A proposal from new Napier Mayor Richard McGrath to remove mana whenua voices and voting rights in the council’s standing committees for the next council term has failed.
It was an at times tense council meeting, with a packed public gallery, including members of local iwi Ngāti Kahungunu.
During the last triennium, there were two Nga Mānukanuka o te iwi representatives – representing a mana whenua voice – on each of the council’s four standing committees, under McGrath’s proposal those two representatives would be removed..
Councillor Graeme Taylor asked what is the fundamental reason for making the change from the previous triennium.
“For me it comes down to… having elected members who have sworn an oath to the city of Napier and to uphold the Local Government Act. As a rule we attend all the workshops, all the pre work, the induction process,” McGrath replied.
McGrath said it was a new committee structure that was being appointed rather than anyone being removed.
Deputy Mayor Sally Crown also questioned the proposal, saying the issue was one of partnership which means valuing the knowledge of councillors and mana whenua equally.
“So what the proposal in my mind today is, it’s a demonstration of gross misjudgement and disrespect not of just our mana whenua but also of our elected members a key part of leadership is to bring people along with you and I’ve heard from elected members that they themselves have been blindsided by the proposal that was presented.”
Councillor Shyann Raihania asked for an amendment to the proposal, which included Ngā Mānukanuka o te Iwi appointments remaining on all standing committees as specialist, voting members with full speaking rights.
She also requested the Mayor to engage with Ngā Mānukanuka o te Iwi members as mandated mana whenua representatives and return with a revised Terms of Reference, including options analysis and legal advice.
McGrath said he would speak against the amendment raised by Raihania.
“While I understand the partnership and representation side of things Māori will still have many opportunities throughout our council,” he said.
He was then interrupted by a someone in the crowd, who asked “What are you afraid of?”
“It’s nothing to do with afraid,” McGrath replied.
The amended proposal was put to a vote and passed with six votes in support and four against, with two abstentions.
When the result of the vote was announced there was applause from the gallery, which then broke into a rendition of Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi.
Napier City Council Voting Tally
For: Whare Isaac-Sharland, Sally Crown, Keith Price, Ronda Chrystal, Shyann Raihania and Graeme Taylor.
Against: Craig Morley, Nigel Simpson, Richard McGrath and Roger Brownlie.
Abstained: Te Kira Lawrence and Greg Mawson.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Conservation Minister Tama Potaka.RNZ / Mark Papalii
The Conservation Minister has re-classified swathes of stewardship land on the West Coast of the South Island.
Tama Potaka is making some of the changes through an ‘order in council’ process that legitimately circumvents Cabinet sign off.
New Zealand First’s deputy leader Shane Jones conceded Potaka holds the power to do so, though he disagrees with the decision.
“We are a pro-extractive, pro-mining, pro-development, pro-jobs party,” Jones told RNZ.
Stewardship land is public conservation land that has not yet had its natural and historic values assessed.
Potaka outlined how 80 percent of the West Coast’s land would be treated.
Key changes include:
Six proposals referred to the New Zealand Conservation Authority (NZCA) to consider the suitability of adding 4298 hectares of land to existing national parks.
63 proposals for disposal investigations, covering up to 3352 hectares of land.
151 proposals for protection under the Reserves Act covering 192,973 hectares of land, including historic and scenic reserves.
157 proposals for protection under the Conservation Act, including increased clarity through classification as conservation parks, and additional protections for ecological areas.
Potaka said the changes were the most significant reclassification since DOC’s inception in 1987.
“The vast majority of areas will finally have the accurate classification as they deserve, reflecting their conservation and cultural values.
“Existing rights on stewardship land – such as concessions for tourism activities, mining, and grazing licences, for example – can continue.
“Reclassifying this land will deliver more certainty on land use options for our tourism, farming, mining and hunting sectors. New concessions will be easier to obtain.”
Potaka said the new classifications would provide certainty and clarity for those operating on these areas.
“I am particularly excited about the creation of the 181,000ha Tarahanga e Toru Historic Reserve, which recognises the significance of the area for Poutini Ngāi Tahu, alongside protecting the extensive natural and recreational values.
“The reserve does not result in a change in ownership, decision making, or joint management and public access remains the same.”
New Zealand First’s deputy leader Shane Jones.RNZ / Mark Papalii
New Zealand First wants ‘unfettered development’ – Shane Jones
Jones said New Zealand First had a long standing remit that a lot of stewardship land should be taken off the Department for Conservation and “opened up for unfettered development.”
“It was only shoved in DOC in 1987 because people were too lazy back there to find a better home for it.
“Obviously we’re pro-mining, pro-extraction and this decision never went through Cabinet so it’s fair to say that it’s not aligned with the party stance on stewardship land.”
However, Jones acknowledged Potaka was entitled to make the changes.
“Technically speaking, I’m advised that Tama has the total authority under the DOC Act. As you know, I don’t like DOC, and I’ve been invited to take these more fundamental concerns to the next election.
“I accept you can’t get your way every time, but know this from me, we are a pro-extractive, pro-mining, pro-development, pro-jobs party.”
On some of the land going to iwi control, Jones said Parliament was not the place to speak to his concerns in this area.
“I understand Ngāi Tahu would like to expand their footprint and that’s rational and I don’t want to get into a war of words with Ngāi Tahu. I like to leave that kōrero to the marae, but I do feel that DOC is taking far too long to issue concessions and entitlements and rights and we need to grow the economy.”
ACT leader David Seymour said the government had to work within the reality of the Ngāi Tahu settlement that did provide for some claim on the divestment of public land.
“We’ve supported a wider deal that allows a lot more activity. I think that’s a good thing. If it also comes with transfer to iwi, we’ve had a history of treaty settlements for a long time.
“Sometimes some public land goes to Māori, probably not the way I would do it if I could start New Zealand 180 years ago but it’s where we are.”
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Some 80km/h sections are being reduced to 50km/h for Christmas.RNZ / Peter de Graaf
New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) is pumping the brakes and reducing speed limits on several sections of a popular holiday route in time for Christmas.
Four sections of State Highway 25 will drop to 50km/h from 80 or 70km/h.
Waka Kotahi said there were 982 submissions on the speed review in the Coromandel region, and the majority saw benefits in lowering the speed limits.
It said the new speed limits will kick in ahead of the summer holiday peak.
Almost two kilometres of SH25 between Thames and Tararu is going down to 50km/h. Linda Davidson owned a bed and breakfast on that stretch, and told Checkpoint the current speed limit of 70km/h created noise issues.
“It’s too loud for us. The roads along here, because they’re old miners’ cottages, they’re really close to the road… when cars are going past at 70km/h, it’s just outrageous.
“It’s so loud that if it was a party, it would be shut down.”
Despite her B&B having double glazing, she said there were still problems.
“In peak times particularly, people complain about the noise.”
Davidson said the noise got so bad in busy periods she had to close the B&B between Christmas and New Year’s.
She said after seeing multiple accidents and many close calls, she was confident the reduction would make a significant difference.
“There’s a big reserve across the road from us and it’s really popular, when people are coming out of there it’s really unsafe, people come around the corner and hit people coming out of the reserve.”
“It means that we can open up our windows in summer, easy to get in and out of our properties and safer on the road for everyone.”
Davidson said she felt great about the change and hoped it would help keep the “gobsmackingly beautiful” area safe for residents and visitors.
Three other 1km stretches of SH25 will also have speed limits reduced.
Two sections of road near Kūaotunu will drop to 50km/h from 70km/h. A 1km stretch at Wharekaho from near Leah Road to near Harbour Lights Terrace will also be reduced from 80km/h down to 50km/h.
A section of State Highway 1 near Lake Taupō was also getting a speed reduction – a short section of road either side of Motutere Holiday park dropping from 100km/h to 50km/h.
In Australia, men are three times more likely to die by suicide than women.
The Australian government states about 64% of people who die by suicide had a recorded mental or behavioural disorder.
Much is being done to improve Australians’ mental health and reduce suicides. However, there has been little focus on the impact of often unspoken experiences of childhood.
Our new research
explores the intersections of men, suicide and child sexual abuse.
The danger of adverse childhood experiences
Suicide Prevention Australia’s latest report highlights the substantial impact of childhood trauma.
It has found more than 60% of Australian adults have experienced one or more adverse childhood experiences. These include things like bullying and bereavement but also maltreatment such as neglect, emotional, physical and sexual abuse.
When it comes to more extreme maltreatment, around one in three women and one in five men have experienced child sexual abuse, according to the Australian Child Maltreatment Study.
The burden of child maltreatment
Childhood abuse and neglect are the leading risk factor in the burden of disease in Australia.
They contribute substantially to the years of healthy life lost due to suicide and self-inflicted injuries in both men and women according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
A 2024 study analysing the burden of mental disorders and suicide attributable to child maltreatment in Australia concluded:
child maltreatment accounts for more than 184,000 years of healthy life lost through mental ill health and 1.8 million cases of mental health problems could be prevented if exposure to child maltreatment was eradicated.
A roundtable in Canberra was recently convened with attendees from multiple sectors. It discussed the lack of attention to suicidality and its link to child sexual abuse within relevant national plans and policy frameworks.
What our research found
We analysed 47 recent studies in international peer reviewed journals on child sexual abuse and suicidality in adulthood.
Many studies
highlight the lifelong impacts of adverse childhood experiences on adult survivors’ mental health and suicide risk.
In a quarter of the studies identified we found a clear and direct link between child sexual abuse and suicidality.
Several studies reported child sexual abuse was, over and above other forms of maltreatment, linked to suicidality. This included being strongly linked to suicidal ideation, self harm, suicide attempts and death by suicide.
Often there were intersections with other adverse childhood experiences that had a cumulative impact on suicide risk in adulthood.
Research also points to specific cohorts of child sexual abuse survivors who have higher risk of suicidality, such as:
often engage in externalising behaviour such as alcohol and drug use to deal with their trauma.
Other research shows male survivors can struggle with shame and stigma, with some adopting a hypermasculine persona in which they display risk-taking and aggression.
This research aligns with the experience of those who access support through Survivors and Mates Support Network, one of Australia’s leading organisations for male survivors of child sexual abuse.
The organisation runs groups to assist men by breaking down social isolation, providing support and connection. It states 75% of the men involved in its programs reported a reduction in their thoughts/feelings of suicide.
Despite the compelling statistics linking adverse childhood experiences and particularly child sexual abuse to suicide, investment in specialist services for male survivors to address this national tragedy is sadly lacking.
Current responses focusing just on mental health fail to address the complex set of intersections involved.
Policy and practice need to address impacts of child sexual abuse that intersect with suicidality, along with mental health, social disadvantage, substance abuse, violence and other risk-taking behaviour.
Urgent action is needed to save lives.
The National Sexual Assault, Family and Domestic Violence Counselling Line – 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any Australian who has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault.
If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Craig Hughes-Cashmore, CEO Survivors & Mates Support Network, contributed to this article.
Patrick O’Leary receives funding from Survivors Mates Support Network (for a research project examining the intersections of child sexual abuse, suicidality and violence) and the Australian Research Council.
Paul Wyles and Tracy Wilde do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Analysis – Even in the increasingly chaotic environment of rugby coaching, the news that Jason Holland has returned to the Hurricanes feels odd. Holland was the head coach in Wellington from 2020-23, before leaving to take up an assistant coach role with the All Blacks. His departure from Scott Robertson’s set up sees him back at the Hurricanes, albeit in an office down the hall as Clark Laidlaw is the head coach now.
It said a bit that not only Holland, but Leon MacDonald gave up head coaching roles to be All Black assistant roles. They’re not alone either, John Plumtree followed the same route as Holland out of the Hurricanes to an ultimately unsuccessful stint in Ian Foster’s set up, and while Foster himself is probably the best example of someone going from helming a Super Rugby side into an assistant coaching job with the All Blacks, the history of those making that transition isn’t great.
Jason HollandPhotosport
Because really, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense from an employment point of view. Despite Holland’s well-earned reputation as an easy going personality, he went from being the loudest voice in the room to one who had to wait for his turn to speak. Just how the dynamic will work between Holland and Laidlaw will be interesting, but right now the Hurricanes have bigger issues to worry about off the field.
The wider dynamic is worth having a look at too, because there is no certainty Holland will be replaced in the All Blacks or simply folded into the other coaches’ responsibilities. It’s understood that Robertson is looking at candidates, but one of the main issues in the job market right now is just who is available.
Then, now and comparing coaching set ups
Scott Robertson and Rassie Erasmus.ActionPress
That’s because an awful lot of the people that may well be All Black assistant coaches are already employed. One of Robertson’s great strengths during his time at the Crusaders was the ability to assemble heavyweight coaching groups, to which he’d delegate the day to day running of the team, but that was Super Rugby.
Test rugby isn’t an environment for staff to learn on the job, so Robertson needs proven performers at test level like other teams have assembled and probably more than what he’s got right now. The common historical perception among New Zealand rugby followers is that too many cooks spoil the broth, but one look at the All Blacks’ main opponents reveals a completely different story.
Rassie Erasmus currently has eight coaches on his staff, including Tony Brown, and it’s strongly rumoured that Jacques Nienaber will rejoin the Springboks sometime before the next World Cup.
England have eight coaches as well, with the most notable development lately being former rugby league great Kevin Sinfield focusing on individual skills and the kicking group. Really that’s a role Robertson should be looking to add to his group, especially since both of the aforementioned teams are picking players out of kick-heavy domestic competitions.
Closing the gap
Will Jordan competes for the ball with Tane Edmed.Daniel Carson/Photosport NZ
The addition of a dedicated skills coach would very much help close the gap in an area that has become a somewhat problematic one for the All Blacks. Super Rugby Pacific’s incentivisation for the running game has been fantastic for the competition as a product and long may it continue, but it does come at the cost developing kicking and high ball skills.
That’s not to say it doesn’t happen, with the business end of this year’s competition seeing a big change in approach, culminating in a tense but ironically dour final. But this is more about exposure and repetition of those core skills overall, given that the average young outside back coming through the New Zealand school, club and domestic system would’ve fielded far less bombs than his South African or English counterpart.
There’s a conversation to be had about coaching philosophy in general around the country, but the pressing concern is for that gap to be closed, and this is a situation where the job market is a bit richer. Rugby isn’t the only sport that deals in high kicks and skills related to it, so potentially Robertson can look across the Tasman and find someone in the NRL or AFL.
It’s that sort of compromise that needs to be reached, especially since part of Robertson’s appointment in the first place was his ability to bring what he needed to his staff and work on overall strategy. That second part is what he’s certainly been trying to do with the All Blacks, but it only works if he gets the first part right and the team is winning.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Thunderstorms are forecast to bring torrential rain and large hail to the South Island.
MetService has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Otago on Thursday afternoon.
The forecasting agency said the thunderstorms are moving quickly towards the east, and could be accompanied by torrential rain and large hail.
It warned torrential rain could cause surface or flash flooding about streams, gullies and urban areas, and make driving conditions extremely hazardous.
“Large hail can cause significant damage to crops, orchards, vines, glasshouses and vehicles, and make driving conditions hazardous,” it said.
Pictures from Dunedin Airport showed the tarmac was blanketed in hail.
Hail at Dunedin Airport.Supplied
A storm watch is also in place for the Canterbury Plains, Canterbury High Country, North Otago, and Clutha until 10pm on Thursday. As well as up north for, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Rotorua, Taupō, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay.
It comes after much of the country experienced sweltering heat over the weekend, with temperatures in the high 20s or even early 30s.
MetService said on Thursday there was a reprieve from the heat on the way, with temperatures across the country heading back down towards normal.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
The Central Hawke’s Bay beach community of Kairakau has just been put under the highest level of water restrictions.
Central Hawke’s Bay District Council chief executive Doug Tate said it wasn’t a decision they made lightly.
“It became a necessary move due to the inability to extract enough water from the bore and the spring – the water sources for Kairakau.”
He said due to the lack of water, the bore is only able to draw approximately a tenth of its consented take and, at this rate, it would take almost three days to refill the reservoir.
The council is investigating whether there are any other underlying causes, but suspects the current dry conditions are the main problem.
“We’re having to use tankers to maintain the supply, until the issue is resolved. That’s why we’re having to take such urgent action and implement Level 4 restrictions. We need everyone to work together to reduce water use and share the message in Kairakau,” Tate said.
The Hawke’s Bay region has been sweltering under 34 degree temperatures this week, and some areas have had just half the average rainfall for this time of the year.
The council is asking Kairakau residents to:
ONLY use water outside for emergencies – no washing boats, cars, houses etc
If you have a pool, don’t top it up.
Conserve water wherever you can.
Don’t use your dishwasher. Wash your dishes by hand and use that water elsewhere.
Limit how much you use your washing machine.
Don’t rush to flush the toilet – if it’s yellow, let it mellow.
Top picks for the year included Sanford, A2 Milk, dairy co-operative Fonterra and apple and pet food exporter Scales.RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The New Zealand Exchange Top 50 Index is ending the year slightly stronger than where it started, with a few out-performers more than offsetting weakness in others.
Harbour Asset Management portfolio manager Shane Solley’s top picks for the year included seafood company Sanford, speciality milk company A2 Milk, the dairy co-operative Fonterra and the apple and pet food exporter Scales.
“Over the year, certainly the New Zealand share market performance has improved,” Solley said.
“People are seeing the market is getting this earnings recovery, but we will want to see confirmation, and so a lot of investors will be watching for the December period results that should come through in February, just to confirm that momentum.”
Generate investment specialist Greg Smith said the dairy sector had been particularly strong, with A2Milk’s share price up about 60 percent and Fonterra’s 40 percent, while Fletcher Building rose 25 percent, despite having had a difficult time over the past few years.
“It’s had its fair share of problems in recent years, but investors seem to be seeing some light there on a number of fronts and also the fact that it is a name that should benefit as the economy turns around.”
He said an easing in interest rates, as well as a notable increase in building consents.
“Could make for a much better 2026 for Fletchers and others in that sector.”
“But really that first half of the year, we were rolling through negative earnings downgrades, and so that’s been a real battle for the market. If I look over the full year, there’s a couple of themes that come through.
“The share prices that have done better are Tower and Turner’s Auctions, with really strong franchises that could deal with that slower economy.
“Businesses like Fonterra, Sanford, A2Milk, Scales – great businesses run by people who are really focused on improving returns.
“We’ve also had some really strong infrastructure franchises with purchasing power. Channel Infrastructure, Napier Port – they have got some great growth opportunities, so the markets rewarded them.
“And then finally, over the full-year period, we’ve seen Tourism Holdings, for example, with merger and acquisition activity.
“But we’ve actually seen some of these domestic improvement names start to come back up the list of the best performers over the last six months – Oceania, Heartland Group, Freightways, Sky TV – and the market has rewarded that.”
Solley said a number of companies with exposure to the domestic economy have had a tough time, but so have technology companies such as Gentrack and Vista, and some big names, including Meridian, Spark, SkyCity, EBOS and Meridian Energy.
In recent years there have been reports of copper being stolen.Supplied
Three people have been arrested following an investigation into ongoing thefts of copper.
They were arrested after raids in rural Gordonton and Cambridge, Waikato. Two were women, aged 37 and 50, and a 44-year-old man.
They will appear in Hamilton District Court next week, charged with burglary.
Police said they became aware of a commercial property in Frankton, Hamilton, which had been repeatedly targeted by thieves.
An investigation found 200kg of it had been on-sold in Auckland.
“This investigation highlighted the importance of quality, multi-layered security systems on commercial premises including CCTV, alarm systems and outer perimeter measures,” police said in a statement.
Associate Education Minister David Seymour.RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
A Christchurch school caused a big drama by talking to the media about mouldy school lunches before waiting for investigation findings, David Seymour says.
Haeata Community Campus has been at odds with New Zealand Food Safety and school lunch provider Compass Group about how the mince and potato meals came to be served to children on 1 December.
NZ Food Safety investigators concluded the most plausible explanation was a mix-up at the school and there were no food safety risks associated with the School Lunch Collective supplier Compass Group.
The rotten food served to students at Haeata Community Campus.Supplied / Haeata Community Campus
Associate Education Minister David Seymour said it was unfortunate the food safety watchdog first heard about the problem from the media rather than the school.
“I just wish this hadn’t been necessary. If everyone had just kept a cool head and no-one had run off to the media and they’d gone through the proper process putting child safety number one and child education number two, then this report would have been issued and and no one would have heard much about it,” he said.
“This shouldn’t have been made a major drama and a beat-up.”
New Zealand Food Safety made a number of recommendations following the investigation, saying improvements to tracing and reporting processes would reduce the risk of a repeat.
Overall, Seymour said the the school lunches programme was a “triumph”.
“We’ve had, what is it, two weeks now of talking about 20 lunches when there wasn’t actually an issue,” he said.
“I acknowledge that there were serious challenges in term one because a subcontractor basically went bankrupt and stopped supplying the lunches. That was a real crisis but we actually fixed it really quickly and we haven’t had any problems since then,” he said.
“The healthy school lunches programme is almost half the cost of Labour’s programme and the number of meals that get rejected or sent back every day is the same as Labour’s programme. So I would say half the cost, same quality.”
Haeata Community Campus principal Peggy Burrows said the school would review NZ Food Safety’s report alongside its own internal investigation.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
A store worker has been assaulted after an alleged aggravated robbery in Otangarei on Wednesday night.
A group of men armed with non-firearm weapons entered the building on William Jones Drive about 7.25pm, police said.
The worker was attacked and received minor injuries.
Police said the offenders appeared to have stolen cash and cigarettes before fleeing on foot towards Taraire Crescent.
“This type of violent behaviour is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Whangārei CIB Detective Senior Sergeant Shane Pilmer said.
“The victim thankfully didn’t require medical treatment, but is understandably shaken up.
“We are now working hard to hold those responsible to account.”
Pilmer thanked members of the public who had already provided information, but police were urging anyone else who may have seen or heard anything to come forward.
Police would also like to speak to anyone who may be offered cigarettes for sale cheaply.
Pilmer said the public could expect an increased police presence in the area while enquiries were carried out.
Anyone who witnessed the incident, or who has information regarding it can contact police by calling 105 and quoting file number 251210/5639.
If you wish to give information anonymously, please call Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on December 11, 2025.
The social media ban is just the start of Australia’s forthcoming restrictions – and teens have legitimate concerns Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Woodley, Lecturer and Research Fellow, Edith Cowan University There has been massive global interest in the new social media legislation introduced in Australia aimed at protecting children from the dangers of doom‑scrolling and mental‑health risks potentially posed by these platforms during their developmental years The platforms’
How to handle teen ‘big feelings’ as the social media ban kicks in Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christiane Kehoe, Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne Maskot/Getty Watching your teenager grieve the loss of their social media account can be confronting. Many are genuinely distressed or struggling with the change, and many parents are unsure how to respond. Australia’s social media ban, which
Higher speeds lower productivity: what the data shows crash delays really cost Auckland Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Another morning, another crash on one of Auckland’s major roads. Traffic isn’t moving. Drivers sit in their cars rehearsing reasons for being late again. Radio hosts offer the usual advice: leave earlier and find
Netflix is buying Warner Brothers. Is this the end of the cinema? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liam Burke, Associate Professor and Cinema and Screen Studies Discipline Leader, Swinburne University of Technology Jametlene Reskp/Unsplash The world’s dominant streaming service, Netflix, has announced its planned acquisition of Warner Bros with a deal valued at US$82.7 billion (A$124.5 billion). The acquisition has provoked criticism from film
Politicians bank on people not caring about democracy – but research shows we do Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adele Webb, Research Fellow, Democracy and Citizen Engagement, Centre for Deliberative Democracy, University of Canberra The Citizens’ Assembly/X Across the world, democracies are grappling with a widening gap between citizens and those who govern. Australia is no exception. Increasingly, people feel politics is something done to them,
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard quit Spotify in protest, only for an AI doppelgänger to step in Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wellett Potter, Lecturer in Law, University of New England Getty/Pedro Gomes/Redferns Imagine this: a band removes its entire music catalogue off Spotify in protest, only to discover an AI-generated impersonator has replaced it. The impersonator offers songs that sound much like the band’s originals. The imposter tops
If social media for kids is so bad, should we be allowed to post kids’ photos online? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanne Orlando, Researcher, Digital Wellbeing, Western Sydney University Jordan Siemens/Getty Images As Australia’s ban on under-16-year-olds having certain social media accounts kicks in this week, debate on whether it’s a good idea or even legal rages on – both at home and overseas. Yet barely acknowledged in
The Golden Spurtle dives into the world of competitive porridge making with heart and humour Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Thompson, Lecturer in Theatre, Australian Catholic University Umbrella If you were scouting about for a feature documentary subject, porridge might not be the first thing you’d think of. That is, unless you were Australian opera and theatre director turned documentary film maker, Constantine Costi, who has
Millions of hectares are still being cut down every year. How can we protect global forests? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Dooley, Senior Research Fellow, School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Melbourne David Clode/Unsplash, CC BY Ahead of the United Nations climate summit in Belém last month, Brazil’s President Lula da Silva urged world leaders to agree to roadmaps away from fossil fuels
Private hospitals are in trouble. Here’s what this means for public hospitals – and taxpayer dollars Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Scott, Professor of Health Economics and Director, Centre for Health Economics, Monash Business School, Monash University Every other week there seems to be more bad news for private hospitals. The sale of Healthscope, hospital and maternity ward closures, and fights with private health insurers about funding,
The toy aisle is still full of gender bias. Here’s how to navigate it these holidays Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sadaf Sagheer, Marketing Academic, RMIT University Getty Images Parents the world over have begun the task of negotiating Christmas lists written by their children. But buying the right presents for kids can feel like a minefield, with an ever-growing list of choices and factors to consider. Among
The year’s best meteor shower is about to start – here’s how to see it Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Peak of the Geminids in 2017. Dai Jianfeng/IAU OAE, CC BY Where many other meteor showers are often over-hyped, the Geminids are the real deal: far and away the best shower of the year, peaking on December 14–15 in
From violence to sexism, the manosphere is doing real-world harm Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephanie Wescott, Lecturer in Humanities and Social Sciences, Monash University There’s a lot of debate around the extent to which the manosphere is playing out in young people’s lives and relationships. Some suggest claims about its malevolence are misplaced. Others think just because something happens on the
Year 12 results are being released. What if you don’t want to share your ATAR with friends and family? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Penny Van Bergen, Associate Professor in the Psychology of Education, Macquarie University Cottonbro Studio/ Pexels For the class of 2025, the next week may be particularly nerve wracking, as ATAR or Australian Tertiary Admission Rank results are released online. Victoria is the first state to release results
How charitable are Australians? 3 charts show how much we give Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Myles McGregor-Lowndes, Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Business & Law, Queensland University of Technology For Australia’s charity sector, December is the critical frontline month of the year. Demand for social services reaches its peak, with people who are hungry, homeless, friendless or victims of family violence all requiring
Number of Indigenous deaths in custody at record high Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Australia recorded in 2024–25 the largest number of Indigenous deaths in custody since 1979–80, when monitoring began under the National Deaths in Custody Program. In the 2024–25 year, 33 of the 113 deaths in custody were Aboriginal or Torres Strait
Can smart greenhouses bring back food production in cities? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vera Xia, Lecturer in Design and Urban Technology, University of Sydney Sydney, like many other Australian cities, has a long history of urban farming. Market gardens, oyster fisheries and wineries on urban fringe once supplied fresh food to city markets. As suburbs expanded, many farms in and
Why is Trump so obsessed with Venezuela? His new security strategy provides some clues Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Juan Zahir Naranjo Cáceres, PhD Candidate, Political Science, International Relations and Constitutional Law, University of the Sunshine Coast Two centuries ago, US President James Monroe declared the Western Hemisphere off-limits to European powers in what would became known in history books as the “Monroe Doctrine”. The proclamation
Cowbois reimagines Hollywood’s Wild West – with a wonderful queer twist Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karen Cummings, Lecturer in Singing, University of Sydney Alex Vaughan Music and theatre can bring into the world places and stories that exist only in the imagination. Can music and theatre also change hearts and minds? This question is at the heart of Cowbois, a new music
As the population ages, the RBA’s interest rate policy is no longer fit for purpose Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Denny, Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Tasmania Yan Krukov/Pexels An extensive government review of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) in 2023 made 51 specific recommendations to enable “an RBA fit for the future”. But the narrow terms of reference confined the review to an economic
Finance Minister Nicola Willis (left) has challenged her predecessor Ruth Richardson.RNZ/Reece Baker/Supplied
Finance Minister Nicola Willis and her 1990s predecessor Ruth Richardson are now debating when and where to hold their promised debate.
Willis is refusing to favour a specific media outlet, while Richardson gave her opponent an ultimatum to agree to the showdown on NewstalkZB by 5pm.
The Finance Minister this week challenged Richardson – the chair of the Taxpayers’ Union group – to “come out of the shadows” and debate on the country’s finances after the TPU launched a campaign criticising the government’s finances.
Richardson first laughed off the request, but later agreed.
Labour said the debate was a “sideshow”, and the Public Service Association union said it was a “false flag” operation aimed at making Willis appear more moderate.
But after Willis said she was happy to debate “anytime, anywhere”, the debate going ahead may depend on whether the pair can agree on a time and a place.
“My proposal is that we hold it here at Parliament next week,” Willis told reporters on Thursday when heading into Question Time, “and that we do do it after the half-year update as Richardson has suggested”.
She said that was so that all media could attend.
“I’m an equal-opportunity person, I think it’s fair that all of your journalists get a go at recording the debate so that as many New Zealanders as possible can listen to it.”
Minutes later, Richardson put out a media release giving Willis an ultimatum to agree by 5pm to debate her on Newstalk ZB/Herald Now.
“Enough with the dilly-dallying. You laid down the gauntlet with ‘any time , any place’, and we have come back with the offer. Take it or leave it.
“We know you’re trying to negotiate with a taxpayer-funded, left-wing website – when the offer on the table is the largest broadcast audience in New Zealand … you have until 5pm or we’re out.”
The dispute over a venue came after the TPU sent fudge out to newsrooms across the country, insinuating Willis was “fudging” the numbers.
Willis denied that outright.
“Not at all, the numbers are all set out very clearly and we will update them again next week. We do full revelation of the numbers,” she said.
“The simple fact is that spending as a proportion of GDP has been lower under our government than it was under the last because of the significant fiscal savings that we’ve made, $43 billion of savings so far.”
Asked about the fudge, she said that if the TPU spent as much time on savings ideas as they did on fudge design, they could make a useful contribution to public debate.
“We reduced spending as a proportion of the economy. We also, I’d point out to the Taxpayers’ Union, reduced taxes – not only for all working New Zealanders but for businesses making investments in growth.”
She noted parties on the left were proposing more tax, with Labour advocating for a capital gains tax and the Greens and Te Pāti Māori calling for a wealth tax.
Asked about the PSA’s claim about the debate being a stunt, Willis replied: “Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right. I’m stuck in the middle and that’s where New Zealand is too.”
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
The venues are believed to have offered unlicensed poker games.[dl.maxpixel.freegreatpicture.com] CC0 Public Domain
The public is being urged to stay alert after nine alleged illegal gambling venues were uncovered in Auckland raids.
The venues are believed to have offered unlicensed poker games in breach of the Gambling Act.
Equipment including poker tables, chips, cash, cryptocurrency and electronic devices were seized.
“These operations can be illegal commercial ventures hiding in plain sight,” Vicki Scott, director gambling, Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) said.
She warned people to check if a venue was legal before engaging in any gambling activities.
“Patrons are often unaware that by participating they are engaging in illegal activity and have no protection if things go wrong.
“Illegal gambling operators are predatory, and we are seeing some offer credit to participants which can result in significant debts being incurred.
“Illegal gambling can lead to financial harm, gambling addiction, and exposure to criminal activity. It also undermines trust in legitimate operators and community fundraising efforts.”
Scott also warned venues against hosting illegal activities – whether willingly or unknowingly.
“If you’re a venue operator, you need to know what’s happening in your space – turning a blind eye is not an option.”
There has been massive global interest in the new social media legislation introduced in Australia aimed at protecting children from the dangers of doom‑scrolling and mental‑health risks potentially posed by these platforms during their developmental years
While families grapple with the social media ban, Australia is about to dial up the volume on increased measures to further regulate the internet through the impending industry codes. These will eventually be implemented across services including search engines, social media messaging services, online games, app distributors, equipment manufacturers and suppliers (smartphones, tablets and so on) and AI chatbots and companions.
Over the Christmas break we’ll start to see hosting services (and ISPs/search engines) that deliver sexual content including pornography, alongside material categorised as promoting eating disorders and self-harm, start to impose various restrictions, including increased age checks.
From December 27 (with some measures coming in later), sites delivering content that fall under the new industry codes will be required to implement “appropriate age assurance”. How they will do this is largely left to the providers to decide.
While much of the media coverage has focused on the social media ban, the industry codes have been much quieter, and arguably more difficult to understand. Discussion has focused on the impact and extent of the code with little focus on the very people that the changes are designed to impact: young people.
The quiet voices
Our new research explores the view of Australia’s teens on various age-verification and age-assurance measures – views that don’t appear to have been fully taken into consideration by policymakers.
Teens believe governments and industry should be “doing more” to make online spaces safer, but are sceptical about age verification measures. Unsurprisingly, consistent with other research, teens confess they will find ways around the ban, such as the use of VPNs, borrowed ID or using images of adults to overcome age verification and assurance measures. Biometric measures such as facial identification have also shown concerning racial, gender and age bias.
Miles, 16, told us:
There are nifty little ways around it. […] I think that’s one thing that all kids have, [a] knack to kind of — there’s a little thing, “oh I can get ‘round it, it’s a bit of fun”[…] There will be loopholes that people will find, there’ll be younger generations finding little knickknacks [VPNs] there’ll be ways around.
Previous research has indicated scepticism around the safety of allowing third parties to host such personal data. This raises justified security and privacy concerns for all Australian users – especially following the recent Discord data leak that disclosed photos used for age verification of Australian account holders.
In the United Kingdom (where on the day of implementation, one VPN platform saw a 1,400% surge in uptake, minors are now using unstable free VPNs to overcome Ofcom’s age-assurance measures to access blocked pornographic content. While functional for the end-user, their use leaves them susceptible to sensitive personal data leaks and phishing, further compromising their safety.
Such concerns are exacerbated by uncertainty over the kind of data being captured by third parties and government bodies, (particularly if digital ID or temporary digital tokens are to be used as a measure in future). For teens, this possibility was of particular concern when considering access to online sexual content as the new rules come into force. As Miles told us:
What you’re consuming I think is a little bit too far. I think there are certain limits and prying into people’s personal sexual lives is a little bit too far [capturing] personal sexual interests and viewings.
Teens note that by restricting access to content, the government may actually be making the desire to access content more enticing too. Some may even see it as a challenge to find ways around the restrictions. Tiffany, 16, told us:
[I] don’t know if they [restrictions] actually work that much ‘cause I feel like where people lock something or disallow something it makes [them] want to look at it more, and see it more, so I feel it’s more incentive.
More relevant measures than age
Interestingly, some teens suggest that maturity would be a better measure of emotional and cognitive readiness for content than age. Tiffany put it this way:
[because] some people, they could be 13 or 14, and they could act much older than they are, and have an intellectual level much higher than their age, and then some people could be that same age, but their intellectual level is much younger. So, there’s a big variation in people’s personalities and their lives and how they think.
However, they conceded this would be very difficult to measure.
Teens argue that independence and autonomy is key in these crucial years of development as emerging adults. Tiffany said
[Teens] can’t really be their own person if somebody doesn’t have trust in them and let them have their own independence. It’s a necessity for somebody to be able to grow into their own person.
Many participants stressed they are able to self-regulate. Arguably, teens will inevitably access content, whether it be social media or sexual content online, and benefit from chances to build these skills.
What lessons need to be learned?
Such measures often overlook young people’s fundamental rights, including their sexual rights, and policymakers need to consider the views of young people themselves. Until recently, these views have been strikingly absent from these debates but represent valuable contributions that should be appropriately considered and integrated into future plans.
Findings indicate there is a growing need to separate older teens from children in policy. Teens also overwhemingly recognised education (including digital literacy and lessons relating to sexual health and behaviours) in offline and online spaces as powerful tools – that should not be withheld or restricted unnecessarily.
Giselle Woodley receives funding from the Australian Research Council for her research, the Australian Human Rights Commission, as an expert advisor on the “on your terms” consent survey, and the Daniel Morcombe Foundation for guest speaking at events concerning children and young people’s online safety.
Paul Haskell-Dowland does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Watching your teenager grieve the loss of their social media account can be confronting. Many are genuinely distressed or struggling with the change, and many parents are unsure how to respond.
Australia’s social media ban, which started this week, means teens under the age of 16, have lost accounts to platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.
These are the platforms they relied on to talk to friends, find support, follow interests, or decompress after school.
While some teens feel relieved or not fussed, many are feeling sad, worried, powerless, helpless, disappointed or angry.
These aren’t signs of entitlement. They’re signs your teen may need support.
A mixed bag: here’s what more than 17,000 teenagers think of the ban.
Why losing social media hits some teens hard
There’s a neurological reason why the loss of social media can hit teens so hard.
Adolescence is a period of enormous social, neurological and emotional change. Teen brains are wired for peer connection, and their brains become more sensitive to feedback from their peers. Meanwhile the brain regions responsible for impulse control, managing strong emotions and long-term planning are still developing.
When teens say losing social media feels like being “cut off”, they aren’t being dramatic. Their neurological systems are reacting to a loss of social reinforcement.
Connect and validate their feelings
If your teen is upset, the instinct might be to justify the government’s decision or to explain why life offline is healthier. However, advice lands badly when a young person feels unheard. Teens often perceive even well-meaning advice as criticism.
Feeling angry or sad makes total sense. I know you used those sites to stay connected with your friends.
Losing your account feels huge. It’s a big change to deal with.
Then pause and listen.
Or you can sit with them without saying much. Some teens prefer parents to just listen sympathetically.
Supporting your teen doesn’t mean you agree with their perspective. It means you’re acknowledging their emotional reality. When teens feel understood, they become more open to talking – and eventually, to problem-solving.
The first two weeks may be the toughest. Some teens may experience grief and withdrawal-like symptoms: boredom, anxiety, irritability, restlessness and a powerful urge to “just check once”.
Help teens understand these reactions are normal. Social media platforms are designed to keep users hooked.
Understand the ‘why’ together
It might help to explore the governement’s concerns about social media with your teen – but not as a lecture. The ban isn’t about social media being inherently bad, but about how platforms are designed.
You can talk about algorithms maximising engagement using the same mechanisms as gambling to encourage dependence and addiction. Or you can talk about how feeds are personalised to keep users scrolling for longer.
Ask your teen what they think about these concerns. This isn’t about convincing them the ban is right, but developing their awareness of how digital platforms work. This prepares them for use when they’re older.
find community around a niche interest or identity?
share creative work, or find outlets for self-expression?
de-stress after a busy day?
know what others are talking about?
Once you understand this, you can help them find alternatives that genuinely meet their needs. They might be able to maintain:
connection by organising a get-together, make FaceTime calls, join clubs, or have group chats on allowed platforms
creativity by finding other outlets such as photography, video-making, music, writing, art, or gaming communities with safe age settings
relaxation by reading, exercise, podcasts, nature time, shows you can watch together.
Many teens won’t immediately know what they want to try. They may need time and space to have their feelings first. Once they are ready, inviting them to brainstorm a few options (without pressuring them) can help.
Problem-solve together, notice efforts
Once emotions settle, gently shift to collaborative problem-solving. You can ask:
What’s been the hardest part this week?
How could we help you stay connected in ways that are allowed?
What would make this change even a tiny bit easier?
Let your teen lead. Young people are much more likely to follow through on strategies they helped design.
Even small signs of coping deserve acknowledgement. You can say:
I can see you’ve been finding other ways to talk to friends. That takes maturity.
I’m proud of how open you’ve been about how you’re feeling.
But if something doesn’t work, treat it like an experiment. You can say:
OK, that didn’t help as much as we hoped. What else could we try?
Check in later
For teens, losing social media isn’t simply losing an app. It can feel like losing a community, a creative outlet, or a place where they felt understood.
Keep an eye out and offer opportunities to check in with how they are going. This ensures teens don’t navigate this transition alone or become secretive – and that your relationship remains a source of support.
The eSafety Commissioner website explains why the rules were brought in and how they will work; youth mental health service headspace has seven tips for navigating the social media ban; the Raising Children’s website explains how teens use technology for entertainment; tips for digital wellness and how to draw up a “contract” for use of a child’s first phone are also available.
Christiane Kehoe is a co-author of the Tuning in to Teens parenting program. Proceeds from dissemination of the program provide funding for development and research of the program. Program authors and the University of Melbourne are distributed royalties from proceeds of manual sales. Christiane is affiliated with the Parenting and Family Research Alliance and is Deputy Editor of the journal Mental Health & Prevention.
Elizabeth Westrupp receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council. She is affiliated with the Parenting and Family Research Alliance, Editor-in-Chief of Mental Health & Prevention, and is a registered clinical psychologist.
Another morning, another crash on one of Auckland’s major roads. Traffic isn’t moving. Drivers sit in their cars rehearsing reasons for being late again. Radio hosts offer the usual advice: leave earlier and find an alternative route.
It happens so often we barely notice anymore. But the costs add up fast, and they’re far bigger than a few delayed meetings.
Auckland had 34,628 reported crashes between 2022 and 2025. The “road toll” conversation typically stops at the obvious costs: injuries, deaths, emergency response. But it misses a lot.
A new analysis puts the true figure at NZ$9.23 billion over those three years (roughly 2% of Auckland’s $157 billion economy), including nearly $200 million that never enters the policy debate.
Transport agencies already put dollar figures on crashes. The New Zealand Transport Authority (NZTA) uses official methodology covering the usual: medical bills, lost productivity, property damage and the statistical value of a life. One fatal crash amounts to $15.2 million.
But buried in the technical reports is an additional cost category that most policy discussions ignore: network disruption.
False economies
Crashes on major roads hit more than just the people involved. Thousands of other drivers get caught in the delays that spread across the network.
Using GPS travel time data and traffic counts, researchers tracked how crashes create congestion that extends far beyond the crash scene and persists long after vehicles are cleared.
A multi-vehicle crash on Auckland’s motorway network generates between $1.4 million and $3.5 million in network delay costs. Even a serious crash on an arterial road can cost $26,000 to $37,000 in lost time across all affected road users.
When applied across Auckland’s crash data, network delays add roughly $195 million to the region’s crash costs, a 2.2% increase over conventional estimates.
But there’s a problem with this logic. It counts time saved from higher speeds as pure economic gain, while ignoring the time lost when those higher speeds increase crash frequency and severity.
Drop speeds from 50 kilometres per hour (km/h) to 30km/h and pedestrian deaths in crashes fall from 80% to 10%. Faster speeds involve less time to react and longer stopping distances, meaning more crashes.
And higher speeds mean worse crashes that take longer to clear. A fatal crash can shut a road for hours. At 110km/h, there is more debris, longer investigations and longer queues compared with the same crash at 100km/h.
Productivity isn’t about speed
Transport agencies worldwide, including the NZTA, follow a “safe system” approach to road safety. The argument is that humans make mistakes, and road design should stop those mistakes from becoming deadly. Speed management sits at its core.
Rolling back speed limits moves New Zealand outside this evidence-based framework. It prioritises theoretical time savings over documented safety benefits, creating a false economy where minutes or even seconds saved in normal traffic come at the cost of hours lost, and billions spent, when crashes inevitably occur.
The crash cost estimates come with a few caveats. Flow Transportation Specialists developed their analysis with just four case-study crashes. Minor crash costs on major roads are extrapolated guesses rather than measured data.
And the methodology doesn’t account for vehicle operating costs during delays, cancelled trips, schedule reliability impacts and emergency vehicle delays. The true network delay figure is probably higher.
But even these conservative numbers run to hundreds of millions, costs that don’t show up when agencies decide which projects get funded. Underestimate crash costs by 3–10% and safety upgrades start losing cost-benefit battles they should win.
Crashes and consequent delays slow cities more than speed limits do. Productivity comes from fewer crashes and predictable journeys, not from letting people drive faster until something goes wrong.
Next time you’re sitting in traffic behind a crash, consider the actual bill: emergency response, medical costs, lost work hours, property damage. Now add the network delay costs hitting thousands of other drivers.
Rolling back speed limits means choosing to ignore those hidden costs.
Timothy Welch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liam Burke, Associate Professor and Cinema and Screen Studies Discipline Leader, Swinburne University of Technology
The world’s dominant streaming service, Netflix, has announced its planned acquisition of Warner Bros with a deal valued at US$82.7 billion (A$124.5 billion).
The acquisition has provoked criticism from film fans, the creative community and the United States government, including concerns for the future of filmgoing. News of the acquisition was also followed by a hostile bid (a bid that goes directly to shareholders, not the board), from Paramount Skydance.
Jane Fonda described the Netflix deal as “catastrophic”, saying it “threatens the entire entertainment industry”.
Since emerging as the global leader in streaming, Netflix has avoided acquisitions while its competitors have bought up legacy assets, like Amazon’s purchase of MGM in 2022. Rather than buy existing intellectual property, Netflix sought to build new brands such as Stranger Things and Squid Game.
However, it is rare that a 100-year archive like Warner Bros – which ranges from Looney Tunes cartoons to Emmy-magnet The White Lotus – would come up for sale. The deal would bolster Netflix’s library and save expensive licensing costs. There’s no need to pay for ten seasons of Friends if you own the company.
The acquisition raises questions on the consolidation of streaming services. But one of the most immediate concerns is the impact on filmgoing.
Do we still go to the cinema?
Cinema attendance has been falling since the rise of global streaming. This decline was exacerbated by the pandemic: 2025’s global box office will be down 13% from pre-COVID times.
Netflix occasionally releases films in a handful of theatres for extremely limited runs to qualify for awards such as the Oscars, which require a cinematic release. But Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has repeatedly stated Netflix’s priority is at home rather than theatres.
While blockbusters from the Warner Bros studio like Batman and Minecraft are likely to still be released in cinemas under the new super-company, original and mid-budget films may not get the same opportunity.
Ironically, the proposed deal is coming at a time when Warner Bros is having a very successful run of auteur-led films in theatres, such as Ryan Coogler’s Sinners and Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another.
Commenting on the deal, Sarandos said Netflix would look to make the time between films being exclusively in cinemas and available at home more “consumer friendly” – meaning the company will look to have short cinema runs and a quick pivot to streaming services.
Theatrical windows have been shrinking. The original Top Gun is often credited with starting the home video revolution when it sold a then-record 2.9 million VHS cassettes in 1987, but that was ten months after it had been a hit in cinemas.
Even in 2010, when the Walt Disney Company sought to shorten the home video release window of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland to 12 weeks, the British theatre chain Odeon threatened not to exhibit the film. Today, blockbusters like Wicked can fly to premium video on demand in a few weeks.
Many theatrical films earn the majority of their box office in the first two weeks of release, and so longer exclusive windows are arguably a case of diminishing returns. However, this doesn’t always hold true.
Earlier this year, Warner Bros’ vampire movie Sinners opened modestly in cinemas. But the film sustained its audience over several weeks on its way to becoming the highest grossing original film at the US box office in years, taking in over US$260 million (A$390 million).
Cinephiles argue original films like Sinners need time to find a cinema audience, and the film’s many musical and horror setpieces are amplified by the communal experience of the theatre.
Challenges ahead
Skydance is also looking to add the studio to its growing portfolio, after its recent purchase of Paramount.
Skydance owner David Ellison has demonstrated his commitment to cinemas by promising Paramount will release 30 films in theatres a year with “healthy traditional windows”.
The deal will also come under regulatory scrutiny due to antitrust concerns. It unites top streamers Netflix and HBO as well as the film studio, removing a significant buyer from the market. Such anti-competitive rationale was used under the Biden administration to successfully block the proposed merger of book publishers Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster.
One note of optimism is that Netflix has recently demonstrated a willingness to deviate from its founding principles. When the streaming service first launched, it positioned itself in opposition to broadcast and cable television by dropping all episodes of a season at once, not streaming live content or sport, and shunning advertising. Netflix has rolled back these three tenets in recent years in response to the shifting marketplace.
Perhaps the service’s stubborn refusal to embrace filmgoing is another long-held principle it will abandon if audiences are eager.
New research shows young people are craving in-person entertainment, still a novelty for digital natives.
This appetite for experiences has fuelled the recent success in cinemas of A Minecraft Movie, Taylor Swift concert films, and KPop Demon Hunters sing-along – months after it was originally released on Netflix.
If cinema’s reassert themselves as a lively communal space, perhaps this is one experience the newly diversified Netflix will buy a ticket for.
Liam Burke does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adele Webb, Research Fellow, Democracy and Citizen Engagement, Centre for Deliberative Democracy, University of Canberra
Across the world, democracies are grappling with a widening gap between citizens and those who govern. Australia is no exception.
Increasingly, people feel politics is something done to them, not with them or for them. Many believe the system no longer represents their interests or responds to their needs, and that it serves powerful actors rather than the public good.
Australian attitudes echo a broader global trend. People are increasingly questioning a model of democracy that reduces their role to voting every few years and leaving the rest to elected representatives. They’re seeking deeper ways to contribute, especially on complex, long term issues, such as responses to the climate crisis.
This isn’t a rejection of democracy as an ideal. It’s a loss of faith in how democracy is being practised. People don’t feel heard.
Surveys have recorded this frustration for several years. Yet they rarely ask the crucial follow up question: if people are unhappy with the way democracy is working, what changes do they want to see?
Our new report released today asks this question. Drawing on a nationally representative survey of 4,200 adults, it shows Australians don’t want less democracy, they want a more meaningful one. They want democracy that listens, responds, and creates genuine opportunities between elections, for people to have a say in the decisions that shape their lives.
Democracy through discourse
A common assumption is that people are too apathetic, distrustful, or busy to get involved in politics.
Our findings call this assumption into question.
We found strong support for a more “talk-centric” model of democracy. Nearly one in two Australians (48%) say the best way to make political decisions in a democracy is through dialogue with citizens and affected groups.
Only 9% think decisions should be left to elected representatives without public input.
On a similar note, Australians show more trust in their fellow citizens than is often assumed. More than a third (36%) say they would trust a group of everyday people, brought together to deliberate, to produce sound recommendations on their behalf.
This sort of initiative is called deliberative democracy. Rather than treating democracy mainly as a contest of votes, these processes complement elections by creating spaces for informed public discussion.
They bring together everyday people – often by random selection – to learn about an issue, hear from experts and stakeholders, deliberate with one another, and develop recommendations.
But would people actually be a part of it?
Survey respondents showed a strong willingness to participate in these sorts of forums. When asked if they’d be likely to take part if invited, 56% said they would. This points to an unmet demand for more direct and meaningful ways to contribute
That demand was strongest among the people often written off as “disillusioned”. Among those dissatisfied with democracy, 63% said they would be willing to participate in a deliberative forum.
National deliberation on Housing organised by AMPLIFY in February 2025.
Among those who distrust government, the figure is 59%.
People also saw deliberative processes as a sign of good political leadership. More than half (54%) view deliberative forums as evidence politicians are responsive – that they value the ideas and experiences of ordinary people.
Who’s standing in the way? Politicians
So given the public appetite, could deliberative democracy innovations work in Australia?
But at the national level, politics continues to rely mostly on elections and elite parliamentary deliberation.
By contrast, Ireland’s national citizens’ assemblies on issues from marriage equality to climate change show how deliberation can tackle complex and contested policy questions where legitimacy depends on structured public input.
Parliamentary committees and their inquiry processes also offer promising spaces to expand the opportunity and capacity of citizens to scrutinise parliamentary deliberations.
The main barrier to deliberative democratic reform is not citizen apathy. It is the reluctance of political elites – especially federal politicians – to trust citizens and to see them as capable partners in tackling hard problems.
Without that confidence, political leaders are unlikely to champion reforms that genuinely shift power towards the public, even when the evidence shows they can improve decision-making and legitimacy.
Promising signs for the future
The Department of Home Affairs’ recent Strengthening Australian Democracy report highlighted deliberative practices as one way to improve citizen engagement and democratic resilience.
The first national Guidebook for Deliberative Engagement, produced by the University of Canberra’s Centre for Deliberative Democracy, was recently commissioned by the New South Wales and federal governments to support agencies across Australia in designing and running these processes effectively.
Australians are not calling for the replacement of elections or the discarding of representative institutions. They are asking for a democracy that listens between elections.
Delivering that will require political leadership willing to pilot, scale and normalise new ways for citizens and decision-makers to work together.
The public appetite is there. The question is whether our institutions and political actors are ready to catch up.
Max Grömping receives funding from the Australian Research Council via DP220100050 ‘Public Interest Advocacy in Australian policymaking; and DP230101777 ‘Mapping & Harnessing Public Mistrust’.
Adele Webb and Emily Foley do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Imagine this: a band removes its entire music catalogue off Spotify in protest, only to discover an AI-generated impersonator has replaced it. The impersonator offers songs that sound much like the band’s originals.
The imposter tops Spotify search results for the band’s music – attracting significant streams – and goes undetected for months.
In July, the band publicly withdrew its music from Spotify in protest at chief executive Daniel Ek’s investments in an AI weapons company.
Within months, outraged fans drew attention to a new account called “King Lizard Wizard”.
It hosted AI-generated songs with identical titles and lyrics, and similar-sounding music, to the original band. (And it isn’t the first case of a fake Spotify account impersonating the band).
Fans have taken to social media channels to vent their frustration over the King Gizzard imposter. Reddit
The fake account was recommended by Spotify’s algorithms and was reportedly removed after exposure by the media.
This incident raises crucial questions: what happens when artists leave a platform, only to be replaced by AI knockoffs? Is this copyright infringement? And what might it mean for Spotify?
As an Australian band, King Gizzard’s music is automatically protected by Australian copyright law. However, any practical enforcement against Spotify would use US law, so that’s what we’ll focus on here.
Is this copyright infringement?
King Gizzard has a track called Rattlesnake, and there was an AI-generated track with the same title and lyrics.
This constitutes copyright infringement of both title and lyrics. And since the AI-generated music sounds similar, there is also potential infringement of Gizzard’s original sound recording.
A court would question whether the AI track is copyright infringement, or a “sound-alike”. A sound-alike work work may evoke the style, arrangement or “feel” of the original, but the recording is technically new.
Legally, sound-alikes sit in a grey area because the musical expression is new, but the aesthetic impression is copied.
To determine whether there is infringement, a court would examine the alleged copying of the protected musical elements in each recording.
It would then identify whether there is “substantial similarity” between the original and AI-generated tracks. Is the listener hearing a copy of the original Gizzard song, or a copy of the band’s musical style? Style itself can’t be infringed (although it does become relevant when paying damages).
Some might wonder whether the AI-generated tracks could fall under “fair use” as a form of parody. Genuine parody would not constitute infringement. But this seems unlikely in the King Gizzard situation.
A parody must comment on or critique an original work, must be transformative in nature, and only copy what is necessary. Based on the available facts, these criteria have not been met.
False association under trademark law?
Using a near-identical band name creates a likelihood of consumers being confused regarding the source of the AI-generated music. And this confusion would be made worse by Spotify reportedly recommending the AI tracks on its “release radar”.
The US Lanham Act has a section on unfair competition which distils two types of liability. One of these is false association. This might be applicable here; there is a plausible claim if listeners could reasonably be confused into thinking the AI-generated tracks were from King Gizzard.
To establish such a claim, the plaintiff would need to demonstrate prior protectable trademark rights, and then show the use of a similar mark is likely to cause consumer confusion.
The defendant in such a claim would likely be the creator/uploader of the AI tracks (perhaps jointly with Spotify).
What about Spotify?
Copyright actions are enforced by rights-holders, rather than regulators, so the onus would be on King Gizzard to sue. But infringement litigation is expensive and time-consuming – often for little damages.
As Spotify has now taken down the AI-generated account, copyright litigation is unlikely. The streaming platform said no royalties were paid to the fake account creator.
Even if this case was successfully litigated against the creator of the fake account, Spotify is unlikely to face penalties. That’s because it is protected by US “safe harbour” laws, which limit liability in cases where content is removed after a platform is notified.
This example demonstrates the legal and policy tensions between platforms actively promoting AI-generated content through algorithms and being “passive hosts”.
Speaking on the King Lizard incident, a Spotify representative told The Music:
Spotify strictly prohibits any form of artist impersonation. The content in question was removed for violating our policies, and no royalties were paid out for any streams generated.
In September, the platform said it had changed its policy about spam, impersonation and deception to address such issues. However, this recent incident raises questions regarding how these policy amendments have translated into changes to the platform and/or procedures.
This is a cautionary tale for artists – many of whom face the threat of their music being used in training and output of AI models without their consent.
For concerned fans, it’s a reminder to always support your favourite artists through official channels – and ideally direct channels.
Wellett Potter is a member of the Copyright Society of Australia and the Asia Pacific Copyright Association.
Fire and Emergency said thermal imaging drone flights found no fire activity or hotspots overnight.
Assistant Commander David Brown said the last firefighters left on Thursday morning, but the organisation would be ready to respond to any flare-ups.
“The maunga and the whole national park is a precious area with so many environmental and cultural values that any fire has a big impact.
“Fortunately, we were able to deploy firefighters and aircraft swiftly to get on top of the fire and contain it to a relatively small area in comparison with what was burnt last month.”
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Hawke’s Bay officers had no legal grounds to pepper spray a man and force entry into his home, the police watchdog has found.
The incident happened in July last year, when seven officers went to arrest the man for breaching bail.
When police arrived at his Flaxmere home, he tried to shut the door on them but was pepper sprayed and they forced their way inside.
The man then barricaded himself in a room and threatened to kill himself with a piece of glass. Later, he was shot with sponge rounds and tasered before police arrested him.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority said the use of pepper spray, and going into the man’s house without a warrant, was unlawful.
But shooting him with sponge rounds and tasering him was justified.
The watchdog has recommended staff training, and that police fix the man’s broken door.
Police have acknowledged the report’s findings.
The report
The Independent Police Conduct Authority [IPCA] launched and investigation into the incident following a complaint from the man’s mother.
It said the man, referred to in the report as Mr Z, had strict bail conditions and was facing several criminal charges including presenting a firearm, assault, and resisting police.
When police arrived to arrest Mr Z at his Flaxmere home shortly after 8pm on 14 July 2024, he denied breaching bail and tried to shut the door on them.
Several of Mr Z’s young children were at home at the time, as were other family members who began filming on their phones, it said.
The tussle with the door broke two glass panels and Mr Z was pepper sprayed in the face before barricading himself in a bedroom.
The officers initially followed him into the house, but then retreated outside and called to him through the bedroom window to surrender.
At this point, the report said Mr Z went to the front door and held a shard of broken glass to his neck and yelled: “You just want me to f****** kill myself!”
The officers called out to him to stop, but when he didn’t, one officer fired a sponge round which hit Mr Z in the groin and he ran back to the bedroom.
The officers followed him into the house, but when they couldn’t get through the bedroom, they broke the bedroom window from the outside due to concerns that Mr Z would seriously harm himself.
Mr Z threw a full can of drink at the officers, striking one on the hip. The officers responded with another sponge round and taser through the window, both of which incapacitated him and he was arrested.
Findings and recommendations
It said the officers mistakenly relied on a section 7 of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012, which allows officers to enter a home without a warrant if they suspect a person is unlawfully at large.
It said because Mr Z was still inside his home, officers did not actually effect an arrest at his door.
“Consequently, police had no power to enter the house without permission and had no legal option other than to withdraw and apply for a warrant.”
The IPCA found the police had unlawfully entered Mr Z’s home, however it said subsequent entries were justified because they believed Mr Z was at immediate risk of self-harm.
Because Mr Z had not been arrested, the report said the use of pepper spray on him at the door was unlawful.
However, it found the officers were justified in shooting Mr Z with sponge rounds and a taser to prevent him from self-harming.
The watchdog said there was a widespread misunderstanding among police of section 7 of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012, and the powers available to them arresting someone for breaching bail.
It recommended written guidance on the scope of the law and further training for frontline staff.
The report also said police should implement a system that allows officers to obtain a warrant outside of court hours and recommended police repair the damage to the door at Mr Z’s mother’s house.
Police response
Police acknowledged the report’s findings and said it was working with staff to understand their obligations.
It said officers had spoken directly with the family and were making arrangements to repair damages.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Keith Borrell said the police would consider the practicality of implementing the IPCA’s other recommendations, in particular, a system for obtaining a warrant outside of the court’s opening hours.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Yet barely acknowledged in this debate is what happens when a child doesn’t have an account, yet their entire childhood is still documented online. Should this be permitted?
Sharenting is widespread and persistent. A review of practices over the past ten years describes that parents commonly share details such as children’s names, dates of birth, birthday parties, milestones (birthdays, school achievements), health info and photos. This produces a “digital identity” of the child long before they can consent.
And it’s not just parents. Dance schools, soccer clubs and various other community groups, as well as family members and friends, commonly post about children online. All contribute to what’s essentially a collective digital album about the child. Even for children not yet old enough to have their own account, their lives could be heavily documented online until they do.
This challenge moves us well beyond traditional approaches to safety messages such as “don’t share your personal details online” or “don’t talk to strangers”. It requires a deeper understanding of what exactly safety and wellbeing for children on online platforms looks like.
A passive data subject
Here’s a typical sharenting scenario. A family member uploads a photo captioned “Mia’s 8th birthday at Bondi beach!” to social media, where it gets tagged and flooded with comments from relatives and friends.
Young Mia isn’t scrolling. She isn’t being bullied. She doesn’t have her own account. But in the act of having a photo and multiple comments about her uploaded, she has just become a passive data subject. Voluntarily disclosed by others, Mia’s sensitive information – data on her face and age – exposes her to risks without her consent or participation.
The algorithm doesn’t care Mia is eight years old. It cares that her photo keeps adults on the app for longer. Her digital persona is being used to sustain the platform’s real product: adult attention. Children’s images posted by family and friends function as engagement tools, with parents reporting that “likes” and comments encourage them to continue sharing more about their child.
We share such posts to connect with family and to feel part of a community. Yet a recent Italian study of 228 parents found 93% don’t fully realise the associated data harvesting practices that take place, and their risk to the child’s privacy, security and image protection.
A public narrative of one’s life
Every upload of a child’s face, especially across years and from multiple sources, help create a digital identity they don’t have control over. Legally and ethically, many frameworks attempt to restrict commercial data profiling of minors, but recent studies show profiling is still happening at scale.
By the time a child is 16 – old enough to create their own account – a platform may already have accumulated a sizeable and lucrative profile of them to sell to advertisers.
The fallout isn’t just about data; it’s personal. That cute birthday photo can resurface in a background check for future employment or become ammunition for teenage bullying.
More subtly, a young person forging their identity must now contend with a pre-written, public narrative of their life, one they didn’t choose or control.
New laws aiming to ban children from social media address real harms such as exposure to misogynistic or hateful material, dangerous online challenges, violent videos, and content promoting disordered eating and suicide – but they focus on the child as a user. In today’s data economy, you don’t need an account to be tracked and profiled. You just need to be relevant to someone else who has an account.
What can we do?
The essential next step is social media literacy for all of us. This is a new form of literacy for the digital world we live in now. It means understanding how algorithms shape our feeds, how dark design patterns keep us scrolling, and that any “like” or photo is a data point in a vast commercial machine.
Social media literacy is not just for kids in classrooms, but for parents, coaches, carers and anyone else engaging with kids in our online world. We all need to understand this.
Sharenting-awareness campaigns exist, from eSafety’s parental privacy resources, to the EU-funded children’s digital rights initiative, but they are not yet shifting the culture. That’s because we’re conditioned to think about our children’s physical safety, not so much their data safety. Because the risks of posting aren’t immediate or visible, its easy to underestimate them.
Shifting adult behaviour closes the gap between our concerns and our actions, and the reality of children’s exposure to content on social media.
Keeping children safe online means looking beyond kids as users and recognising the role adults play in creating a child’s digital footprint.
Joanne Orlando receives funding from NSW state government.
Eden Carson of New Zealand celebrates with teammate Georgia Plimmer after defeating South Africa during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Final 2024.Francois Nel/Getty Images
White Ferns off-spinner Eden Carson will undergo surgery on her right elbow and is expected to be sidelined for six months, ruling her out of the team’s T20 World Cup title defence.
Carson sustained a partial ligament rupture in her elbow during the team’s training camp in Dubai ahead of this year’s Women’s 50 over World Cup and managed the injury throughout the tournament.
The recovery timeline means she will not be available for the remainder of the home summer nor the White Ferns title-defence at next year’s Women’s T20 World Cup in England and Wales in June and July.
With the injury affecting her bowling arm, head coach Ben Sawyer said they had opted for surgery.
“We’re all really gutted for Eden,” Sawyer said.
“The team has a big six months ahead and I know how difficult it was for her to make the decision to go through with the surgery now, but I fully support it.
“It’ll obviously be a huge loss for the team not having Eden available, especially for the T20 World Cup where she played a big role for us last year.
“At just 24-years-old she’s still got a long career ahead so it’s important we look forward and prioritise getting her back on the park and fully fit.”
New Zealand will next host Zimbabwe in February and March for three T20s and three ODIs in Hamilton, Wellington and Dunedin.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
People on Wellington’s City to Sea bridge. (File photo)RNZ / Pretoria Gordon
Wellington city councillors have saved the City to Sea bridge from the bulldozers for now, while planning continues on its future.
The CBD bridge was slated for demolition, but the works were paused while Wellington City Council awaited the outcome of the government’s earthquake-prone building review.
Councillor Nureddin Abdurahman filed a notice of motion for the council’s city strategy and delivery meeting today to revoke decisions made by the last council in December last year to knock the bridge down.
Following the government’s latest review council officers would now investigate options to save the bridge which they would bring back advice to councillors in February.
It was estimated last year it would cost at least $85 million to fully strengthen the structure under previous New Building Standard rules.
Abdurahman told the meeting the notice of motion was an opportunity to show the new council listened to the public.
“We followed the right process showing the respect for our community.”
The decision was 14 votes in favour and four votes against.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Police are asking for the community’s help to find out what happened to a three-week-old baby who suffered a serious injury in the Hutt Valley.
On 2 December, police were notified about a baby that had been brought into hospital by her family.
She had a broken leg – an unusual injury for such a young baby.
Her condition is improving, police said.
Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Wescott said the investigation has “uncovered contrasting narratives on the circumstances, and officers are appealing to the community to assist with understanding exactly how this baby girl bore such serious injuries to come forward”.
He thanked people who have come forward so far.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
If you were scouting about for a feature documentary subject, porridge might not be the first thing you’d think of. That is, unless you were Australian opera and theatre director turned documentary film maker, Constantine Costi, who has struck gold with his new documentary, The Golden Spurtle.
Now, I’ll admit to not knowing what a spurtle was before watching this documentary. (But now that I know, I’ve added one to my Christmas list.)
Generally, they’re made of wood, but once a year in the Scottish Highlands’ village of Carrbridge, a much-coveted golden spurtle is awarded to the winner of the World Porridge Making Championships. The setting for Costi’s documentary is the 2023 competition – the contest’s 30th year.
Porridge makers from all over the world arrive in Carrbridge each October to compete. They must make the best porridge from just three ingredients: oats, salt and water.
And 2023 was particularly significant because it was the year Charlie Miller – unofficial mayor of Carrbridge, avid spurtle maker and self-proclaimed chieftain of the Golden Spurtle since 1994 – was stepping down. If this film has a star, Miller is it.
Shot like a moving photograph
Costi and cinematographer Dimitri Zaunders have made strong cinematic choices that allow this story to tell itself.
First they’ve shot it in an aspect ratio of 4:3 – a pre-widescreen format evoking an “old-school” visual feeling reminiscent of 1950s films and other old video and television formats.
Self-proclaimed Chieftain of the Golden Spurtle, Charlie Miller, is a key character in the film. Umbrella
Secondly, there’s no camera movement. Every scene is shot with a “locked-off” camera, giving everything a framed, photographic feel. This style relies on what we see within the frame being compelling enough to hold our attention without the enhancement of camera or editing techniques.
For the most part, this suits the subject matter. The scenery around Carrbridge and its quaint architecture are beautiful enough without needing to be tricked up in any way, and the personalities of the characters are quite magnetic.
Still, about halfway through the 75-minute runtime, the sameness of the visual style becomes (for me at least) dynamically inert. Then again, often that feeling was countered by something unexpected or funny happening within the locked-off frame.
A captivating cast and secret recipes
We meet several of the contestants over the course of the film, including Ian Bishop (the only local ever to win), Lisa Williams (a back-to-back winner known as The Queen of Porridge), Nick Barnard (a serious man who seriously wants to win after being a seven-time finalist) and Toby Wilson (an Australian taco chef who’s back for a second crack).
These characters are as idiosyncratic as the competition itself, and just as passionate.
Ian Bishop is the only local ever to have won the Golden Spurtle. Umbrella
If there’s one thing missing, it’s insight into the porridge-making process itself and how the judges make their decisions.
What makes a winning bowl of porridge? What difference do different kinds of oats make? Do you simmer or rapid boil? Should your spurtle stir clockwise or anticlockwise? Do the judges look for taste, or texture, or consistency, or other factors?
The closest the film comes to focusing on these questions is when an off-camera voice asks Ian Bishop which oats he will be using, to which he simply replies: “Why would I want to tell you? Other people would get to know.”
In October of this year, Melbourne food stylist Caroline Velik returned triumphant from the 32nd championship, having won the Speciality Dish Category.
I guess that’s another thing missing from the documentary: there’s a second category where contestants can add whatever they like to their oats. Seven-time-finalist Nick Barnard is a two-time winner in this category, but that doesn’t get a mention either.
Velik told the ABC she made her Aussie-flavoured porridge jaffle with bananas, wattleseed, Davidson plum powder and Bundaberg rum.
She was also runner-up in the main competition. “You think it’s all going to taste the same,” she said, “but you’d be surprised how many differences you can get with just those three ingredients.”
That conversation primed me for Costi’s documentary, so it was disappointing these things were left out.
Porridge earns its stripes
It’d be easy to trivialise this event and its organisers as little more than an old-fashioned eccentric curiosity. But reading between the lines, you come to understand that this is community engagement at its best.
A small group of volunteers in a tiny hall, in a quiet village, with not much more than their passion, dedication and love of an ancient dish have created an international event that celebrates three humble ingredients.
It is an event that has put porridge on the world stage. And much of this is captured in The Golden Spurtle. But like Oliver Twist and his oatmeal gruel, I just wanted some more.
The Golden Spurtle is in cinemas from today.
Chris Thompson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Health officials are concerned by the rate of smoking. (File photo)RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
For the first time in over a decade the decreasing trend of Māori smoking rates has stalled leaving health advocates devastated.
The latest New Zealand Health Survey showed daily smoking among Māori adults 15 and over has increased slightly from 14.8 to 15 percent.
That increase was considered “statistically insignificant” and was within the survey’s margin of error but, it still amounted to about 99,000 people. The total daily smoking rate was 6.8 percent.
General Manager of Hāpai Te Hauora Jasmine Graham (Ngāti Kuri, Te Aupōuri) said unfortunately she was not surprised by the result.
“It’s incredibly concerning and the reason is because these aren’t just numbers. These are people’s lives. So this is whakapapa. This is whānau who are passing away from tobacco-related illnesses from a product that is designed to firstly attract, addict and then kill.
“…We don’t want to see any stall in the numbers. We want to see those numbers decrease and especially reaching the end of 2025 and the goal that was set to be able to see a smoke-free Aotearoa by the end of this month.”
Graham said we still see about 5000 New Zealanders dying from the impacts of tobacco-related illnesses each year.
She said whānau Māori were going through a daily battle of addiction and having to make the conscious decision every day to try and not smoke.
“That’s not the fault of the whānau member or of the individual, that’s the fault of the industry. They’ve created this product to do just that, to keep you addicted. And when you have something as strong as nicotine in these products, that’s the problem.”
General Manager of Hāpai Te Hauora Jasmine GrahamSupplied/Hāpai Te Hauora
She encouraged any whānau battling nicotine addiction to reach out to their local stop smoking service.
“I’ve had some people ask [if], you know… they’re the reason why we haven’t reached [Smokefree 2025] and they’re only thinking of the stat numbers. And I’m like, absolutely not. Because none of the responsibility is on our community or our people. All of the responsibility sits on the industry.”
Associate Minister of Health Casey Costello said New Zealand had made great progress in reducing smoking rates – especially since 2018 when vapes became widely available.
The gains had been particularly noticeable for young people and for Māori, she said.
“When the NZ Health Survey began in 2011/12, over 37 percent of Māori were daily smokers. In the latest survey that figure was down to 15 percent. Since 2018, Māori smoking rates have halved and the latest stats show 118,000 Māori have quit smoking in the last five years.
“These reductions are really significant, no other country is making this sort of progress. But of course we still have a way to go – we want to stop people smoking to reduce the health impacts and there’s a particular focus on supporting Māori and Pacific populations where rates are higher.”
Costello said the challenge was that we were down to the most “stubborn” smokers. The highest smoking rates were for those over 45, she said.
“Marketing activity is targeting these groups, as are the country’s quit smoking providers. This is important as people are around four times more likely to quit smoking by using a stop smoking service, than by trying on their own.
“An updated Smokefree Action plan released at the end of last year sets out the range of approaches that are being taken to stop people smoking and target key groups.”
One of the improvements needed was timely referrals to quit smoking providers, she said.
“I’d really encourage people to make contact with those services.”
Graham said it was worth celebrating there had been so many people who had gone through their quit journey and come out the other side to live a smokefree life.
Local Government Minister Simon Watts.RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Spending on water services will be nearly $9 billion higher under the Local Water Done Well model than councils previously estimated.
Councils had to submit water service plans to show how they would organise water services in a financially sustainable way as part of the reforms.
In a statement, Local Government Minister Simon Watts said all plans had now been signed off, with 44 councils handing over to a separate company and 23 keeping services in house.
“These numbers mean that 76 percent of New Zealand’s population will have water services delivered through a CCO model. This collaboration between councils offers significant assistance in addressing affordability challenges.”
He said the total cost estimate from the plans was nearly $9b higher than under the councils’ earlier long-term plans, which were not required to ensure capital investment was sufficient to achieve compliance.
“The $47.9 billion total estimated investment across all plans shows councils recognise that after decades of under-investment, water projects can’t wait any longer,” he said.
“We need to fix the pipes, and we must address an unacceptable level of non-compliance, but we must also future proof for a growing population. It’s important to strike the right balance.”
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has directed Jetstar to stop using two baggage scales at Wellington Airport after inspections found they failed to meet legal accuracy requirements under the Weights and Measures Act 1987.
Following a public complaint in September, Trading Standards, a business unit of MBIE, inspected two portable baggage scales Jetstar used to weigh carry-on luggage at Wellington Airport.
Both were found to be non-compliant because they were not level when tested and did not meet their approval conditions.
The scales were rejected, and Jetstar instructed to stop using them until they were re-verified by an accredited person.
The airline told Stuff that the inspection identified minor wheel misalignments that caused the scale plates to sit unevenly.
“This affected the stability of the units, not their weighing accuracy, and both scales were immediately removed from service,” Jetstar said.
MBIE’s national manager trading standards Stephen O’Brien said compliance instructions had been issued to Jetstar. As well, a formal corrective action request has been sent to the verifier involved to investigate the root cause of the issues identified and to put in place steps to prevent their recurrence.
Trading Standards would follow up with both parties to ensure effective resolution of the issues identified and that long term compliance is achieved.
O’Brien said businesses using weighing instruments for trade, including airlines, were responsible for ensuring their equipment was legally verified, level, and accurate. Instruments must be approved for trade use and verified by an accredited person. Regular checks and record-keeping are recommended to demonstrate due diligence.
“Consumers should be confident that the price they pay reflects the correct weight or measure. Investigations and compliance checks are carried out to protect people from being incorrectly charged due to inaccurate weighing.”
AFP
Airline denies any overcharging
Jetstar told Stuff the scales’ misalignment would not have resulted in higher weight readings and any additional baggage fees applied would still be correct.
“Any impact from this misalignment would have resulted in slightly lower weight readings, meaning customers would not have been overcharged and any additional baggage fees applied would still have been correct.”
By 15 October, 2025, Jetstar said every scale it used across New Zealand had completed its scheduled annual inspection, and all were confirmed to be fully compliant.
The airline said it recognised that carry-on baggage was “a pain point for customers” and it was “actively exploring ways to improve the carry-on experience and policy”.
Trading Standards’ Stephen O’Brien said with more than 20 million air traveller departures from New Zealand airports in the past year, even small inaccuracies in weighing instruments could have a wide-reaching impact.
Travellers were encouraged to check that baggage scales were level, start at zero, and carry a mark of verification.
If a scale appeared inaccurate or unverified, consumers could contact MBIE’s Trading Standards team, who investigate complaints and enforce compliance under the Weights and Measures Act 1987.
Trading Standards focuses on education and guidance to help businesses meet their obligations. If compliance was not achieved, enforcement options were available, including infringement offence notices or prosecution for serious or repeated breaches.
Penalties could reach up to $10,000 for individuals and $30,000 for companies.
Across sectors, O’Brien said Trading Standards helped build trust by ensuring accuracy, fairness and transparency in everyday transactions – whether people were flying, shopping, or using services charged by weight or measure.
Red-tipped bananas are not new to Australian consumers, but have gone viral on social media this month after an inquisitive post from two bewildered British backpackers.
“My Dad told me it meant they were strawberry flavoured and I believed him until I was 16 years old. Nice to finally learn the real reason in the comments”
Travellers Mel Chekaoui and Phil Colia have gone viral with a video about bananas in Australia.
@melandphil / Instagram
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Children at St Heliers School and residents at Grace Joel Retirement Village has been pen pals for the past year.Ke-Xin Li
There’s nervous excitement as the children of Room 25 at St Heliers School get ready to visit their pen pals.
A five minute walk brings the kids to the Grace Joel Retirement Village, where their elderly pen pals are just as excited as the children.
“Hello hello hello hello hello, there he is, hello,” one resident pointed me to her pen pal.
Teacher Sarah Mill came up with the pen pal programme during Covid, after reading about rest home residents’ loneliness.
Each student has a resident to write to. They also visit several times through the year.
“In today’s modern age, too many students text or email, and they are losing the art of connection through a proper letter. Text is just a few words, whereas some of their letters are getting to two or three pages long.”
During Covid, Sarah Mill started the pen pal programme for her class after reading about the loneliness experienced by retirement home residents.Ke-Xin Li
Miss Mill said it means the kids get to build deeper relationships. And many stayed in touch with the residents as they grew up.
“I think it was important for them to share their lives with the residents, and then the residents would sometimes share things from their childhood that had come back to them as a result of reading what the children were doing, so, really interesting.”
After written 10 letters, this is the children’s third and last visit of the year.
But 8-year-old Vidhya Jooravan has told her pen pal – 85-year-old Joan Baggott – that it won’t be the last letter she sends her.
“I wrote I hope [we’re] still pen pals (in the future), more planet stuff, and more exciting things about Christmas.”
While visiting their pen pals, children from Room 25 also perform songs for Grace Joel residentsKe-Xin Li
Vidhya loves the friendship she has made with Joan.
“When we started writing letters, I was so excited to have a pen pal. And then when I started carry on writing letters, it started to build up a pen pal friendship and then it was just amazing. It’s so nice, it’s like having my granny and grandpa sitting here and talking to me. I feel happy and I feel nice inside.”
Joan grew up writing letters. But today, while she much prefers texting, she has enjoyed reading Vidhya’s letters and getting to know her.
“I love what she writes about because very often it’s straight from school, what the teacher’s written on the board, and I learn after all these years. I think, oh, I didn’t know that. She’s a lovely little girl and she sent me a letter once and it had all the little diamantes all the way around the envelope. So I knew she liked pretty things.”
And from then on, Joan made sure she decorated all her letters to Vidhya with cute stickers.
Joan Baggott and Vidhya Jooravan have been pen pals for the last year.Ke-Xin Li
Nine-year-old Oliver Qi tried to read Brian Cutting’s November letter, but had to stop nearing the end as he struggled with Brian’s cursive handwriting – a common struggle amongst the pen pals due to their age gap.
86-year-old Brian was still proud.
“It’s very impressive though to be able to read that writing, I think there is really something special for him.”
He helped Oliver finish reading the letter.
“I think it’s wonderful that you are learning Mandarin. It’s wonderful to know how to speak, read, and write in other languages. You are lucky. Once again, you have been learning interesting things at school. Things like our galaxy. Did you know there are billions of galaxies? Billions of them.”
And Brian tried to incorporate some Mandarin phrases he learned.
“So we started off, Dear Oliver, Ni Hao. And we ended it up, Zai Jian.”
Oliver Qi and Brian Cutting have been writing to each other for a year.Ke-Xin Li
Oliver corrected Brian’s pronunciation of “Zai Jian”, the phrase means “See you again”.
Without a carefully crafted closing statement, no letter is complete.
And everyone has their own preferences.
Oliver likes: “I look forward to seeing you again.”
Vidhya loves “warm regards”.
“Because it sounds sweet and sounds like half of ‘all the best’.”
Mark struggled with the cursive handwriting by 96-year-old Dr. M Mackendrick.Ke-Xin Li
Ngarie Jackson, 85, used “kind regards”, but said she would prefer something else.
“Well, I could have put love, but I didn’t know whether he’d like that or not.”
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Over the weekend many regions experienced temperatures in the high 20s or even early 30s.
But MetService said on Thursday there was a reprieve from the heat on the way, with temperatures across the country heading back down towards normal.
MetService meteorlogist John Law, said it was still hot on Thursday, especially for Waikato, which would reach 29C to 30C.
Law said the last few days had been four or five degrees above average for the time of year.
“It’s nice for a few days but it takes its toll,” he said.
Auckland was sitting at between 26C and 27C but would likely drop to mid 20s by the weekend.
Law said it would still be beach weather with the weekend looking generally dry, fine and settled.
Things would be a bit cooler down in Christchurch with temperatures of 18C-19C for the weekend, but this would heat back up next week to the high 20s.
Some spots in the central North Island, including Taumarunui, Waitomo and Waikato were still experiencing above average days which could hit 30C.
Wellington seemed to have avoided the extreme heat, Law said, but added there had been some “very nice days here”.
The lower South Island was the only area which could expect some showers or even a rumble of thunder over the weekend, Law said, in Otago and South Canterbury.
“Law said it had been an unusually warm start to December and a “very warm” November.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
You’ve long enjoyed a generous pour of milk in your morning coffee, or a big bowl of ice cream for dessert.
You’ve been fine with dairy most of your life, but you’re getting into middle age, and all of a sudden it’s not sitting right with you – creating lots of socially unacceptable symptoms and bathroom breaks and generally making you feel bloated and gassy.
You may not realise it right away, but you’re probably one of the millions of people who develop lactose intolerance as they get older.
Lactose is found in dairy products.
Supplied/ Synlait
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
More than 30 queen hornets and 22 nests have been located and destroyed so far in the region, with trapping and ground searches expanded significantly across the city’s North Shore recently.
Horticultural sectors have been concerned about the impact the predatory hornet could have on New Zealand’s honey bee populations.
Nearly 650 traps have been set within a five-kilometre radius of detection sites, and more than 3500 properties have been searched within 200 metres of confirmed finds, Biosecurity NZ said.
Biosecurity’s North commissioner Mike Inglis said the surveillance zone was being extended from five kilometres from detection sites on the North Shore to 11, after advice from an independent technical advisory group.
He said the extended surveillance would involve working closely with more beekeepers, including more than 575 registered apiaries in the 11-kilometre zone.
“This will provide greater assurance that the hornet incursion is a single population contained to the local area and allow us to respond quickly if there has been any spread,” he said.
“From the very start, Biosecurity New Zealand’s response to the hornet detections has been driven by science and expert advice. This will remain the foundation of our approach.”
Yellow-legged hornets are an invasive species, and a danger to local honey and wild bees.Biosecurity NZ
“We’ve had more than 5610 public notifications so far. It’s been fantastic to see such enthusiasm. We are very keen for this to continue, as it helps us respond quickly to possible detections,” he said.
Biosecurity was also using different trap designs to hunt the hornets, as well as launching a national ad campaign to encourage sighting reports from the public.
It said it was purchasing electronic tracking gear to trace nests, by attaching transmitters to foraging worker hornets.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Health New Zealand is hiring an external project management team to run the Nelson Hospital redevelopment for the next six years.
The project aims to deliver new, refurbished and seismically strengthened buildings in three packages.
First up, design of a new 11,000 square metre inpatient unit and energy centre is due to begin next April.
Earthquake strengthening of intensive care, surgery and radiology buildings among others is last off the blocks, to run from mid 2027 till 2032.
The various projects range in value from $50 million to more than $150m each.
“Given the scale of the programme and HNZ’s internal capacity, HNZ is now seeking to engage a full-service external project management team … through to the anticipated completion in late-2032,” a tender document said.
The team would oversee the day-to-day and end-to-end delivery of each project.
Applicants had to have project managed a health construction project in Australasia worth at least $150m in the last five years, and a large regionally-based one outside the main NZ cities, too.
The tender said price would only be 15 percent of what was factored in on awarding the work, with experience 30 percent and team capability 40 percent.
The refurbishment of the two main hospital blocks called George Manson and Percy Brunette was due to run from 2026 to 2031.
“The current deficit of medical surgical beds is 16 and without redevelopment and model of care changes, this would have risen to 53 beds by 2043,” it said.
“Outdated facilities are preventing improvements to health equity, overall patient experience and time efficiencies.”
It also noted that poor seismic resilience “jeopardises post-disaster healthcare following a significant seismic event”.
Buildings had been categorised as earthquake-prone and had to be fixed or demolished by 2032.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Kyle Whorrall, 33, was killed at a bus stop on St Johns Rd in Meadowbank, Auckland.SUPPLIED
A trio of teenagers are the latest to be arrested as Auckland police investigate the violent murder of American student Kyle Whorrall.
Six people have now been charged in connection with the homicide investigation, including five teenagers and a 33-year-old woman.
Whorrall, a PhD student at Auckland University, was killed in an attack at a Meadowbank bus stop on 19 April.
The Operation Aberfeldy team has since been investigating the homicide.
On Thursday, three additional people were charged after police searched properties in Kaikohe, Mt Wellington and Manurewa.
Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin said as a result, two 18-year-olds and a 17-year-old have been charged jointly with murder and aggravated robbery.
“We have spoken with Kyle’s mother this morning, to keep her updated on this development, and it is not lost on us the profound impact this event has had on her family,” Baldwin said.
The investigation now shifts towards moving into the prosecution phase, Baldwin said.
“At this point we believe we have identified those allegedly involved, however the investigation remains ongoing.”
An 18-year-old male will appear in the Kaikohe Youth Court and the other two charged will appear in the Auckland Youth Court on Thursday.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
