Newsroom Plus – Evening Report

NewsRoom_Digest for 3 May 2016

Selwyn Manning — Tue, 03 May 2016 22:38:40 +0000

NewsroomPlus.com Today’s edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 2 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Tuesday 3rd of May. It is best viewed on a desktop screen. NEWSROOM_MONITOR Noteworthy stories in the current news cycle include: Land Information Minister Louise Upston launching an independent inquiry into how the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) carries out its good character test, after it approved a Taranaki farm being sold to two Argentinian brothers; researchers saying they believe they have found the wreck of “The Endeavour”, which Captain James Cook commanded on his first voyage of discovery to New Zealand ; and the Government is crunching the numbers to try to reduce crime rates and improve outcomes for offenders and victims. POLITICS PULSE Government: PM’s Education Excellence Awards finalists;Peter Hughes new State Services Commissioner; 1 million doses of influenza vaccine distributed; Speech: John Key – Speech to NZ Institute of International Affairs;New Children’s Commissioner appointed;Minister visits Sinai and Golan Heights; New approach to justice sector investment;Speech: Amy Adams – Social Investment in the Criminal Justice System; New Community Leadership Fund announced;Patient feedback improves the management of long-term conditions;Tax Bill to improve, strengthen tax rules Greens: Congratulations to new Children’s Commissioner; Minister’s target put above giving kids the best start Labour: Public behind Healthy Homes Guarantee LINKS OF THE DAY JUSTICE SECTOR INVESTMENT: Justice Minister Amy Adams has announced details of how the Government is planning to apply the Social Investment approach to the criminal justice system. More information on the Investment Approach to Justice will be made available at www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector MONTHLY ECONOMIC INDICATORS: The April Monthly Economic Indicators (MEI) was published today on the Treasury Website. The report provides a summary of recent economic events.Read more at:http://www.treasury.govt.nz/economy/mei/apr16 And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Tuesday 3rd of May.

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NewsRoom_Digest for 22 April 2016

Selwyn Manning — Fri, 22 Apr 2016 06:42:48 +0000

NewsroomPlus.com Today’s edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 1 resourceful link of the day and the politics pulse from Friday 22nd of April. It is best viewed on a desktop screen. NEWSROOM_MONITOR Noteworthy stories in the current news cycle include: Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy saying new access for chilled meat in China is an opportunity for exporters to get their high-end products into the top end of the Chinese market; Transport Minister Simon Bridges assuring passengers they will be safe in cabs after changes are made to the way taxi services are run; and findings from a report on the state of bluefin tuna fisheries in the Pacific Ocean, show that without drastic measures, there is a less than 1 percent chance of the population returning to healthy levels by 2024. POLITICS PULSE Government: Speech – Canterbury Men’s Centre Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Trust; Bottled water concerns misplaced;Acting District Court Judges appointed; Successful bid gives economy $50 million boost; PM welcomes visit by French PM; Number on Social Housing Register declines; English releases RB Board letter of expectations; Indian President to visit New Zealand;Facility upgraded by offenders helps kakapo; Successful end to the yachting season; $520m funding injection for key Tauranga route ACT Party: Funding policy to blame for Corelli school liquidation Greens: Tree planting for the climate – a game-changer Labour: Social Development stats don’t add up; Fewer cops on the beat as police cuts bite; Big jump in benefit numbers in Christchurch as rebuild slows; Thousands of invalid votes likely after National refuses to change rules New Zealand First: “In The Shadow Of The Super City” – Speech At Whangaparaoa Rt Hon Winston Peters; Speech By Rt Hon Winston Peters To Warkworth Public Meeting; Out-Of-Work Young Kiwis On The Rise LINKS OF THE DAY SOCIAL HOUSING REGISTER: The number of people on the Social Housing Register has again declined. Figures for the March 2016 quarter show there were 4585 people on the register, down 223 or 4.6 per cent on the same time last year. Of those on the register in March 2016, 1036 are already housed and are awaiting a transfer to a more suitable property. The March 2016 register can be found at: http://www.housing.msd.govt.nz/information-for-housing-providers/register/index.html And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Friday 22nd April.

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NewsRoom_Digest for 29 March 2016

Selwyn Manning — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 07:02:55 +0000

NewsroomPlus.com Today’s edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 5 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Tuesday 29th of March. It is best viewed on a desktop screen. NEWSROOM_MONITOR Noteworthy stories in the current news cycle include: Corrections Minister Judith Collins saying her department is working on an electronic monitoring device that can’t be removed; state-owned company, New Zealand Post announcing it will cut about 500 jobs by July; and Labour Party leader Andrew Little saying he believes the rejection of an alternate flag will mean New Zealand will have the debate about becoming a republic sooner rather than later. POLITICS PULSE Government:New Zealanders have chosen their flag;Council amalgamations possible under reforms; McCully to Cook Islands for Ministerial Forum;Jobs forecast to grow 148k over next three years Greens: Flag result a failure for PM and lost opportunity for NZ; MPs to receive 10,000 droplets of water & petition Labour: Government’s record on fresh water appalling; Badge of shame – NZ house prices the worst; New Zealanders reject John Key’s flag project; Govt must do more to prepare for future of workers at NZ Post; Māori TV should be celebrating 12th birthday;Growth per person lower than UK, US, Japan New Zealand First: The people have spoken; Farmers have had enough of Fonterra management; Frank Torley LINKS OF THE DAY COST OF HOUSING: New research shows the cost of housing in New Zealand rises and falls in a way similar to that in Australia. A study from Motu Economic and Public Policy Research Trust looked at real house prices (official house prices adjusted by a consumer price index) in sixteen cities in Australia and New Zealand; and found that all sixteen cities share a price trend and are influenced by the same long-term factors. Read more: http://motu.nz/about-us/news/two-countries-16-cities-5000km-but-only-one-housing-market/ FLAG PRELIMINARY RESULTS: The Electoral Commission has released the preliminary result for the second referendum on the New Zealand Flag.The preliminary result is available from www.electionresults.govt.nz. This includes a breakdown of votes by electorate. JOBS FORECAST: The latest employment forecast from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment predicts the number of jobs in New Zealand will grow by another 148,300 over the next three years.The Short-Term Employment Forecasts: 2016-19 is available at: http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/employment-skills/labour-market-reports/forecasting/short-term-employment-forecasts LIFE SATISFACTION: People with a large number of family and friends tend to have much better overall life satisfaction, according to new research from Statistics New Zealand. More details at: http://bit.ly/1pWbTZp UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME: The report, Money for all: the winners and losers from a Universal Basic Income, by economist Jim Rose, examines the Labour Party’s “Future of Work” proposal for a UBI and the more modest proposal by the Morgan Foundation. Read more: http://www.taxpayers.org.nz/money_for_all And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Tuesday, 29th March. –]]>

Mystery Whales Put On Show At Scott Base

Selwyn Manning — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 07:18:03 +0000

NewsroomPlus.com A rare appearance by Arnoux beaked whales at Scott Base has University of Canterbury (UC) Gateway Antarctica scientist Dr Regina Eisert excited about research possibilities. Yesterday (9 March), a group of nine large whales appeared at Scott Base. The whales put on an exuberant display, tail-slapping, breaching, and leaping clear out of the water. The rare sighting was made possible by the sea ice breaking out, something which happens every few years in McMurdo Sound, creating panoramic views of the open ocean. Antarctica New Zealand Winter Leader Andy Waters and Construction Site Manager Karl Johnson who are stationed at New Zealand’s Antarctic research base, happened to be outside with their cameras ready. The whales came up at the southern end of McMurdo Sound, right against the edge of the Ross ice shelf. They stayed in the area for about half an hour, and then disappeared as suddenly as they had come. A hot debate ensued at Scott Base as to the identity of the whales. To resolve this, pictures were sent to UC Antarctic marine mammal expert Dr Regina Eisert who immediately recognised that the whales were not minke whales, but something much more exotic – beaked whales. “Based on their appearance and the location, these are probably Arnoux beaked whales (Berardius arnuxii). Beaked whales are the ‘mystery’ whales and sightings are few and far between. It’s very exciting to have them show up right outside Scott Base.” Beaked whales are classified as toothed whales (like killer whales and sperm whales). Arnoux beaked whales occur throughout the South Pacific and Southern Ocean including New Zealand waters. They grow up to 9.75 metres long. “This is a very special, scientifically significant sighting. People just normally don’t get to see them. The question is, are the whales just being nosy or are they searching for new feeding grounds? If they do visit this area then in future, we may be able to study them in this ecosystem, which would be a fantastic research opportunity.” –]]>

NewsRoom_Digest for 9 March 2016

Selwyn Manning — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 04:17:00 +0000

NewsroomPlus.com Today’s edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 5 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Wednesday 9th of March. It is best viewed on a desktop screen. NEWSROOM_MONITOR Noteworthy stories in the current news cycle include: the real estate sector saying dairy land prices have held steady, but that a drop is anticipated following Fonterra’s second cut to the forecast milk pay-out this year; adoption law being labelled as outdated and discriminatory by the Human Rights Review Tribunal; and a review of New Zealand’s two intelligence and security agencies recommending they be governed by a single law. POLITICS PULSE Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included: Government: Support for Volunteering Fund now open; PM welcomes Security and Intelligence Review; Final meeting of Community Forum; Faster accurate patient enrolment data; NZ ratifies Maritime Labour Convention; Sir Graham Henry joins education panel; New product recalls website welcomed; Speech: Peter Dunne – The National Library: Its place in New Zealand’s information society; Opportunity and protection for Māori under TPP; New primary cervical screening test in 2018; Consulting on TPP’s intellectual property implementation Greens: Government mismanagement threatens “double disaster”; Case for expanded spy powers not made Labour: Shocking falls in regional growth needs Govt action; Intelligence review must lead to public debate;Tribunal adds to calls for adoption reform; Police districts’ $24.5m underspend while burglaries unsolved; English admits dairy in ‘severe scenario’; Time for Fonterra to front up to media; Nats should have fixed payroll in 2010; Labour Supports Early Access Scheme For Pharmac New Zealand First: Voting Papers Flawed; Referendum Should End Now – Peters; PM’s Voluntary Catch Reporting ‘A Joke’ LINKS OF THE DAY GDP INCREASE: Eleven of 15 regional economies in New Zealand increased in the latest regional GDP figures from Statistics New Zealand. Read more: http://bit.ly/1QKjq3C MARITIME LABOUR CONVENTION: New Zealand has ratified the International Labour Organisation’s Maritime Labour Convention. The Convention will come into force 8 March 2017. It will apply to about 890 foreign commercial cargo and cruise ships visiting New Zealand annually, and approximately 30 New Zealand ships. For more information: http//www.transport.govt.nz/mlc2006 PRODUCT RECALLS WEBSITE: Today saw the launch of a new product recall web tool, a first-stop-shop for consumer product recall information. The product recall web tool can be accessed here: www.recalls.govt.nz. RETAIL SPENDING UP: Retail spending using electronic cards was $4.6 billion in February 2016, up $393 million (9.3 percent) from February 2015, according to Statistics New Zealand. More details at: http://bit.ly/21XFCSC SECURITY & INTELLIGENCE REPORT: The report of the Independent Review of Intelligence and Security was launched today. The report is available at: http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/presented/papers/51DBHOH_PAP68536_1/report-of-the-first-independent-review-of-intelligence And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Wednesday 9th March. –]]>

Second Group Join Tasmania Bushfire Battle

Selwyn Manning — Sat, 13 Feb 2016 21:35:18 +0000

NewsroomPlus.com A second deployment of two taskforces (forty-three firefighters and liaison staff) will left for Australia on Sunday, 14 February to help combat bush fires in Tasmania. The additional deployment is in response to Tasmania’s Fire Authorities seeking further assistance, and will take over from two New Zealand taskforces, which are due to return home on 16 February. National Rural Fire Officer Kevin O’Connor said the firefighters would fly out from Auckland and Christchurch on Sunday to begin the three-week deployment. He said crews already there were making good progress building containment lines around the fires, and that their Tasmanian counterparts are appreciative of the Kiwis efforts. The incoming deployment would initially concentrate on containing fires around Arthur River in Tasmania’s northwest, where bushfires were threating local communities. Nearly 75 fires are burning throughout Tasmania, most started by lightning strikes and fuelled by drought conditions and strong winds. To date 110,212 hectares of land has been burnt. Sunday’s deployment will be the 18^th overseas by rural firefighters since 2001 – and the 10^th to Australia. –]]>

Cook Strait White Whale Confirmed As Migaloo

Selwyn Manning — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 07:22:35 +0000

NewsroomPlus.com A white humpback whale spotted in Cook Strait last winter has been confirmed as Migaloo, a famous white whale usually seen off Australia. The white humpback whale was seen on 5 July by researchers on the annual Cook Strait Whale Survey, a partnership between the Department of Conservation and OMV New Zealand. DNA analysis by Oregon State University in the United States of a skin sample taken from the white whale by the survey team has found it matches the genetic profile taken from Migaloo off Australia, confirming it is the same whale. The Cook Strait sighting was the first of Migaloo in New Zealand waters and outside of Australian waters. At the time, Cook Strait Whale Survey leader Nadine Bott said distinctive features on the white whale, including its dorsal fin, strongly indicated it was Migaloo. “I was confident it was Migaloo but it’s good to have it supported by DNA results which give us 99.99% certainty it was him,” said Nadine Bott. “Migaloo being in New Zealand waters supports the findings from our Cook Strait research that humpbacks seen off eastern Australia also move through our waters and perhaps even more so than we had thought. This has been indicated particularly by matches of photos of humpback whales seen during our survey with photos of humpbacks off eastern Australia. “My thanks go to Oregon State University for undertaking the DNA analysis and Auckland University for assisting in getting the skin sample to the United States. Confirming it is Migaloo helps us in learning more about humpbacks in South Pacific waters.” Migaloo – Aboriginal for ‘white fella’ – was first seen off eastern Australia in 1991 and has been seen there almost every year since. White humpbacks are extremely rare with only four reported in the world. Migaloo is the most famous and is thought to have fathered two white calves which have been making appearances along Australia’s eastern coast. One has been named MJ, short for Migaloo junior. Another white humpback whale was spotted in Norway last year. The annual Cook Strait Whale Survey is assessing humpback whale recovery since commercial whaling ended in 1964 and has run for 12 years. Last year’s four-week survey counted a record 137 humpback whales which is an encouraging indication their numbers are increasing in New Zealand. –]]>

Million Dollar Prize For Black Hole Breakthrough

Selwyn Manning — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 04:40:25 +0000

NewsroomPlus.com The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award The Crafoord Prize in Astronomy 2016 to Roy Kerr, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, and Roger Blandford, Stanford University, CA, USA, “for fundamental work concerning rotating black holes and their astrophysical consequences”. Black holes are the origin of the universe’s most powerful light, with rays that can stretch many thousands of light years out into space. Roy Kerr created one of the most important tools in modern astrophysics and cosmology early in his career, when he discovered a mathematical description of rotating black holes before anyone had even seen them. Black holes are the strangest result of the general theory of relativity. When Albert Einstein finally presented his theory in November 1915, he described gravity as a geometric property of space and time, spacetime. All massive space objects bend spacetime; they create a pit into which smaller objects can fall. The greater the mass, the deeper the pit. The mass of a black hole is so great that nothing that ends up in there can escape, not even light. It took until 1963 for someone to solve Einstein’s equations for black holes that could possibly be found in the universe – rotating black holes – and it was mathematician Roy Kerr who succeeded. At about the same time, astronomers discovered galaxies that emitted light that was so strong it outshone several hundred ordinary galaxies. They were named quasars. Nothing other than a black hole could give the quasars their luminosity. So how is the strong light of rotating black holes created? This question was answered by Roger Blandford in 1977. Ever since, he has refined and made more realistic models of how gas surrounding a black hole flows towards it, is heated up and transforms some of its gravitational energy to radiation. FACT FILE

Roy Kerr, born 1934 in Kurow, New Zealand. PhD 1959 at University of Cambridge, Great Britain. Emeritus Professor at University of Canterbury.
Roger Blandford, born 1949 in Grantham, Great Britain. PhD 1974 at University of Cambridge, Great Brittan. Luke Blossom Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences, Stanford University, CA, USA.
The Crafoord Prize in Astronomy prize amount of 6 million Swedish krona (a little over one million New Zealand dollars )is shared equally between the Laureates. The Crafoord Prize award ceremony is to be held at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on 26 May 2016, in the presence of Their Majesties the King and Queen of Sweden.

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NewsRoom_Digest for 14 January 2016

Selwyn Manning — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 04:41:54 +0000

NewsroomPlus.com Today’s edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 3 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Thursday 14th January. It is best viewed on a desktop screen. NEWSROOM_MONITOR Noteworthy stories in the current news cycle include an Iwi working group saying Maori are being prevented from accessing waterways on land they own, the New Zealand sharemarket having another bout of weakness, and NZ First saying that a 2025 smoke-free New Zealand is unrealistic unless recommendations by the Maori Affairs select committee are implemented. POLITICS PULSE Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included: Greens: Government must prioritise equal pay for women; Cheap oil gives the opportunity to start exiting from it; OIA charging a worrying step New Zealand First: Obama Gets Lukewarm TPP Response But NZ To Sign Regardless; Failure To Deliver Committee Recommendations Hurting Māori; Crude Oil At 2004 Prices, But Petrol Is 62% More Expensive LINKS OF THE DAY NZ UNIVERSITIES RANK IN TOP 112: The Times Higher Education’s list of the most international universities released today ranks seven New Zealand universities within the top 112 in the world. The “Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2015-16” results and analysis are at https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/worlds-most-international-universities-2016 PROPERTY SALES BOOM: The New Zealand property for sale market settled in December, ending 2015 with a whimper rather than the roar witnessed throughout the year. Read more: http://www.trademe.co.nz/property/price-index/for-sale/december-2015/ RETAIL CARD SPENDING INCREASES: Retail spending using electronic cards reached $6.0 billion in December 2015, up $304 million (5.3 percent) from December 2014, Statistics New Zealand said today. Click here for more:http://bit.ly/230pRs1 And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Thursday 14th January. –]]>

Eating Disorders: Do these jeans make me look P.H.A.T ?

Selwyn Manning — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 19:55:15 +0000

NewsroomPlus.com – OpEd by Rupeni Vatubuli In the 21st century where “looks” are apparently everything, it’s an everyday trap to feel motivated or intimidated by the appearance of others. Society has always been influenced by media and it is from here, that under-reported issues like ‘eating disorders’ grow. New terms are created to cater for the everyday expression of the human appearance. Terms such as “P.H.A.T” (Pretty Hot And Tempting) are used in music videos to express women’s appearance. Though it would be ignorant to say that media plays a huge influence on lifestyles without substantial proof , mental health has been proven to be one of the contributing factors to eating disorders. I had recently met up with a former work colleague whose health suffered due to her insecurities and later admitted that she willingly starved herself in fear of getting fat. That’s scenario that has been played out in movie scripts, where the popular, yet rather obnoxious villain often suffers a mental breakdown in the end and reveals that the only way to keep “Victoria’s Secret” was to forcefully make yourself vomit the food you had earlier consumed! This probably says two things: I may have horrible taste in movies and most men including myself, lack the knowledge of understanding the importance of appearance to women. In New Zealand 1.7 per cent population suffer from an eating disorder which means approximately 68,000 New Zealanders will develop an eating disorder sometime in their lifetime. From these statistics, females represent approximately 90 percent and males 10 percent of those who experience eating disorders. With a high mortality rate compared to bulimia, anorexia claims one in a 100 deaths each year regardless of patients seeking treatment. Up to 20 per cent die over a 20 year period as a result of complications brought on by the illness and suicide. There are four types of eating disorders that are most often heard about:

Anorexia: is when a person believes they are fat, even when they are not and may have lost a lot of weight
Bulimia: Where a person eats very large amounts of food because they are starving. Then they worry about gaining weight so they make themselves vomit, takes laxatives or exercises to extremes.
Binge eating disorder: Where a person eats an excessive amount of food within a short period of time (two hours) and feels a loss of control while eating.
Other eating disorders: Where a person has signs of either bulimia or anorexia but not enough signs to definitely state they have these conditions. This category is often called Eating Disorder not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS) by doctors, and usually occurs at an early age. It is very common and doctors treat is as seriously as the other categories of eating disorder.

What causes eating disorders?

There is no clear cause of an eating disorder. This makes it more upsetting for the person, family and friends, as they all try to think about what could have started it and what to do about it, but that is not possible. Nevertheless, the following types of people do tend to have an increased risk of developing an eating disorder:

those whose career or sport requires them to be thin – dancers, gymnasts, models, jockeys or body builders
those who are overweight
those with a number of different problems including childhood sexual abuse or neglect, drug or alcohol problems and unstable relationships
people with diabetes
those with problems of self-esteem and identity
young people living within families that make them feel that they are only worthwhile when they are very good at study or sport, very well behaved, or thin and attractive and who feel worthless if they do not match up to the family expectations.
people who are depressed; feeling sad or irritable much of the time, avoiding doing things with friends.
people with high personal expectations – always striving to be perfect in everything.

Cultural factors should not be ignored when we think about what can cause eating disorders in vulnerable people. We are constantly bombarded with the message that women need to be thin to be considered beautiful, and men need to muscular and lean. Since a thin shape is normal and healthy for only a very few women, others must either struggle with feelings of not being good, perfect or self-controlled enough or begin to diet. Men tend to over-exercise. For people at risk of an eating disorder a number of things could set them off, such as:

a life crisis or the death of a loved one
family changes
moving home or school
bullying
a relationship break-up
a change of job
school problems
a personal failure.

Signs to look for (symptoms)

There are many symptoms of an eating disorder. These may not relate to everybody, and sometimes it can be difficult to notice any signs at all. Signs of an eating disorder could include:

extreme concern about being too fat and thinking about food and dieting all the time
increasing isolation from others
secret eating and purging (vomiting or taking laxatives)
food disappearing from the house, especially high calorie foods
spending long periods in the toilet especially immediately after meals, sometimes with the tap running for long periods
shoplifting food
strenuous exercise routine, even exercising when injured or unwell
severe weight changes
sudden mood changes, irritability, depression, sadness, anger, difficulty in expressing feelings
poor concentration and being unusually tired
constant pursuit of thinness.

Professor Ted Ruffman, from Otago’s Department of Psychology, says “anti-fat prejudice is associated with social isolation, depression, psychiatric symptoms, low self-esteem and poor body image”. Previous research had indicated anti-fat prejudice could be seen in pre-school children aged slightly more than three-and-a-half years old and was well-established in five- to ten- year-olds. But the research by Professor Ruffman and his team suggests these attitudes have an even earlier genesis. Just when you think you have read all facts of this, new findings from the University of Otago suggest older toddlers—those aged around 32 months old—are picking up on the anti-fat attitudes of their mothers. The study, involving researchers from New Zealand, Australia, and the US, comes on the back of studies showing that obesity prejudice and discrimination are on the rise. The latest survey by Universal McCann showed that New Zealand women are less comfortable with their appearance than those in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. Only 48 per cent of the 900 New Zealand women questioned were happy with their appearance ,compared with 60 per cent of Malaysian women and 58 per cent of Thai women. Who else better to explain eating disorders than Emma Wilson who was 16 years old when she suffered anorexia. It was here that researchers believed anorexia nervosa begins – not as a media-fuelled unquenchable desire to be skinny, but rather a brain or gene abnormality. What ever reason lies behind Eating disorders, a good realisation to hold is this: “It’s Not As Simple As That”. –]]>

Collection Of Poetic Biographies Wins The Biggs Family Prize

Selwyn Manning — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 19:00:15 +0000

NewsroomPlus.com A collection of five poetic biographies of famous and lesser-known historical New Zealand women has been awarded the 2015 Biggs Family Prize for Poetry. Written by Nina Powles as part of her 2015 Master of Arts (MA) at Victoria University of Wellington’s International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML), the book-length folio, titled Luminescent, has been described by Wellington poet Jenny Bornholdt as “engaging and colourful and alive to all kinds of possibilities”. Although she started writing poems less than two years ago, Nina is already the author of a chapbook, Girls of the Drift, published by Seraph Press in 2014, from which a poem was selected for the 2014 edition of Best New Zealand Poems. Nina, who went straight onto the MA after completing an honours degree in English Literature and Chinese at Victoria, says the opportunity to study at Master’s level has been a significant boost for her writing. “The MA programme gave me the tools and the confidence to call myself a ‘writer’ for the first time. More importantly, it gave me a community. “It’s been an unbelievable privilege to take part in the masterclasses, the readings and above all, the workshops with my generous, talented, fiery co-writers. It’s no exaggeration to say that this year changed my life. “As a young writer just beginning my career, winning the Biggs Prize and receiving this recognition is an incredible honour. It feels surreal, and so wonderful that the prize enables a poet’s work to be recognised alongside that of prose writers. I now have the courage to start thinking about what my next book will be.” Supported by Wellingtonians Peter and Mary Biggs through the Victoria University Foundation, the $3,000 Biggs Prize is awarded annually to an outstanding poetry folio in the Master of Arts in Creative Writing programme at the IIML. Luminescent is a collection that tells the stories—or moments from the lives—of women who made a great impression on the world while they were alive, or left their impress in subtler ways. Among its subjects are Katherine Mansfield, the astronomer Beatrice Tinsley and Betty Guard, whose teenage years were spent as a young wife on a whale station. The collection also imagines the life of the little-known chorus dancer Phyllis Porter, who died in a fire at St. James Theatre in 1923. Cliff Fell, a Teaching Fellow at the IIML and co-convenor of this year’s Master’s programme, says he was impressed by Nina Powles’s engagement with language and her ability to summon up and make real imaginations of the past. “Nina’s clearly a poet who is going places. She’s at an early stage in her career but had already made her mark before starting the MA, during which part of her focus has been on how emotional weather can be conveyed in experimental poetic form.” Anna Jackson, a poet and lecturer at Victoria, has been working with Nina during 2015. “These poems are centred around moments so full, so vivid, as to seem both beyond time, but also to embody time. “Luminescent is a work that already reads like a finished collection, ambitious in scope, and very beautiful. It is the kind of work that gives rise to dreams that its readers will find haunting them, opening spaces inside them, for a long time to come.” Previous Biggs Prize recipients include acclaimed poets Louise Wallace, Amy Brown and Joan Fleming. –]]>

NZ Presents Horror-thriller: “Before the Darkness”

Selwyn Manning — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 00:06:16 +0000

NewsroomPlus.com After a successful launch at the American Film Market of the feature film Broken Vows, Kiwi-American Producer Wendy Benge has signed on to aid in the production of the horror-thriller Before the Darkness, written and to be directed by New Zealander Alex Galvin. The film has also attached other prominent industry professionals, including Producer Sharon Roggio (House of Cards, Whip It, Red Dawn, Parks and Recreation), Executive Producer David Hillary (American Psycho, The Virgin Suicides, Dog Eat Dog, Broken Vows) and former Weta Workshop wizard Gareth McGhie (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, District 9, The Lovely Bones, Avatar). Set in a New Zealand forest, Before the Darkness tells the story of two American sisters who are terrorised by a killer. In order to survive they must face their own demons and unleash their most primal instincts against the unspeakable horror. “This exhilarating, psychological film will keep the audience on the edge of their seat until the end,” says Benge. “Throughout the journey, Galvin ensures you’ll never know who to trust,” states Roggio. Before the Darkness is the first of several local content-driven projects that Benge and Roggio aim to film in New Zealand. “We are proud to be part of an initiative that will bring further international exposure to both the talent and beauty this country has to offer, along with creating new avenues to aid the sustainability of New Zealand’s screen economy,” says Benge. To this end, Benge, Roggio, Hillary and James Agnew (Broken Vows, Rage) will continue to work with James Partridge of Admit One and Screen Wellington, plus other film and government agencies, to offer lectures and seminars that will provide upcoming filmmakers a strong understanding of how to: protect their intellectual property, develop film financing and create effective budgets. They will also provide knowledge of emerging marketing and distribution trends. Starting with Before the Darkness, and in coordination with the Wellington Institute of Technology (WelTec), the producers will seek to inspire and mentor the next generation of filmmakers through an internship – designed to give firsthand experience in various production departments, while exposing participants to international film production. “WelTec wants to offer students the opportunity to work with top industry professionals. This type of opportunity will not only improve their skills but aid them in developing industry connections both in New Zealand and abroad,” explains Galvin. –]]>

Another year older, and deeper in debt

Selwyn Manning — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 04:53:37 +0000

NewsroomPlus.com Did you know the total student debt mountain has mushroomed to nigh on $15 billion? That’s not the kind of Christmas present anyone wants lurking under their tree for years to come… In anticipation of the New Year holding more of the same and the millstone/ milestone of $15 billion due to be hit in February, student leaders attending the NZ Union of Students’ Associations Congress gathered on the lawn below Victoria University’s historic Hunter Building on Sunday 13 December. Wearing symbolic balls and chains around their wrists and ankles – annotated with individual debt – their message was simple. First and foremost student leaders are fed up with the Government putting its head in the sand over the mounting student debt. They say if the Government can front up on climate change, it can finally face up to the growing debt, noting that since John Key’s National Party rein began student debt has mushroomed from $10 billion to $15 billion. More information is available from NZUSA – the voice of New Zealand’s 400,000 students.

FOUR VOICES FROM FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND …

I haven’t felt at all well informed about the rate that my debt has accumulated. I can’t see how I’d now be able to get a home, and with that, I can’t see how I could afford to start a family.

Sara is a student nurse studying at Waiariki Institute of Technology* This is the second qualification pathway for Sara, after first embarking on a tourism diploma. Sara feels she was penalised by the system after becoming ineligible for an allowance due to withdrawing from a course early – she had no resort then but to take on more debt via the loan scheme. She now expects to graduate as a nurse in 2017, with a debt in the region of $65,000. * as announced by Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce last week, Waiariki will be merged with Bay of Plenty Polytechnic next year.

I’m at the point now where this was an unseen debt, and now it’s about to have a lifelong impact. I think this debt and its effect on my circumstances will be stuck with me for decades.

Will is carrying a debt level that is equivalent to Sara’s. He has already been a student at the University of Auckland for four years, and to give himself the optimal chance of options for a lifelong career path at a skill level that matches his academic achievements signed up for postgraduate study, with a major in politics. Will is no slouch, and has had financial assistance from scholarships.

Staff at our institution have been as helpful as they could be, but they’re stuck in the middle when it comes to the hoops to jump through and a system that pushes you into more debt.

Virgil has one more full year of study at Waiariki to go and hopes a current debt of around $40,000 isn’t going to balloon out. He’s already resigned to moving out of his home town when he starts his search for a job in the business field of communications and IT. He counts himself lucky that he should be able to earn a living that will help him climb out of debt – slowly but perhaps faster than most, but with the drag effect of a ‘life slowing’ ball and chain.

I’m like most of my peers, I try to focus beyond the debt that is being attached to achieving my qualification and not to dwell on the ‘necessary evil’ description of it and how many years my life will continue to revolve around the money of it. It’s definitely painful and the total student debt amounts are so uncontrollably high you have to wonder how feasible the system is.

Nina has a Bachelor of Arts from Otago University under her belt and one last push on a postgraduate year before her student debt tops out, perhaps as high as $55,000. A contributor to his has, she says, been the year-on-year fee increases. As soon as she can Nina has aspirations to find a job that isn’t about opting for the ‘best paid’ over the ‘best fit’, or settling for work that may not even take her qualification into account. Having faced years of having no other choice but enforced indebtedness, and having IRD letters relentlessly hammer that home (in official mail she resists opening), Nina’s view on the rest of her life is that she’ll be actively seeking to avoid any other form of borrowing. These are just four voices of 400,000; a tiny percentage of bare-boned vignettes of four student experiences that all echoed the same sentiment of being on a road that ‘sets you back’ rather than ‘setting you forward’. A ‘she’ll be right’ attitude prevails. It assumes well-paying jobs for all, and full-time uninterrupted professions will follow years of borrowing to live. It assumes a level of gender equity that doesn’t exist, and smooth transitions through either any one qualifications pathway or career choice, where that is by no means a given – as anyone with life experience below the ‘rich line’ knows. All of this is a bleak enough proposition for people with parental or intergenerational support, let alone for those who face tougher roads to get to be enrolled for tertiary education in the first place. There is nothing progressive in an economy or society that indentures students to a muted future. –]]>

Review: Wealth and New Zealand

Selwyn Manning — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 06:40:26 +0000

NewsroomPlus.com Book review by Adam J. Ring What is the role of wealth in New Zealand society? A recent contribution to this urgent and wide-reaching dialogue has come in the form of writer and researcher Max Rashbrooke’s newest book, Wealth and New Zealand. Released by Bridget Williams Books as part of the ‘short books on big subjects’ BWB Texts series, it continues along the same line as Rashbrooke’s previous works on inequality, though with a drastically different focus – that of wealth. That a book on this topic hasn’t been done like this before in New Zealand, partly reflects a lack of easily available data, as well as a deficit of understanding regards ways to interpret this data in a meaningful way. Using data sourced from a variety of surveys, including the 2004 round of the Survey of Family, Income and Employment, known as SoFIE, the 2001 Household Savings Survey, and the National Business Review’s annual Rich List survey, Rashbrooke uses the recent insights and statistical predictions on wealth inequality, from writers such as Thomas Pikkety, to draw a picture of what wealth is, how it effects our society and what part it plays in inequality. Wealth and New Zealand has a simple and urgent message, that “we can only really understand poverty by understanding affluence”. As he points out, the distinction between wealth and income is not currently well understood or sufficiently analysed. To highlight best what he is mapping and making sense of, let us make use of an analogy from the introduction to the book. “Imagine a river that, running faster or slower as the season dictates, flows into and fills up a reservoir. While the river is a metaphor of income – a flow that changes from week to week and year to year – the reservoir is wealth: the stock, the store, the accumulation of all those years of flowing water”. It’s a powerful image and one which vividly illustrates what Rashbrooke is trying to illuminate and amplify. While poverty has largely been the focus when discussing and investigating inequality, as Rashbrooke points out, poverty is only one side of the coin. Very much its equivalent is the flipside – the largely untapped issue of ‘wealth accumulation’. Who has it, where it comes from and how it effects our society are important factors in the overall inequality debate. In the last few years there have been a handful of arresting and socially redefining books on inequality, wealth and the surrounding issues. The Spirit Level by social epidemiologists Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, used a range of data to show how destructive inequality is to the whole society that contains it, not just those most directly affected. Using a variety of wide-ranging and decade-spanning evidence and data, they definitively and logically showed the destructive and socially differentiating effects that inequality has upon public health and wellbeing. And as mentioned, and heavily utilised, by Rashbrooke in Wealth and New Zealand, Thomas Piketty’s comprehensive book from 2014, Capital in the Twenty-First Century has furthered the dialogue around inequality perhaps more than any other book in the last 30 years. While Rashbrooke’s book certainly owes a fair amount to Piketty’s, more importantly, Wealth and New Zealand helps to translate the core ideas of Piketty’s findings on wealth into a New Zealand context. Defining what wealth is – what it looks like when viewed through the relevant data – is not without some difficulties of definition. As an initial benchmark guide, Rashbrooke navigates this by using the easily understood concept of ‘net wealth’. If someone owns a house worth $500,000 and a mortgage of $300,000 – with no other assets or debts – then they have a ‘net wealth’ of $200,000. Seen through this definition, wealth starts to make more sense on a practical and measurable level. As Piketty’s research showed, private wealth – as opposed to public wealth (government assets) – makes up most of the wealth everywhere. This is an important distinction for it helps us put into proportion what we talk about when we say ‘wealth’ and, subsequently, ‘inequality’. One of the most important factors at play, and of special interest to those providing care and support to the vulnerable, is how the act of owning wealth greatly affects the wellbeing and social mobility of the individuals who have it. Rashbrooke draws from recent studies that show how owning even modest wealth has ‘a range of positive welfare outcomes’ not achieved by those without wealth. While the idea that owning wealth not only creates more income but increases an individual’s participation in the wider community is perhaps not a new thought for those on the front lines, it is, all the same, an important observation. There will no doubt be some – especially among community help and support agencies – who already know of the degree to which owned wealth – and inherited wealth – can effect an individual’s opportunities. Up till this point, the public dialogue around inequality has largely centred on the direct effects of poverty, low income and financial hardship. What Rashbrooke so well illustrates, with legitimate data, is how much excess wealth accumulation entrenches and increases inequality, thus perpetuating poverty for those at the bottom of the equation. That we still fail to see how holistically and symbiotically connected we all are is perhaps the biggest problem of all. In order for the few of our society to have so much, the majority must have less. It is the logical realisation. In essence, this is the problem we now must face and deal with head on if we are to make meaningful advances in our communities. In his book, Rashbrooke ties in a variety of important issues and gives them meaningful context. That those with more wealth will generally live in the same areas, and send their children to the same schools, is one of the surface symptoms of how wealth entrenches inequality. Opportunities are magnified or minimized accordingly, with an obvious advantage to those who have been raised among affluence. More widely covered previously is how tax rates, and their legal avoidance, are disproportionately weighted in the favour of those with not only higher incomes but more accumulated wealth. There is a parallel too with the growing gap between the income of those at the top and bottom. Factors like how the eroding and deregulation of the labour market helped to lower wages but increase stockholder profits, have greatly contributed to deepening the entrenchment of opportunity or its opposite lack. Rashbrooke also covers some of the shortcuts and tax loopholes enjoyed by those with wealth and the means to access the services of proportionally expensive accountants and lawyers. The use of family trusts are a common form of tax avoidance, something which Rashbrooke and Piketty suggest should be revisited and adjusted. An idea that can’t be overstated, and is well covered by Rashbrokke is that ‘inequality is not the problem of the poor’ but the problem for all of us. One of the most common arguments in defense of excessive wealth accumulation is an idea that is at the very heart of our capitalist economies – that those with vast wealth deserve to be wealthy, because they have used innovation or hard work to attain it. As a continuation on the pioneering work from previous studies (like ‘Capital’ and ‘Spirit Level’), Rashbrooke shows that the data just doesn’t support this idea. Where we need to get to as a society in order to defeat or minimize inequality, is towards a more holistic and collective idea of what wealth is and how it should be distributed. Rashbrooke, taking Piketty’s lead, has given some logical and simple suggestions that could indeed reverse the current trend of inequality – that is, if we, as a country and a community, choose to listen. It is well documented that in New Zealand we have a much deregulated economic environment. Wealth tax in the form of inheritance tax, gift tax and capital gains tax were abolished years ago and beginning with the Rogernomics policies of the ‘80’s, tariffs and taxes have been decreased to low or non-existent levels to help attract buyers for our national imports. Using the core ideas of Piketty’s economic predictions – of a return to Victorian era inequality – Rashbrooke carefully points out that indeed, New Zealand is heading this way along with the rest of the Western world – a statement which has earned him both praise and outrage. The choices around inequality that we as a society have in front of us, can be boiled down to a simple idea. That the collective reservoir of wealth is not only finite but intimately connected, from top to bottom. As Rashbrooke has so well said, “Wealth is always created in some sort of partnership between the individual and society,” In other words, we are in this together and can no longer turn a blind eye to the problem. To use the old saying to maximum effect, “Nobody wins unless everybody wins”. Truly. –]]>