Headline: Police warn buyers from social media sites to be wary following gunpoint robbery

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MIL OSI – Source: Greater Wellington Regional Council – Press Release/Statement Headline: Regionally rare yellow-crowned kakariki on the increase

Regionally rare yellow-crowned kakariki on the increase

Posted on 10 March 2015 by

A flurry of yellow-crowned kakariki (parakeet) sightings across the region is ‘extremely pleasing’, says Greater Wellington Regional Council Environmental Scientist Nikki McArthur.  The population growth is being attributed to the results of extensive predator control along with unusually heavy flowering and fruiting of native trees over the past year. The yellow-crowned kakariki (Cyanoramphus auriceps) is native to New Zealand and is found in most large native forests on the mainland – but is listed as ‘regionally rare’ in the greater Wellington region.  The reverse is true for the red-crowned kakariki, they are the more common of the two species in the Wellington region, but are largely restricted to pest-free off-shore islands in other parts of the country. “We were delighted to receive reports of yellow-crowned kakariki spotted by a local bird enthusiast in the Porirua Scenic Reserve recently. To my knowledge this is the first time this species has been recorded in the reserve,” says McArthur.   “We know that their red-crowned relatives have been present for a number of years. “It is the latest in an impressive list of natural re-colonisations that have occurred in the Porirua Scenic Reserve over the last decade.  The 200ha reserve is the largest native forest remnant in the Porirua Basin. It supports a wide range of insects, nectar and seed producing trees which provide food for many bird species.  Bellbird and whiteheads are now also seen in good numbers.” Possum control began in the reserve in 1996, from 2001 rats and stoats were also targetted. GWRC is working in partnership with Porirua City Council, as part of GWRC’s Key Native Ecosystem programme, to protect the biodiversity values of the reserve and surrounding forest on private land. GWRC officers believe the yellow-crowned kakariki have made landfall in Porirua from predator-free Mana Island, a stronghold for the species.  The sighting is the latest in a series of observations of this elusive bird in new and unexpected locations.  Yellow crowned kakariki have also been spotted in the East Harbour Regional Park for the first time in 30 years and a pair reported in the foothills of the Tararua Ranges, near Masterton. “We think these kakariki species have had a bumper breeding season at key sites such as Kapiti, Mana and Matiu/Somes Islands and possibly some mainland sites such as Zealandia, Porirua Scenic Reserve and East Harbour Regional Park too. I think this might be resulting in an unusually large number of juvenile kakariki exploring new sites at the moment.” Kakariki are one of New Zealand’s more mobile birds capable of dispersing many kilometres.  They can be seen in native forests and reserves but will also visit back gardens and will feed on both natives and exotic plant species, even grazing for seeds on unmown lawns. “It’s really exciting to see the results of our biosecurity and biodiversity work paying off with populations of these species looking stronger.  These new colonisations are really interesting and we’d like to know more about how kakariki distribution is changing in the region.” GWRC is keen to hear of both yellow and red-crowned kakariki sightings.  Details of the location, date and number of birds sighted should be forwarded to environmentalscience@gw.govt.nz.  These observations will contribute to an increasingly detailed picture of kakariki distribution in the Wellington region and inform decisions about conservation activities in the future. ENDS Contact: Media phone: 021 914 266 or email comms@gw.govt.nz.

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MIL OSI –

Source: NIWA – National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: NIWA’s research receives international recognition

World-class climate and ozone research by scientists at NIWA’s Lauder Atmospheric Research Station has been recognised by meteorology’s leading organisation in Geneva, making Lauder the fourth upper-air site in the world to be certified by the global climate-data network.

Information collected by the weekly launch of the Lauder station’s radiosonde weather and ozone balloon soundings, together with associated ground-based measurements, will receive official Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Reference Upper Air Network (GRUAN) certification at the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Congress in Geneva in June. This is a significant international endorsement of the capabilities of Lauder Station as a world-class upper-air measurement site.

Stable, standardised, and well-calibrated atmospheric observations are crucial to documenting climate and climate change. The standard network of upper-air meteorological observations, and also weather satellites, provide relatively good coverage but high-quality observations are needed against which these standard observations can be calibrated. This is the purpose of GRUAN.

For this reason, Lauder is paired with the Invercargill radiosonde site operated by the MetService, which produces twice-daily soundings of the atmosphere.

NIWA’s Lauder Station, near Alexandra in Central Otago, is well-known in the global atmospheric science community for its climate research and joins a select group of research stations with GRUAN-certified measurement programmes – Spitsbergen in Norway, Lindenberg in Germany, Boulder, Colorado, in the US. Sodankyla in Finland was recently certified as the fifth. Presently Lauder is the only such-certified site in the Southern Hemisphere.

Lauder’s certification will be presented to New Zealand’s Permanent Representative to the WMO, Peter Lennox, CEO of MetService, reflecting the expected close collaboration between NIWA and MetService in managing and operating the GRUAN site at Lauder.

Ahead of WMO Congress, an event will be held at Lauder Station on Tuesday 10 March attended by NIWA and MetService executive, scientists and invited media.

For more information please contact:

Richard Querel
NIWA Atmospheric Scientist
+64 3 440 0400                                 
richard.querel@niwa.co.nz

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MIL OSI –

Source: Massey University – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: PhD captures secret to cricket’s success

At least 10 players in the current Black Caps squad came through the cricket development programmes and competitions implemented by Alec Astle while Cricket New Zealand’s national development manager.

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MIL OSI –

Source: AA – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: AA welcomes progress on Waikato Expressway

The AA welcomes today’s announcement that work on the final three sections of the Waikato Expressway will begin this year.

Funding has been approved for the Hamilton and Longswamp sections of the Expressway, while a consortium has been appointed to deliver the Huntly section. That means that all seven sections will either be completed, under construction, or will have gone out to the market by the end of 2015.

AA spokesman Barney Irvine said it was great to see the project reach the home straight.

“We’ve already seen the benefits of the work carried out so far,” he said. “Once the whole project is finished, it will be a game-changer for economic growth, safety, and travel times in this part of the country.”

Mr Irvine said the project was the result of strong collaboration between a range of stakeholders in the wider Waikato region.

“Everyone’s on board, because they understand just how important this project is,” he said.

Mr Irvine added that the AA was delighted with the steady progress of the roll-out of the Government’s wider Roads of National Significance (RoNS) programme, which includes the Waikato Expressway and six other roading projects.

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MIL OSI –

Source: New Zealand Government – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Safer children’s workforce guidelines launched

Social Development Minister Anne Tolley today launched two new guidelines for agencies and organisations working with children as part of the Government’s Children’s Action Plan. 

The Guidelines; Safer Recruitment, Safer Children and Safer Organisations, Safer Children advise on how employers of the children’s workforce can consistently recruit safe people to work with children, and how to develop good child protection policies that enable their workers to better identify and respond to the needs vulnerable children.

Mrs Tolley launched the guidelines in Hamilton with local leaders, community groups and those setting up the new Hamilton Children’s Team.

“Every child has the right to be safe from abuse and neglect and these guidelines will help us build a stronger culture of child protection across New Zealand where the safety and security of children is paramount.

“By far the majority of our children’s workforce is safe and conscientious but we know predators target opportunities to be around children – these guidelines provide practical steps to help organisations to manage against that risk,” said Mrs Tolley.

The Vulnerable Children Act 2014 requires state sector agencies who work with children, and the organisations they fund to have child protection policies in place and will phase in a requirement for all paid children’s workers to be safety checked in a consistent way.

Mrs Tolley paid tribute to Child Matters for co-producing the safety checking guidelines Safer Recruitment, Safer Children.

“The Children’s Action Plan is about government and communities working together to better support vulnerable children.  These guidelines are an example of that innovative partnership.”

“The Hamilton Children’s Team will be the country’s first large urban team following the establishment of Children’s Teams in Rotorua, Whangarei, Horowhenua/Ōtaki and Marlborough.

“When it is fully up and running, the Hamilton Children’s Team will be the first big team of frontline practitioners supporting around 1,400 vulnerable children and their families,” Mrs Tolley said.

“Hamilton is renowned for its strong community sector and as a result is well placed to test new initiatives being developed as part of the Children’s Action Plan. 

The region will trial the Vulnerable Kids Information System (Viki) under an Approved Information Sharing Agreement as well as a new Hub triage process to better coordinate services and information for at risk children.

“Today’s launch marks exciting progress in a new children protection system for the country that will prioritise the needs of our most vulnerable children helping ensure they get the right services at the right time to be happy, healthy and safe,” said Mrs Tolley.

For more information on the Children’s Action Plan and guidelines: http://childrensactionplan.govt.nz/

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MIL OSI –

Source: Environment Canterbury Regional Council – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Health Warning – toxic algae found in Ashley River/ Rakahuri at SH1 Bridge

The Community and Public Health division of the Canterbury District Health board has issued a health warning after the potentially toxic blue-green algae cyanobacteria Lyngbya and Phormidium was found in the Ashley River/ Rakahuri at the State Highway One (SH1) Bridge.

People and animals, particularly dogs, should avoid the Ashley River/ Rakahuri at the SH1 Bridge until the health warning has been lifted. 

Dr Alistair Humphrey, Canterbury Medical Officer of Health, says the algae look like dark brown to black mats and can produce toxins harmful to people and animals.

“Exposure may cause skin rashes, nausea, stomach cramps, tingling and numbness around the mouth and fingertips,” Dr Humphrey says.

“If you experience any of these symptoms, visit your doctor immediately, also let your doctor know if you’ve had contact with dark brown/black algal mats or water in this area.”

Dr Humphrey says reticulated town water supplies are currently safe but no one should drink the water from the river at any time.

“Even after boiling the water from the river, it does not remove the toxin therefore should not be consumed,” he says.

Animals showing signs of illness after coming into contact with algal mats should be taken to a vet immediately.

People should remain out of the waterways until the warnings have been lifted.

Environment Canterbury is monitoring the sites and the public will be advised of any changes in water quality.

Facts about cyanobacteria:

• Appears as dark brown/black mats attached to rocks along the riverbed
• The algae occur naturally but can increase rapidly during warmer months
• It often has a strong musty smell and algal toxin concentrations can vary over short periods with changing environmental conditions
• Although high river levels will remove the algal bloom, detached mats can accumulate along the shore and increase the risk of exposure to toxins
• If a health warning is in place avoid contact with the water
• Although district or city councils may place warning signs, these may not be seen at the numerous river access points, hence the need for people/ dog-walkers to treat every low-flowing river cautiously.

For further information visit River warnings for toxic algae or contact Community and Public Health on (03) 364 1777.

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MIL OSI –

Source: Asia New Zealand Foundation – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: “No singular Asian migrant” – new report on Auckland’s diverse Asian communities

10 March 2015

A new report from the Asia New Zealand Foundation reveals the increasing diversity of Auckland’s Asian communities.

“Asian Auckland: The multiple meanings of diversity” details the history and trends of Asian migration to Auckland, especially since 2006. It was commissioned by the Asia New Zealand Foundation as part of a series of reports drawing on 2013 Census data.

Author Wardlow Friesen, senior lecturer in geography at the University of Auckland, says immigration policy changes since the 1990s have resulted in more migrants entering New Zealand as international students or on work visas. This has created more diverse Asian populations in terms of age, sex, education and skills and has led to an increase in Filipino and Indian migrants in particular. The median age of Auckland’s Asian population is lower than that of the total population.

“At any one time the Asian population comprises a complex mix of New Zealand born, overseas born, citizens, permanent residents, temporary workers, students and tourists – all arriving for a variety of reasons and bringing with them a diverse range of demographic characteristics, skills and expectations,” Dr Friesen says in the report.

“This complexity is most apparent in Auckland, where migrant settlement patterns illustrate other aspects of increasing diversification and show there is no singular ‘Asian migrant’.”

At the time of the 2013 Census, more than one in five (21 percent) Asian people living in Auckland were New Zealand-born. Dr Friesen says significant numbers of Asian Aucklanders, notably Chinese and Indian, are not migrants but New Zealand-born and have characteristics, identities and expectations different from migrant populations.

Asia New Zealand Foundation director, research Dr Andrew Butcher says Auckland has become known as one of world’s super-diverse cities. “This report shows that this diversity is true not only of Auckland but of the city’s Asian population itself.

“New Zealand’s Asian population is expected to increase in upcoming decades, and two-thirds of this population is expected to live in Auckland. While new migrants are often the focus of

attention, a significant proportion of future growth in the Asian population will come from people born in New Zealand.”

The report provides insights into Asian “ethnoscapes” in the city – which include tangible elements like people, shops and houses, as well as less tangible aspects like language and religious affiliation. It notes that the diversification of food outlets, festivals and Asian diasporic art forms are generally positively received by New Zealanders of all ethnicities.

It examines the settlement patterns of Asian immigrants around Auckland, providing case studies for particular neighbourhoods including Dannemora and Botany Downs; Glenfield and Northcote; and Sandringham. It also examines the influence of Asian communities on Auckland’s food culture, cultural festivals, the media and the arts.

Dr Friesen is the author of a previous Asia New Zealand Foundation report on Auckland, based on the results of the 2006 Census. In an audio interview accompanying the report, he says one of the biggest changes he has noticed is a shift in focus from permanent residency in 2006 to larger numbers of work permit migrants and students in 2013.

Asia New Zealand Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan organisation dedicated to building New Zealand’s links with Asia through a range of programmes, including business, culture, education, media, research and a leadership network.

The report is available here.

Contact:

Rebecca Palmer
Asia New Zealand Foundation media adviser
rpalmer@asianz.org.nz
04 470 8701

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MIL OSI –

Source: Auckland University of Technology (AUT) – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Women’s rights then and now – are we falling behind?

09 Mar, 2015

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New Zealand was the first country to give women the vote and we have always regarded ourselves as a leader in giving equal rights to women. To mark International Women’s Day, AUT’s Professor Marilyn Waring recently spoke at Parliament, comparing women rights in the 1970s to now and asking whether we are falling behind.
 
This is an edited version of the speech by Professor Marilyn Waring

Sunday 8th March was International Women’s Day. Forty years ago on March 24 1975 I became the candidate for the safe National seat of Raglan.

Media made much of my being a feminist and in 1975 that could be fairly complicated. The word feminist usually came with adjectives attached: liberal, socialist, Marxist, Leninist, Trotskyist, lesbian, separatist, radical.  I didn’t wear any of those labels, being content to agree with suffragist Rebecca West who said, ‘People call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat’.

Following the 1975 election Whetu Tirakatene Sullivan, Mary Batchelor, Colleen Dewe and myself were four of 87 MPs in Parliament. Soon after the election Colleen Dewe advised me she wasn’t a feminist and hadn’t ever suffered discrimination. Colleen was an accountant. ‘Have you ever gone to the Annual Conference of the Accountants in New Zealand?’ I asked. Well yes she had. ‘And were you always able to attend the dinner held at that conference?’ I continued. She smiled. They were men-only dinners. I don’t believe Colleen ever said she wasn’t a feminist again.

We had a male Cabinet of 19, one of whom was the spokesman on women’s issues, and five male parliamentary under-secretaries. All heads of government departments were men. Thirty-one men and eight women members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery fed their views from central government to 37 major metropolitan and provincial daily newspapers, all edited by men. The law courts were presided over by 23 male judges and only three of the 26 major city councils by women mayors.

The Select Committee on Women’s Rights established in 1973 reported in 1975. There were some very big silences: no health Terms of Reference because that would mean dealing with all the things that distinguish women from men; pre and post natal issues, lactation issues, fertility, but mostly they did not want to deal with women’s reproductive freedom. Not much has changed.

No provision was made for in-camera submissions, and nothing in the report made to the House was on violence against women.

Yes some of the items in the Select Committee report on The Role of Women in Society did get attention. When a married woman applied in her own name to purchase land offered for disposal by the Crown, she was required to supply a male guarantor, unless the purchase was a cash sale.

Grounds for divorce contained in the Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1963 included the option for a man to present a divorce petition against his wife for the habitual neglect of domestic duties. The latest data sets available to the Committee came from the 1971 Census.

There were the International Conventions which New Zealand had ratified and refused to denounce until the five yearly opportunity came to do this. Work restrictions were contained in the Factories Act 1946 in accordance with Convention No. 89, the International Labour Organisation Night Work (Women) (Revised) 1948. I remember comments from Margaret Wilson on the prohibition on women in night work, to the effect that if you were a nurse or a prostitute it was fine, it was just all the other work that was the problem. The prohibition had been introduced in 1919, as part of a package to ensure male preference for all work following World War 1.

The Public Service Regulations of 1964 gave direction to the State Services Commission in determining expenses on transfer to make specific rules regarding persons who were not breadwinners. The relevant ruling allowed for the department to meet the cost of “the employee and his family” on transfer within the service but “transfer expenses for married female employees should be referred to the commission with details of circumstances, number and ages of children, previous and proposed occupation of husband”. It was as a result of this rule that I first met Jools Joslin, one of the most important figures in the battle for marriage equality in New Zealand. Jools was a constituent teaching near Huntly, who as a single mother was denied transfer expenses when shifting to another teaching position. She got her expenses.

Women needed a male guarantor to open an account, negotiate an overdraft, or to raise mortgage finance or credit in their own names.

The report to the House stated,  ‘Most aspects of discrimination continue to be the subject of inaction (for 1975 read 2014), and the committee accepts without reservation, the need for an accelerated effort to remove all impediments to the equal participation of women in society. Two generations later, I’m still waiting for that exciting day.

In 1975 less than 5% of all apprentices in the private sector were women, and the overwhelming portion of those were hairdressers.  In 2010, the latest statistics I could find, modern apprenticeships were totally dominated by Pakeha males. It’s not surprising as every time I hear a Government Minister speak of the Canterbury rebuild it is the ‘young men’ who will find work there. Some of the same people who think it is a problem to force women into veils find easier ways to make women invisible; last week every pronoun used by the Prime Minister in terms of the New Zealanders he wishes to send to Iraq was male.

The Committee noted the use of sex to sell plant and machinery (TV coverage of events such as Big Boys Toys show nothing has changed there either) and the reference to irrelevant details of personal appearance about women who reach the news for achievements in business or political fields.

The committee recognised that there were ‘special needs’ associated with women at home. The report read, ‘We were particularly concerned at the evidence of social injustice towards full-time homemakers, for which there can be no justification other than customary practice, and which reflects detrimentally on the status of all women’. A great number of submissions stressed the relatively low economic and social value placed on a housewife’s services compared with services performed by other sections of the community.

Forty years later we have the market related outcomes of this social injustice having to be remedied by the Courts – the case for sleepover shifts at IHS homes; the Employment Court and Court of Appeal decisions in the equal pay case for rest home workers, because of the high percentage of female employees; the Employment Court Decision regarding the deliberate servitude in which 35,000 women workers in New Zealand have been systematically exploited by being paid subsidies; and the breathtaking case of the 24/7 carers who are immediate family whose human rights case was won in the Equal Opportunities Tribunal, in the High Court, in the Court of Appeal – and then the National Government decided to ignore court rulings, to take away the right to recompense and to legislate the ouster condition preventing challenges to the law, which continues the discrimination. Well, so much for the boast of believing in ‘equal opportunity and equal citizenship’ on the National Party website. But this was not surprising in a Government where a Minister could advise his agency that he did not want to read any assessment of human rights in his Cabinet Briefing papers.

Can we think of any equivalent treatment of something men did for centuries unpaid? Yes, it was called slavery. But exploiting women is apparently just fine. The 2009-2010 time-use survey found 63% of men’s work was paid, and 65% of women’s work unpaid. Women spent four hours 20 minutes every day on unpaid work, and men spent two hours and 32 minutes a day on unpaid work. The fact is the entire market economy would grind to a halt if women didn’t do the majority of unpaid work.

Recognition of this hits hard at the claim that only market work is of value, and of course redistribution of investments from government on this basis would undermine the cushy ride boys have given boys for decades.

Internationally – and based on evidence – Oxfam has called the on-going gap in paid employment rates, the vast difference on an annual basis in hours in unpaid work, the failure to address pay equity, the failure to address equal pay, the continuing gender occupational segregation, the failure to follow best practice in paid parental leave’- a fundamental entrenched form of inequality’.

With respect to the silences of the terms of reference of the 1975 select Committee report there remain outrages. It was January 28, 1988 – 26 years ago – when the Supreme Court of Canada struck down Canada’s abortion law as unconstitutional. The law was found to violate Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms because it infringes upon a woman’s right to “life, liberty and security of person.” Chief Justice Brian Dickson wrote, “Forcing a woman, by threat of criminal sanction, to carry a fetus to term unless she meets certain criteria unrelated to her own priorities and aspirations, is a profound interference with a woman’s body and thus a violation of her security of the person.” Canada became one of a small number of countries without a law restricting abortion. Abortion is now treated like any other medical procedure and is governed by provincial and medical regulations. Check out the language of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Every word there is in New Zealand legislation. It remains an indictment of the cowardice of successive New Zealand parliaments and an extraordinary lack of leadership that we still have the vile outcomes of my years in parliament on the statute books. While it may be taken into account, rape is not an automatic ground for abortion. This is a reflection of a Neanderthal patriarchy.

The other major 1975 silence was violence against women. Violence against women clearly demands sustained, resourced, dedicated, urgent and ongoing action from the government. As the Covenant for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) coalition of New Zealand NGOs submitted, women are frustrated and exhausted by delays, prevarication, reports and other processes that are not implemented and lack of funding to address a systemic and continuing violation of human rights of women. What are they afraid of – that men who assault women won’t then pay to come to the Cabinet Club fundraisers?

It’s time for a new Select Committee Inquiry. Maybe it could spark patriarchal interest if every issue was subject to a market-based opportunity cost assessment – just what does male violence cost the economy each year? Inequality is expensive; social injustice is not a saving, we have to pay for in the long run. The Commission on the Status of Women moving to a two year as opposed to an annual event;  it’s apparently too much of a burden on nation states to have to assess the situation regarding female human rights annually.

Forty years of feminist activism and there are issues with no progress at all;  violence against women, the recognition of unpaid work (where we are going backwards),  numbers of women in parliament, numbers of women appointed to government boards and commissions  and a systemic failure to provide leadership on all human rights issues. It’s an interesting day when I can conclude, from evidence, that there were greater and more female human rights legislative changes and changes in resourcing under Muldoon than there have ever been under Key. Two generations later a parliament still dominated by white middle-class, middle-aged men needs to hear the truths of the ongoing exploitation of and discrimination against the women of New Zealand.

So on International Women’s Day in 2015 I have a message for the Prime Minister: Get some guts and join the right side – but this time in your own back yard. I bet you can’t.

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