because for three years we were just stuck in this limbo. Back in October all of the houses in this cresent were still standing in various states of decay,” Stewart said.

Close to 50 homes in an Auckland suburb are being compulsorily bought to make way for new flood plains and uncover a buried stream. RNZ / Marika Khabazi

‘We need this land’ – council

Auckland Council’s head of sustainable partnerships Tom Mansell said of the almost 50 homes required for flood plains in Rānui, half were state owned.

“Some of these properties, most of them have been flooded, some of them have been partially flooded, some of them haven’t been flooded but we need this land to save other surrounding properties from flooding.”

He said it would save 100 properties and also enable future development.

The Rānui Making Space for Water project is costing $85 million, of which most – close to $50m – is for buying properties.

“It’s digging up the pipe, creating the flood plain, creating the stream, upgrading Don Buck Road bridge,” Mansell said.

“It’s transforming communities, it is disruptive, it is costly but moving forward with climate change and increased rainfall it is a new era in managing stormwater.”

RNZ / Marika Khabazi

Mansell said negotiating with homeowners was a sensitive process.

“Some homeowners are relieved it is a way out, a fresh start for them and some not so much, it’s really quite hard hitting. Some of them have been there 30 to 40 years and it’s their home, there’s a reluctance to leave.”

He said there will be more homes acquired to make way for flood plains in coming years as the council confirms other projects.

“Overall, it creates more greenspace, creates resilient communities and it’s the way of the future for managing stormwater.”

Clover Drive in Henderson in Auckland. RNZ / Marika Khabazi

Reluctant to leave

Another Clover Drive homeowner, Wayne Macdonald, didn’t want to leave but accepted a Public Works Act buyout.

“I was hoping to stay,” he said.

“I was disappointed, I like my house. I like its location, I like how it’s close to everything and I didn’t really look forward to looking for a new house and I’m struggling to find something.”

He was aware the acquisition was compulsory and said the financial incentives for accepting a buyout within certain timeframes made it more attractive.

The Momutu Stream. RNZ / Marika Khabazi

Macdonald said the plans to create a bigger stream and flood plain included walking paths and reserve areas.

“What they’re doing is actually really nice and for a lot of neighbourhoods around, it’s going to give them options. They’re going to be able to walk away from the streets and pollution of the cars, kids are going to have areas to go play.”

Further along the road, Donna Mather’s home is not in a flood zone.

There are already many vacant plots from houses that were too risky to live in and she said having more homes go with compulsory acquisitions will change the neighbourhood.

“A lady friend up on Universal Drive, she will be moving because she was bought out. Apparently her place is going to be a pond.”

Donna Mather RNZ / Marika Khabazi

Under the Public Works Act, councils or agencies buying properties can only inform property owners – not tenants.

Stewart said this created problems on her street, because some neighbours were only recently informed by their landlords who have to give 90 days notice to end a tenancy.

“They were completely rug-pulled, like what’s going on, what’s happening I’m getting conflicting information.”

She said that needed to change.

“What I’m seeing is that we are prioritising homeowners over people who are renting and that’s not how this society should be supporting each other,” Stewart said.

“The fact that I’ve been told that they are having to look at work-arounds means there’s something wrong with the law. There is an oversight with the laws that they are bound by,” she said.

“The way we can make change for the better for people is to say ‘this isn’t working’.”

RNZ / Marika Khabazi

Mansell said the council strongly encouraged landlords to inform tenants if their house was being bought out – and tenants have access to financial support during the process.

“We encourage them strongly to talk to their tenants and we have a community advisory group which meets every two weeks…so we try and keep as much information about what we’re doing, the overall layout of the project is out in the community,” Mansell said.

“That’s one way the information gets out but unfortunately we cannot contact the tenants directly, we have to go through the landlord.”

The compulsory buyouts come as the region is under pressure to intensify housing and build more homes and the council was preparing plans to accommodate up to 2 million homes in coming decades.

However last month, Cabinet agreed to lower the maximum number of houses in Auckland from 2 million to at least 1.6 million.

Mansell said houses needed to be built in safe areas.

“The last thing we want to do is more development with houses in the wrong place in a danger zone so we are watching and working with this plan change. We don’t want to create more issues moving forward.”

RNZ / Marika Khabazi

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

The 5am myth: Waking early won’t make you more successful

By Evening Report -

March 4, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

At 5am, social media fills with proof that the early risers have already won the day. Cold plunges. Journals. Sunrise runs. Productivity gurus insist this is the routine that separates high performers from everyone else, reinforced by high-profile early risers such as Apple CEO Tim Cook, entrepreneur Richard Branson and Hollywood actor Jennifer Aniston.

The message is simple: wake earlier, perform better. But the science tells a more complicated story. For many people, a 5am routine clashes with their biology and can undermine both health and productivity. Much depends on your individual biological rhythm, or “chronotype”.

Chronotypes reflect when people naturally feel alert or sleepy, and genetics play a major role in shaping them. Research shows that sleep timing is partly rooted in our genes, and chronotype is heritable. Chronotype also shifts across the lifespan, with adolescents tending toward later sleep pattern and older adults often shifting earlier. Most people are not extreme larks or owls, but fall somewhere in between.

Jennifer Aniston loves an early start to the day.

SHAUN CURRY/AFP

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