One of the biggest stars in the universe might be getting ready to explode

February 24, 2026

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Webb, Lecturer, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology

One of the largest known stars in the universe underwent a dramatic transformation in 2014, new research shows, and may be preparing to explode.

A study led by Gonzalo Muñoz-Sanchez at the National Observatory of Athens, published in Nature Astronomy today, argues that the enormous star WOH G64 has transitioned from a red supergiant to a rare yellow hypergiant – in what may be evidence of impending supernova.

The evidence suggests we may be witnessing, in real time, a massive star shedding its outer layers, shrinking as it heats up, and moving closer to the end of its short life.

A very special star

WOH G64 was first discovered in the 1970s as as star of interest in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way.

It turned out the star was not only extremely luminous, but also one of the biggest ever discovered: more than 1,500 times the radius of the Sun.

In 2024, WOH G64 was the first star beyond our galaxy ever photographed in detail, thanks to the Very Large Telescope Interferometer. The image showed a clear dusty cocoon around the central giant star, which confirmed it was losing mass as it aged.

Image of WOH G64, taken by the GRAVITY instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (ESO’s VLTI). ESO/K. Ohnaka et al.

From supergiant to hypergiant, big is big

WOH G64 is a young star in the grand scheme of the cosmos, with an estimated age of less than 5 million years old. Unlike our Sun (currently about 4.6 billion years old), WOH G64 is destined to live fast and die young.

WOH G64 was born big, forming from a huge cloud of gas and dust collapsing until the pressure made it ignite. Like our Sun, it would have burned hydrogen in its core by nuclear fusion.

Later it would have expanded and burned helium, becoming what is called a red supergiant.

Not all supergiants become hypergiants. It’s been theorised that hypergiants form when very large stars quickly burn and evolve from burning hydrogen to burning helium.

During this transition, these stars start to shed their outer layers, while their cores begin to shrink inwards. Once a star becomes a hypergiant, it is destined for a quick death in the fiery explosion of a supernova.

What has caused this change seen in WOH G64?

So what happened to WOH G64 in 2014? The new study proposes that a large part of the original supergiant’s surface was ejected away from the star.

This may have been due to interactions with a companion star, which the authors have confirmed exists by looking at the spectrum of light from WOH G64.

Another theory: the star is getting ready to explode. We know stars this big will inevitably go kaboom, but exactly when it will happen can be hard to determine in advance.

One possible scenario is that the transition we’re seeing is due to a pre-supernova “superwind” phase. This in theorised to occur due to strong internal pulsations as the fuel in the core is spent quickly.

Only time will tell

Most stars live for tens of millions or even tens of billions of years. It was never a given we would witness and be able to document so much transformation in a star, let alone one outside our galaxy.

If we are lucky, we will see the death of WOH G64 in our lifetimes – not only providing an incredible intergalactic spectacle but also helping scientists complete the puzzle of this fascinating star.

– ref. One of the biggest stars in the universe might be getting ready to explode – https://theconversation.com/one-of-the-biggest-stars-in-the-universe-might-be-getting-ready-to-explode-276519

Can blood tests really detect cancer?

By The Conversation -

February 24, 2026

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John (Eddie) La Marca, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)

If you’re feeling worn out or have suddenly lost some weight, your doctor might send you for a blood test.

Blood tests are a common way health-care professionals detect, diagnose, and monitor a range of medical conditions.

But can they help us detect more serious conditions such as cancer? Let’s dive into the research.

How do blood tests work?

Blood tests are a technique used in the field of pathology, which is the study of the nature and causes of disease.

Blood tests assess what cells, proteins, and molecules are present in the blood. Health-care professionals use them to monitor things like organ health, nutrition levels, immune system function, and the presence of some infections.

To test for anaemia, for example, you would take a blood test and count the number of red blood cells in that blood sample. Another example is blood sugar testing, which is used to measure the glucose levels of a patient with diabetes.

What can blood tests tell us about cancer?

Currently, we can’t reliably diagnose most cancers using a blood test. One major reason is it’s often difficult to distinguish between cancer cells and normal, healthy cells. This is especially true when it comes to early-stage tumours.

But blood test results can give us clues about whether certain cancers are present in the body. So how do they do this?

1. By revealing abnormalities in your blood

Blood cancers will often cause clear changes in the number and types of cells in the bloodstream. We can measure these changes using a complete blood count, also known as a “full blood examination”.

This type of blood test counts all the different types of cells present in the blood: red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and more. Blood cancers arise when your body produces an abnormal amount of any type of blood cell. White blood cells, which fight infection, are the most common example. So a high number of one or more of these cell types may suggest the presence of a blood cancer.

But complete blood counts aren’t enough to make a conclusive diagnosis of blood cancer. We need to perform other tests to confirm whether the problem is a cancer or a different disease. These tests may include a biopsy or imaging techniques such as an MRI, CT scan, or X-ray.

2. By identifying “tumour markers”

We can also use blood tests to detect specific proteins which cancer cells often produce in greater numbers. These proteins are known as “tumour markers”.

One example of a tumour marker is prostate-specific antigen. This antigen is a protein made exclusively by the prostate gland. A healthy male will have only a small amount of prostate-specific antigen in his blood. In contrast, a male with prostate cancer will often produce abnormally high levels of this antigen. In this way, the prostate-specific antigen can serve as a “marker” of prostate cancer.

There are many different tumour markers used to identify different cancers. However, measuring tumour markers is not a foolproof solution. This is because they can be influenced by other factors. For example, an injury to or inflammation of the prostate gland could cause prostate-specific antigen levels to increase. So your doctor may perform additional tests to confirm if a person has cancer.

3. By locating rogue cells

For other types of cancer, blood tests can look for circulating tumour cells. Circulating tumour cells are produced when cancer cells break off from the original tumour and then enter the bloodstream. This usually only happens when a cancer reaches a more advanced stage and is metastatic, meaning it has spread to other parts of the body.

But this type of test is usually prognostic, rather than diagnostic. This means we can only use it to monitor the progression of a cancer which has already been diagnosed. So if a blood test does identify circulating tumour cells, it is best to conduct additional tests before proceeding with treatment.

So, are we close to creating a cancer-detecting blood test?

Unfortunately, we are yet to find a way to detect cancer with a single blood test. It’s a very difficult task, but researchers are making progress.

Circulating tumour DNA is a current topic of interest. These DNA molecules have mutations which distinguish them from healthy cells and can give information about the cancer they came from.

In one 2025 trial, Australian researchers measured the amount of circulating tumour DNA in 441 people with colon cancer to determine which patients would respond to chemotherapy. Another study from 2025 used circulating tumour DNA to monitor how 940 patients with lung cancer responded to different treatments.

One test did claim to successfully use circulating tumour DNA to detect more than 50 types of early-stage cancer. It’s known as the “Galleri test” and was first trialled in the UK in 2021. However, some experts have since raised concerns about the test’s effectiveness.

Researchers are also exploring other ways of using blood tests. In one 2025 study, Australian researchers adapted an existing test to use blood instead of tissue samples to identify known markers of ovarian cancer.

Another Australian study from 2025 investigated whether molecules other than proteins could serve as cancer markers. It found certain fats in blood can indicate if a patient with advanced prostate cancer will respond to treatment.

So, it looks like we’re still a while away from creating a cancer-detecting blood test. But with some time, effort, and robust research, it could be a possibility.

– ref. Can blood tests really detect cancer? – https://theconversation.com/can-blood-tests-really-detect-cancer-269906

When feral cats are away, potoroos and bandicoots are more likely to play

By The Conversation -

February 24, 2026

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University

All animals need to eat to survive, grow and reproduce. To do so, they also need to avoid being eaten. This is a big challenge for many of Australia’s native mammals, because when they search for food, they must also escape the attention of introduced predators, namely, feral cats and red foxes.

Tragically, many have been unable to overcome this test of survival, becoming one of the 40 native mammal species driven to extinction since European colonisation.

But what happens if we reduce the numbers of introduced predators? Do our surviving native species think there is less risk of being the next meal for a cat or fox? How do they respond? And how might we tell? With peanut butter balls, of course!

Long-nosed potoroos are vulnerable to predation by non-native feral cats and red foxes. Leo Berzins/flickr, CC BY-ND

A deadly game of hide and seek

Natural environments contain predators and prey engaged in a deadly game of hide and seek, and – from the prey’s perspective – a landscape of fear. The extent to which the two groups are aware of each other and able to respond (hunting vs hiding and escape) varies across time and space. Prey might perceive some areas as a riskier proposition, such as more open habitats or times when predators are most active. They therefore reduce their activity to minimise the likelihood of being eaten.

But avoiding being eaten comes at an energetic cost. It may mean preferred areas or times to feed are reduced, which in turn limits rates of growth, reproduction and survival of prey species. Prey animals are constantly weighing up this tradeoff of risk vs reward as they go about their lives.

Tasty treats can assess risk appetite

We can’t know for sure how much animals fear being eaten, but we can assess it indirectly, through their willingness to eat. In our recently published study, we measured how much food animals don’t eat as a indicator of their fear of being eaten. The more food they give up, the greater the risk of predation those animals are assumed to perceive. These experiments are made easier by the fact many mammals are mad about gobbling up peanut butter.

French Island has long been fox free, but had thousands of feral cats. In 2010, authorities began a feral cat eradication, which made it a perfect place for our research.

Importantly, we were able to start our experiment prior to an eradication program of feral cats, which began in 2010 on French Island, Victoria. This means we were able to measure changes in long-nosed potoroos and eastern barred bandicoots habitat use and foraging as cat numbers and activity fell.

Feral cat activity per month at one site on French Island, south-eastern Australia, across a 2-year period during a cat eradication program. The red arrow indicates when the cat eradication program began and the blue arrows indicate when we undertook our GUD experiments. CC BY-NC-ND

So, on fox-free French Island, we placed balls of peanut butter, rolled oats and golden syrup into trays with soil and dug them into the ground, ensuring they were below the soil surface. We did this in more open grassland areas (likely riskier habitat, with less cover and protection from feral cats) and more densely vegetated areas (less risky habitat, due to increased cover).

We used camera traps to measure how often potoroos and bandicoots visited these feeding trays to dig up the tasty treats, and how much of the peanut butter balls they left behind in different habitats and at different periods throughout the ongoing feral cat eradication program.

A deadly game of feral cat and long-nosed potoroo, as revealed by our camera trap. We can confirm that this potoroo survived, this time. Te Ao Marama Eketone (Deakin University), CC BY-NC-ND

When feral cats are away, native animals play (more)

As the number of feral cats on French Island was reduced, potoroos and bandicoots used both open and closed habitat types more frequently, and they increased their activity, giving up less food over time. This suggests bandicoots and potoroos do recognise feral cats as a threat, and are able to fairly rapidly change their habitat use and foraging accordingly.

Aside from the obvious benefits of fewer feral cats killing and eating potoroos and bandicoots on French Island, our study suggests there may be substantial benefits for native wildlife — namely increased access to habitats and foraging opportunities — even before the ultimate longer-term goal of cat eradication can be achieved.

Our study’s results are encouraging. Outside the safe havens of invasive predator-free islands and fenced sanctuaries, feral cats are notoriously hard to eradicate from large areas, and there is a constant threat of their return.

To change this, new and more effective ways to control and eradicate feral cats are needed. But until then, reducing and keeping feral cat numbers lower, while also carefully managing habitats to benefit wildlife, can still give native animals the helping hand they need to survive.

We need to do all that we can to give Australia’s native mammals, including eastern barred bandicoots, a helping hand. Zoos Victoria, CC BY-NC-ND

We would like to acknowledge that this work was led by former Deakin University Honours student, Te Ao Marama Eketone, and it occurred on the unceded Country of the Bunurong/Boonwurrung peoples.

– ref. When feral cats are away, potoroos and bandicoots are more likely to play – https://theconversation.com/when-feral-cats-are-away-potoroos-and-bandicoots-are-more-likely-to-play-271736

I’m a drowning prevention researcher – my kid’s school swimming carnival shocked me

By The Conversation -

February 24, 2026

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Peden, NHMRC Research Fellow, School of Population Health and Co-founder UNSW Beach Safety Research Group, UNSW Sydney

It is swimming carnival season in Australia. This typically means children from about Year 2 and up are asked to swim a distance of 50 metres or one length of an Olympic-size pool – if they say they can.

As a parent of primary school kids, I recently went to my child’s carnival to show my support.

As a drowning prevention researcher, I was already well aware of the dire state of children’s swimming abilities – and so wasn’t expecting all children to be able to compete. But I was shocked to see numerous rescues during the day. This is where children are unable to finish events and need help to get out of the pool.

What is going on?

A drop in swimming ability

We know swimming ability is declining in Australia.

One in four schools no longer holds a swimming carnival at all, citing low swimming skills at the main reason. When they run carnivals, teachers estimate 50% of eligible children do not participate.

In a 2025 report, surveyed teachers told Royal Life Saving Australia almost half of Year 6 students cannot swim 50m and tread water for two minutes – the minimum water safety requirements for their age.

Parents reported 46% of children aged 11–12 (years 5 and 6) can’t swim 50m. An estimated 46% of children aged 7–14 do not have the minimum safety skills set for children aged 6.

Teacher survey responses identified about 31% of schools no longer offer swimming skills programs due to cost, resourcing and time. Parents report similar barriers to enrolling their children in private swimming lessons.

Are parents overestimating ability?

But the rescues at our school carnival led me to wonder whether there was something else at play.

At my child’s school, parents were asked to assess their child’s swimming ability on the carnival permission note. The information was used for lane allocation with weaker swimmers to race in outer lanes, closer to lifeguards.

So perhaps some parents were overly optimistic about how well their child can swim. Research shows parents often overestimate their child’s swimming ability and therefore underestimate their drowning risk.

But in defence of parents, children rarely have the opportunity to swim 50m, non-stop. Lessons are often held in smaller, learn-to-swim pools or those that are only 25m in length.

For residents in country areas with seasonal pools (like my home town), their outdoor 50m pools are also closed for half the year.

What can parents do?

So, as a country that’s supposed to be a “nation of swimmers” with a strong lifesaving history, how can we counter this decline and avoid children needing to be rescued at their carnivals?

Encourage parents to prioritise swimming lessons over other sports wherever possible. This recognises learning to swim is a non-negotiable life skill that both reduces drowning risk as well as opens up the joys of swimming for fitness and fun. Even if your child is in high school and you’ve let swimming lessons slide, it is not too late for them to learn and improve.
Check your child’s ability against the national standards. If you’re not sure their ability is where it should be for their age, consider some top-up lessons or a holiday intensive program.
Observe how your children are doing in swimming lessons. Ask for feedback from their teachers. Where are they up to in terms of water safety?
Get in the water with your child, preferably at a 50m pool. Swim alongside them and see how they go at completing a length non-stop. Explain what to do if they feel like they can’t make it, either practising floating on their back or holding onto a lane rope.

This is vital

We don’t want the swimming carnival to disappear forever.

Nor do we want it to be just for the top swimmers. My kid’s swimming carnival was described as being for “competitive swimmers only”, which is part of a growing trend among schools.

Amid record drowning deaths in Australia, and during a summer when 79 people have lost their lives to drowning, ensuring our kids know how to swim safely has never been more important.

– ref. I’m a drowning prevention researcher – my kid’s school swimming carnival shocked me – https://theconversation.com/im-a-drowning-prevention-researcher-my-kids-school-swimming-carnival-shocked-me-276531

Financial pressure reshaping university life, student leaders say

By Evening Report -

February 24, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

Students using support services has surged, according to student leaders. (File photo) 123RF

Student leaders say the rising cost of living is reshaping university life – and for some, putting tertiary study out of reach altogether.

Campus groups said demand for hardship help was climbing as students struggled to cover rent, food and power while balancing study and work.

At the Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association, president Aidan Donohue said usage of basic support services had surged over the past year.

“We’re seeing students need support from other avenues to make up shortfalls in income,” he said.

“Rent, power, groceries – things you can’t choose not to buy – those are the key pressures.”

The association’s free community pantry ran out of funding before the end of last year after demand exceeded projections.

Donohue said international students were among those relying heavily on food parcels, alongside increasing use of free menstrual products and discounted rubbish bags.

“By far, cost of living is the biggest issue for students. It’s ultimately what decides if someone goes to university at all – or whether they stay.

“When you compare studying with living costs and a part-time job, you’re often worse off than working full-time on minimum wage.”

At the Waikato Students’ Union, president Seamus Lohrey, 22, said the financial strain had been consistent since the pandemic but remained acute.

“More and more students now need to get a job, but they’re expected to be full-time students,” he said.

“There’s a difference between having enough money to live – and enough to actually achieve in your study.”

Lohrey, a final-year law student, said many students were juggling study and work simply to survive.

Bond payments for flats were one of the biggest immediate costs, he said.

“A cheap bond would be $700 plus. For someone who’s meant to be a full-time student, that’s a lot of money.”

While it was difficult to quantify because of confidentiality, Lohrey said the demand for food support on campus was also clear.

“There is an incredibly large need and desire for food, which is concerning.

“If you don’t have the foundation there – food, warmth – you can’t actually access those high-level needs.”

Scott Tambisari, president of the Student Association Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology, said demand and underlying need are growing locally.

“In 2025 we supported 421 students through hardship assistance. Of these, 134 students were referred to the local Foodbank that we partner with as they also needed support for their whānau. This is lower than our 2024 figures, where we supported 701 students through hardship, including 289 Foodbank referrals.

The reduction in help was not due to reduced need, but rather funding constraints, Tambisari said.

“We did not receive dedicated hardship funding in 2025 and instead relied on remaining funding and external grants to continue supporting students”.

And for many students, the pressure is personal and immediate.

Christchurch nursing student Sarah Evans, 33, said her student allowance covers her bills “pretty much to the dollar”, leaving only a small amount each week for food, fuel and other costs.

She could earn a limited amount before her allowance was reduced, leaving little incentive to work more hours.

“I’ve got about $4 left of my student allowance after bills,” she said.

Evans said she had borrowed money from family to buy essential course equipment and sometimes struggled to afford groceries.

“Last week I didn’t actually have enough money for food, so I had to borrow $50 just to buy basics like bread and pasta.”

“You start to weigh it up and think it might actually be better to go back to work and earn a living. You want to follow a passion, but you still need to survive.”

In Auckland, 22-year-old Trinity Alp said she moved from Whangārei to study but had struggled to find part-time work.

“I’ve applied for over 60 jobs. There’s just not enough part-time work going around for students to survive.”

With rent and bills to pay, she said food often became the last priority.

“Food comes last and that’s horrible because it’s one of the main things we need to survive,” she said.

“Some weeks I’ve only got $50 to $80 left for food. You start thinking, should I just drop out?”

Tertiary Education Minister Shane Reti said the government recognised cost-of-living pressures on students.

He said most tuition costs were publicly funded, with student payments adjusted each year for inflation.

“The government also funds Student Job Search, which provides free support to assist tertiary students with finding employment,” Reti said.

“Other government funded support includes training incentives to help sole parents, carers and disabled people access tertiary education, Working for Families Tax Credits to assist families with dependent children and accommodation support which is available to student allowances recipients who are living away from home.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Social Development said it had added staff and temporarily extended StudyLink call centre hours to manage demand.

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

Only a quarter of cardiac arrest patients survive the trip to hospital – report

By Evening Report -

February 24, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

Dr Elena Garcia, St John. Supplied / St John

Only a quarter of people who have cardiac arrest in the community survive the trip to hospital, according to a new report by ambulance services.

Hato Hone St John and Wellington Free Ambulance have released the latest annual Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Report, saying “out-of-hospital cardiac arrests” (OHCAs) remain a major public health challenge.

Between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025, 2466 people were treated for cardiac arrest by ambulance officers across the country – almost seven a day.

Eighty-one percent of patients received CPR from a bystander, but only six percent received treatment with a defibrillator, otherwise known as an AED.

Twenty-four percent of patients survived to hospital arrival, and only 12 percent survived a month after the event – similar numbers to previous years.

Dr Elena Garcia, deputy clinical director at St John, said making sure people received timely CPR or AED access could be the difference between life or death.

“We know that patients who have recieved community defibrillation from an AED have more than double the odds of survival, so it’s just about getting them to the patients when they need them.

“It’s about having AEDs in communities all across New Zealand, and making sure they’re truly available in terms of being open to the community, 24/7 access, and unlocked.”

They were very straightforward to use, she said – the 111 call-taker could walk someone through it, or the AED itself would have an automated voice telling the first responder where to put the stickers and which buttons to press.

Deputy chief executive for clinical services at Hato Hone St John, Jon Moores, agreed that improving community confidence and capability remained essential, along with increasing awareness of early signs of cardiac arrest and the availability of AEDs.

Key metrics from the past five years regarding cardiac arrests outside of hospitals. Supplied / Hato Hone St John / Wellington Free Ambulance

Inequalities for women, Māori and Pacific peoples highlighted by data

The data showed Māori and Pacific peoples tended to have cardiac arrests more often, and earlier in life, along with people living in rural and higher-deprivation communities.

Hato Hone St John’s clinical evaluation, research and insights manager, Dr Sarah Maessen, explained Māori were 1.4 times more likely to suffer cardiac arrest and faced this risk a decade earlier in life than non-Māori.

Female patients had lower odds of survival at 50 percent, and were about 60 percent less likely to receive defibrillation from another member of the public than males.

Garcia said it was possible there was a fear of removing women’s clothing, or exposing them in an inappropriate way.

“Do what you can and help the patient, because they will be very glad to survive.”

Wellington Free Ambulance executive medical director Dr Erica Douglass said it worked to train people across the Wellington region in CPR and using AEDs through The Lloyd Morrison Foundation Heartbeat CPR Training programme.

“Last year close to 10,000 people across Greater Wellington and Wairarapa learnt this lifesaving skill,” she said. “This training is free of charge thanks to cornerstone partner Julie Nevett and The Lloyd Morrison Foundation who fund this essential programme.

“The data in this report shows us the positive impact bystander CPR and AED use has for chances of survival in a sudden cardiac arrest, and we encourage everyone to undertake training, know where their closest AED is and be ready to assist if needed.”

Key facts from the report

72 percent of cardiac arrests happen at home, 16 percent in public areas, and 4 percent in aged care facilities
43 percent of out-of-hospital events were attended by at least one GoodSAM responder
70 percent of those patients were male
94 percent of cardiac events were co-responded to and attended by Fire and Emergency
Median age of patients: Māori – 59 years; Pacific peoples – 60 years; non-Māori, non-Pacific peoples – 69 years

How can you help?

Take part in St John’s community education programme ‘[www.stjohn.org.nz/what-we-do/community-programmes/3-steps-for-life/ 3 Steps for Life]’ for one hour of free CPR and AED training.

Then sign up to [www.stjohn.org.nz/first-aid/lifesaving-apps/ GoodSAM], an app which alerts nearby people trained in CPR and defibrillation, when someone nearby is having a cardiac arrest.

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

‘We still have nowhere else to go’: Rough sleepers question police’s new move on powers

By Evening Report -

February 24, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

Auckland streeties say they already get moved on by security guards, council workers and police. Nick Monro

Stay clean, don’t be seen – that’s the motto of many Auckland streeties who say they already get moved on by security guards, council workers and police.

The government is giving police new powers to move on rough sleepers or people displaying disorderly behaviour in town and city centres.

Shopkeepers and business leaders wanted it and social agencies condemned it, but homeless people warned it raised the question of where they were supposed to go.

Kevin lived rough for about a decade before moving into an apartment provided by a social agency in Auckland four years ago.

He described his experience like this: “Hustle – having unidentified struggle to live equally.”

Kevin still knew many people who slept rough.

“Not all the ones want to take the cup and ask for money, some of them are just walking around town biding time looking for refuge or sanctuary of some kind, or looking for help.”

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon earlier said police were capable of dealing with the issues and the orders would give police another tool to address anti-social behaviour.

But the Police Association said it would be a drain on resources.

Breach an order, and it risked a fine or three month jail term.

Rough sleepers are asking where they are meant to go. Nick Monro

Kevin said it should be the job of an agency already supporting rough sleepers.

“Why not another organisation because that uniform has a presentation, using that uniform and the police may not want to be doing this.”

A woman who had been homeless for just over a year in Auckland, whom RNZ agreed to keep anonymous, said there were fewer areas in the central city to hang out in.

She went by the motto – stay clean, don’t be seen.

“They have absolutely done everything in their power to move us away from the public areas, they’ve taken all the chairs, the tables, shut down the toilets so that we’re concentrated in certain areas.”

She said it was not easy getting off the streets because there was a lack of suitable housing – she preferred street life to boarding houses.

“We all recognise that we all have a lot of the same issues and we can’t reintegrate back into society because we didn’t fit there in the first place,” she said.

“So now pushing us into certain areas, not being able to be here at a certain time, you can’t lie down in Auckland city central business district at all.”

Moving someplace else would not be easy.

“The whole question in the beginning, where are we meant to go to? Where’s the designated area?

“They can try and move us on but there’s other ways around it, because we’re still able to be here, we still have nowhere else to go.”

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith’s office said police were expected to connect people given move-on orders with the support they may need.

Newmarket Business Association chief executive Mark Knoff-Thomas. supplied

Newmarket Business Association supported the introduction of move-on orders, as long as the problem was not shifted from street to street.

Its chief executive Mark Knoff-Thomas said businesses did need help dealing with persistent anti-social behaviour outside their premises.

Kevin has a roof over his head now, but worried about those who did not, who could be asked to move on.

“They can’t give you a home so you’re going to take your trolley and move on, go somewhere else and move on, I think this is going to happen.”

The changes proposed by government would have to go through a legislative process before coming into effect.

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

Is it ever a good idea to stay together for the kids?

By Evening Report -

February 24, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

Breaking up is rarely easy, especially when kids are involved.

People in unhappy relationships often attempt to stay together for the sake of children, says family lawyer and co-parenting coach Gabriella Pomare.

“I see it all the time in my practice … it usually comes up when life feels too big to blow up.”

Children detect “emotional undercurrents” such as distance, resentment, silence, micro-conflict, eye rolls and withdrawal, Pomare says.

Juliane Liebermann

. A mortgage. School routines. Shared friendship groups. Maybe one parent is financially dependent. Maybe they’re terrified of doing handovers, two homes, Christmases apart, explaining it to grandparents, explaining it to the kids.”

She says staying in the familiar discomfort can feel less scary than stepping into the unknown.

But is it ever a good idea to stay in an unhappy relationship for the sake of the kids?

And how would that work?

Easier to stay than go

There are practical reasons a couple may choose to stay together, for example, finances or caring responsibilities, explains Carly Dober, a psychologist and policy coordinator at the Australian Association of Psychologists.

A fear of starting over may also keep at least one person wanting to stay.

“They might think, ‘I’m anxious about being on the dating scene again’ or hear stories from friends about what it’s like now.

“They might think, is it really worth blowing up my whole life to go and do this?”

Dober says change – even if it’s wanted – can be stressful.

“That can keep a lot of people from making a decision that is best for their partner and the family unit.”

There isn’t always tension, either, which may make it seem easier to continue the relationship, Pomare says.

“Sometimes it’s not even explosive conflict, it’s quiet disconnection. Two people co-existing. Flatmates. No intimacy. No joy. No real partnership.”

Perceptions of a ‘broken home’

Some people believe a “broken home” is worse than an unhappy marriage, Pomare says.

“Culturally, we’ve been taught that separation equals damage.

“[Parents] imagine trauma, instability, loyalty conflicts, financial stress, lost routines. And all of that can be hard.”

But she says kids are unbelievably perceptive, and that often gets overlooked.

Children detect “emotional undercurrents”, Pomare says, such as distance, resentment, silence, micro-conflict, eye rolls and withdrawal, even when parents think they’re hiding it well.

“People convince themselves staying is protective, when sometimes it’s just familiar.”

Most parents report their children “fared well” after separation, according to research from 2020.

Unsplash

While research shows that children’s mental health can be negatively impacted by separation, it’s generally due to exposure to conflict and the parents’ mental health.

Most parents report their children “fared well” after separation, according to Australian research from 2020.

“Parents generally provided favourable reports of their child’s health, learning, peer relationships and general development,” the Australian Institute of Family Studies reported.

More harm than good?

If both partners are on the same page about the arrangement and parenting as a strong team, staying together might work.

Parents should consider what behaviours they are modelling for their children, Dober says.

“Healthy relationship behaviours will set your children up for pretty good mental health and healthy relationship references across their lifetime.

“What are they seeing every day?”

Households that are tense, where there are frequent arguments, or it’s “obvious something awful is happening”, she says, may impact children’s wellbeing and leave them feeling insecure about the future.

Children growing up around chronic tension and unresolved conflict might normalise disconnection, says Gabriella Pomare.

123rf

Children growing up around chronic tension and unresolved conflict might normalise disconnection or walking on eggshells, for example, Pomare says.

“Kids also internalise energy. A house can be calm on the surface but emotionally heavy underneath.”

When staying together for the kids can work

If both partners are on the same page about the arrangement and parenting as a strong team, staying together might work, says Dober.

“If it’s low conflict, needs are being met, and it’s functioning, then likely it’s OK.”

To be successful, the relationship should be respectful, emotionally safe, cooperative and genuinely stable, “even if it’s not wildly romantic”, Pomare says.

“Some parents operate beautifully as a parenting partnership. There’s warmth, teamwork, mutual respect, and low conflict.”

Kids should be shielded from difficult conversations but given age-appropriate information about how the dynamic might be shifting, Dober says.

“Young ears pick up more than you think – if any shift like this is going to happen – tell them in an age-appropriate way.

For example, “Mum and Dad, or Mum and Mum, or Dad and Mum aren’t together as a couple anymore, but we are still a family, and we will always love you, and are working through this – that’s just going to look a little different.”

While it wouldn’t be appropriate for parents to share details about their sex life, for example, they could help children understand why what they are seeing is no longer romantic, Dober says.

“If they are seeing a relationship devoid of love and affection, they will wonder why. If not now, when they are older.

“Help fill in the gaps.”

Even in low-conflict situations, Dober says parents will still need to stay alert for stress responses in the children.

“Monitor that and think about what external support they might need to navigate the change, like a child psychologist.”

Making the decision

Separation is one of the biggest transitions a family can face, says Pomare, so parents are right to feel unsure or scared.

“[But] when handled thoughtfully, with emotional intelligence and good support, kids can actually become more secure, not less.

“Your children don’t need you to stay stuck. They need you to be emotionally well, grounded and available.

“It’s not about choosing between your kids and your happiness. The two are often deeply connected.”

It’s helpful for people to chat to family members and friends on the other side of a relationship split about what to expect and what helped, says psychologist Carly Dober.

Ketut Subiyanto

It’s helpful for people to chat to family and friends who have made the split, Dober says.

“[People] can ask what they might expect, how long it took to move on, what helped, and what didn’t.”

She says engaging a mental health professional, like a psychologist or counsellor, will provide extra support.

“It’s common for relationships to ‘accordion’ in and out over time. There might be periods you feel very disconnected, and it might be salvageable.”

Where to get help if your relationship or household is unsafe:

Help

Are You OK?

Free and confidential 24/7 support and information for anyone experiencing family violence or if you are worried about someone else. Call 0800 456 450 or live chat with a trained counsellor on the website.

Safe to Talk

Free and confidential helpline for support and information about sexual violence. Call 0800 044 334, text 4334, email support@safetotalk.nz or chat to counsellors online.

Women’s Refuge

24-hour advocacy and accommodation for women and their children experiencing family violence. Call 0800 733 843 (0800 REFUGE) or get support through live chat on the website.

Change is Possible

Anonymous 24/7 help for men using violence or concerned about their behaviour. Free call 0800 456 450 or live chat with a counsellor on the website.

Shakti

Free 24/7 multi-lingual crisis-line for migrant and refugee women 0800SHAKTI (0800 742 584) or email crisisline@shakti.org.nz

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

Our Changing World: The democratisation of space?

By Evening Report -

February 24, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

AFP PHOTO /ROCKET LAB/KIERNAN FANNING AND SIMON MOFFATT

Follow Our Changing World on Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

New Zealand is number three in the world for rocket launching – posing some tricky questions.

It is a stat that tends to catch people off guard. When it comes to the number of orbital rocket launches, New Zealand sits behind two super-powers.

“There’s the US and China, and New Zealand. As far as the number of launches departing our shores,” says Mark Rocket, chief executive of Kea Aerospace – and yes, he changed his name to match his passion.

Dr. Philipp Sueltrop (Chief Technology Officer) Mark Rocket (CEO Kea Aerospace) Megan Woods, Lianne Dalziel RNZ / Nate McKinnon

With Rocket Lab clocking up launch after launch from the Mahia Peninsula – the 71st blasted off on 27 January – this country has quietly become a serious player in what is being called the third space age.

The space ages

The first age gave us the Apollo moon landing. The second brought the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. Now, plummeting costs and a convergence of new materials and computing power have opened the door to a wave of commercial operators.

Mark puts it simply: internet entrepreneurs who made their money in tech decided to chase their space dreams. Elon Musk with Space X, Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin.

AFP

Tech bros turning into space bros, bankrolling the so-called “Democratisation of Space”- putting hundreds of rockets, satellites and celebrities into orbit,

Who can forget Katy Perry stepping out of a Blue Origin capsule after her return to earth, kissing the ground and feeling “super connected to love”?

The democratisation of space

But is “democratisation” really the right word? Dr Priyanka Dhopade, a senior lecturer in mechanical and mechatronics engineering at the University of Auckland, isn’t so sure.

She points out that while there are roughly 12,000 operational satellites in low Earth orbit, about two-thirds are controlled by Starlink and Elon Musk.

“Even though there are a lot more people involved, more companies, more governments, the power to access space and provide critical services like internet is actually more concentrated than we think,” she says.

Dr Priyanka Dhopade, research lead of the Sustainable Space Initiative, University of Auckland Supplied

The better term, Priyanka reckons, might be the commoditisation or transactionalisation of space – “but it’s not as catchy.”

The murky world of space politics

Whatever you call it, the boom has brought complications. Chief among them is the thorny question of dual-use technology – where the same satellite that monitors wildfires one day might track people for security purposes the next.

“What is and isn’t dual use technology is becoming increasingly murky,” Priyanka warns. “Our critical space services, you know, things like crop monitoring, disaster response, GPS, are increasingly entwined with issues of national security.”

That tension was on full display when protesters chained themselves to doors at last year’s Aerospace Summit in Christchurch, with 30 arrested. Peace Action Ōtautahi said they were protesting the industry’s ties with overseas militaries.

Tiana Yazici, Founder, Chair & CEO of Nonprofit AeroAI Global Solutions. Supplied

Space law expert Dr Tuana Yazici, who has worked with the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, says banning dual-use technology isn’t realistic. What matters is regulation – but the most relevant international treaty dates from 1967, and there’s no “space police” to enforce anything.

Then there’s the sheer volume of stuff hurtling around up there. Priyanka notes there are 130 million pieces of space debris, with satellites already performing multiple collision-avoidance manoeuvres each month.

Without coordinated traffic management, she says, the risk of Kessler Syndrome – a cascading chain reaction of collisions that could render entire orbits unusable – grows steadily more real.

New Zealand has taken some steps. Aerospace New Zealand signed the Washington Compact last year, committing to sustainability and transparency. But with the 2025 Defence Force procurement plan earmarking $300-600 million for space capabilities, the boundary between civilian and military is likely to keep blurring.

Mark Rocket thinks the country needs to talk about it – openly.

“I think it’s really important for New Zealand to have a public discussion about how we use aerospace technology and defence technology going forward. You know, the world is changing and we need to have a dialogue about the future. I don’t think we really have had that dialogue yet.”

With a seat at the top table of the new space race, it’s a pressing conversation.

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

Inside a prince’s hard and fast fall from grace

By Evening Report -

February 24, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his “prince” title in October, 2025, due to his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. AFP/ PAUL FAITH

The former prince hardly received the royal treatment last week as he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, but an insider says the House of Windsor will do what it always does – keep calm and carry on

The news of his arrest last week echoed around the world, a prince’s public life imploding in real time, and the aftershocks are still rattling the monarchy.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s dramatic fall from public life has become one of the most damaging royal scandals in modern history.

The Detail talks to royal commentator Dickie Arbiter, who was formerly the press secretary to both the late Queen Elizabeth and to King Charles (when he was the Prince of Wales), about the arrest, the response, the fallout, and why Andrew has been targeted, while other alleged high-profile offenders continue to live large.

“It’s very unusual, the last time a royal was taken into custody was about 1647, when Charles I was arrested and then he had his head chopped off about two years later,” Arbiter tells The Detail. “So, it is extremely rare.”

Once a war veteran and senior working royal with global trade roles and front-row status at state events, Andrew was forced to step back after his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein sparked international outrage.

The crisis intensified after civil allegations from now-deceased Virginia Giuffre, which Andrew has always denied, but which culminated in a costly out-of-court settlement that effectively ended any hope of a public comeback.

More recently, his titles have been stripped, his military affiliations removed, and he was pushed out of official duties – an extraordinary step rarely seen in royal history.

Last month, he was also forced out of his palatial home; now this month, the arrest and 11 hours in police custody.

Screenshot / BBC

“Andrew hasn’t responded at all … nobody has seen him,” says Arbiter, who says police aren’t releasing any information about the allegations while Andrew is being investigated.

“There are a lot of documents to go through, and they [police] are going to be going through them forensically.”

He says the arrest and allegations stem from Andrew’s job as a trade ambassador.

“When he came out of the Navy in 2001, a job had to be found for him, and he was given the job of trade ambassador international, part of the Department of Trade and Industry – a job that had been done for 20 years by the Duke of Kent … he did it for those 20 years without an inch of scandal at all. He did an extremely good job.

“Andrew seemed to have gone off the rails. Being the man that he is, or was – arrogant, bombastic, rude, you name it, he’s it, and he took advantage of the whole scenario, and he travelled globally, a lot of it on behalf of the British government to ostensibly sell British trade abroad.

“How much and how successful he was is still being asked. But he was taking advantage, and he was meeting all sorts of dodgy people, and within that meeting of dodgy people, somewhere along the lines, between 2008 and 2010, he was actually handing over – they are calling them sensitive, they are calling them secret, I prefer to use the word confidential, without knowing the full extent of the documents – but documents for his eyes, and nobody else’s eyes, and certainly not Jeffrey Epstein’s eyes.

“So, that is part of the whole concept of misconduct in public office.”

He noted that while Andrew has been “hauled across the coals,” former cabinet minister and ex-British ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson, who has also been accused of misconduct in public office, “seems to be lying low at the moment, and nothing is going on there, except police taking away boxes of paperwork, over a week ago. So, it looks like Andrew is the one who is being nailed at the moment.”

Arbiter believes Andrew will be removed from the line of succession – he currently remains eighth in line to the throne, and the change will require new legislation.

He says the government is considering any further steps that may be required, and nothing is being ruled out.

Arbiter also believes Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, has long been involved and knows what has been going on.

“How involved? Up to her armpits, quite frankly. She’s the one who was taking money all the time.”

But he feels for their children, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

“They are the daughters of two very unsavoury people. They are lying low as well. It is very difficult for them, but it is probably more so difficult for their respective husbands, who are in businesses and yet tarred by the same brush.”

Despite the headline-grabbing scandal and public fallout, Arbiter believes the monarchy will survive as an institution.

“They are a family, and one of their own is a rotten apple; it doesn’t mean to say the whole basket is rotten.

“The family has been dented, but the family is carrying on. And the monarchy has taken a knock, and the monarchy will carry on, and the monarchy will survive.”

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

Calls on Wellington Electricity for compensation after days with no power

By Evening Report -

February 24, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

Damage from the storm to electricity networks was extensive. Wellington City Council

Questions are mounting over whether Wellington Electricity should compensate households hit by damaging storms, as residents count the cost of week-long power outages.

The company had hoped to restore power to all affected properties that did not need complex or private repairs on Monday night. It said remaining homes were expected to be reconnected over the next few days.

Island Bay solo mum Nicola Hill lost power early last Tuesday morning after the storm battered her home, blowing out French doors.

Island Bay solo mum Nicola Hill assumed power would be restored within hours. Instead she and her children spent six nights without electricity. Penny Smith/RNZ

At first, she assumed it would be restored in a matter of hours. Instead, she and her two teenagers spent six nights without electricity.

Hill said that, with no functioning fridge, fresh food quickly spoiled.

“I’ve lost a fridge and most of a freezer full of food. So, I definitely think I probably lost about $200 in food, taking into account the extra stuff that I’ve bought, like UHT milk, just to have a little bit of milk in the morning.”

Hill estimated that she had lost about $200 worth of groceries due to the power outage. Penny Smith/RNZ

Dinners were cooked on the barbecue, when the weather allowed.

Showers were cold at home, or taken at friends’ houses, grandparents’ homes in the Hutt Valley, or at the local pool and washing was ferried between houses.

As a working parent, Hill said the outage also affected her job. She stayed home for three days expecting crews to arrive, only for no one to show.

“I’d try to work from home without a device, then use the iPad for an hour or two until the battery wound down, then go somewhere to charge it and come back,” she said.

“It really impacted my productivity.”

She described the communication from Wellington Electricity and her retailer as “not fit for purpose”.

“There were promises – four to six hours, 18 hours, everything by Friday – and by Monday I was looking at any promise with complete scepticism,” she said.

“There was over-promising and under-delivering.”

Calls for Compensation

On Friday, when about 700 homes still had no power, Wellington Electricity said it would donate $10 to KidsCan Charitable Trust for every customer who wouldn’t be reconnected that day.

Hill questioned whether a donation to charity went far enough.

“When you’re getting to one week without power? I’d be ropeable if there’s a fixed charge cost,” she said.

Just a few streets away, 71-year-old retiree Jim Waters faced a different challenge.

Waters had just been discharged from hospital after a fall – which left him with a fractured wrist in a cast – when the power to his home failed on Monday night.

Retiree Jim Waters spent about $800 on staying at a motel, after damaging winds knocked out power to his home. He hoped to claim back the cost from his insurance company. Penny Smith/RNZ

By morning, he discovered the gas supply had also shut off.

“It was a nightmare,” he said.

“My cellphone was running out of battery, I had no way of recharging it, I couldn’t use internet, and they’d say, ‘follow up your query online’ – but I had no power.”

Neighbours stepped in, offering Wi-Fi access, phone charging and meals.

But by Thursday, with no clear timeline for reconnection, Waters contacted his insurer and learned that emergency accommodation might be covered.

He moved into a motel, initially for one night.

He stayed four, costing about $800, which he hopes to claim back.

“I’m on superannuation, but I’m lucky I have some savings,” he said.

Waters said he felt his isolated outage may have been deprioritised in favour of larger jobs affecting whole streets.

“You got the impression they were doing the ones that were bigger,” he said. “If they’d come and looked at mine, they could have done it rather quicker.”

Like Hill, he questioned Wellington Electricity’s pledge to donate to charity rather than compensate affected customers directly.

“It sounds wonderful, but it doesn’t help the people affected much, does it?” he said.

Both residents said the experience had shaken their confidence in the capital’s infrastructure.

“We need to have power infrastructure that survives wind,” Hill said.

“It makes me worry about what would happen in an earthquake.”

By late Monday afternoon, crews had restored power to both homes.

Wellington Electricity said it was not funded to offer compensation.

“While our tight regulation by the Commerce Commission means we’re not funded to act as an insurer or cover consequential losses, if we find our actions while restoring a customer’s power caused damage to their property, we can consider a goodwill payment. We recommend customers questions about loss of supply to their electricity retailer, and any consequential loss or damage claims to their insurers.”

The company said it understood how frustrating it was to be without power for multiple days and it was sorry work to restore power across Wellington was taking longer than expected.

“The strength of the winds and the scale of the storm damage meant the situation evolved as crews progressed. In many cases, once trees were cleared and sites made safe to work at, our crews discovered more extensive damage than was initially visible,” it said.

“As with any major event, we’ll review our response and ensure improvements are continuously applied to future event responses.”

Hundreds of Powerco Customers Still Without Power

Meanwhile, Powerco said that about 200 customers across the Whanganui, Manawatū and Wairarapa regions were without electricity on Monday night, although some outages may not be storm-related.

Crews were working through complex high-voltage faults, particularly in remote forestry areas, with the Whanganui-Rangitīkei region the hardest hit. the company said.

“Access has been a challenge, with trees down across the affected regions, and outages have been widespread and in remote locations.”

At the height of the storm, more than 25,000 properties in Whanganui-Rangitīkei, Manawatū-Tararua and Wairarapa were left without power.

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

Unions acuse Peters of being ‘wilfully misleading’ over Employment Relations Amendment Bill

By Evening Report -

February 24, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons (left) and New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters. RNZ

Winston Peters’ public spat with two unions has gone up a notch, with the PSA and Workers First now writing to the Prime Minister.

Secretaries from both unions say the New Zealand First leader is being “wilfully misleading” and it was “unequivocably” untrue they hadn’t engaged with the party earlier.

They want Peters investigated for breaching the cabinet manual.

Peters responded on social media, saying the Unions had been “whinging” about being “called out” and then throwing an “unhinged tantrum,” criticising the unions for being out of touch with ordinary workers.

He included a screenshot of an email sent by the unions the day before the Employment Relations Amendment Bill was set to be debated at committee stage, highlighting his criticism from last week that “you don’t alert someone within 24 hours after these things have been going for months what your concerns are.”

It comes after both New Zealand First and the unions publicly attacked each other over the Employment Relations Bill, which passed last week.

Peters said he would have been able to stop the law removing the right for contractors to challenge their employment status if the unions had come to him earlier.

The Unions wrote to Christopher Luxon on Sunday, outlining their view that Peters was in breach of the cabinet manual by making, and then defending, statements that were “wilfully misleading.”

Those comments were the claim from Peters last week that he could have changed the law, and that New Zealand First was only alerted to unions’ concerns within 24 hours of the Bill going through the Committee stage in the House.

“This is unequivocably and demonstrably untrue,” the unions wrote, outlining again the series of meetings and interactions that had taken place between representatives for both the unions and New Zealand First, which RNZ reported last week.

Those engagements included at least 8 meetings between New Zealand First and Workers First union to discuss the Bill, the letter stated.

Beyond that, PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons had multiple meetings with New Zealand First representatives too, including with MP Mark Patterson

“Mr Patterson asked for possible amendments to take the harsh edges off the proposed legislation so on 10 February 2026 we sent him some suggested amendments New Zealand First could adopt,” in reference to the email sent the day before committee stage.

However, the unions had “engaged extensively with New Zealand First about the Employment Relations Amendment Bill, some months and years before Parliament considered the legislation” the letter stated.

Their concern was that Peters had “breached the expectations around “Conduct of Ministers” set out in paragraph 2.56 of the Cabinet Manual 2023:

In all of these roles [i.e., as per para 2.56, not only when acting in “in a ministerial capacity”, but also when acting “in a political capacity” or “in a personal capacity”] and at all times, Ministers are expected to act lawfully and behave in a way that upholds, and is seen to uphold, the highest ethical and behavioural standards. This includes exercising a professional approach and good judgement in their interactions with the public, staff, and officials, and in all their communications, personal and professional. Ultimately, all Ministers are accountable to the Prime Minister for their behaviour.

The unions asked Luxon to consider the matters and investigate their concerns.

On Monday, Peters posted on social media in response, including a screenshot of the email sent the day before the Bill was due at Committee Stage. He indicated all the unions were included in the email.

“Apparently both the PSA Union and Workers First Union have written to the Speaker whinging that I called them out for them demanding NZFirst make changes to the Employment Relations Bill just 24-hours before the committee stage debate in the House – and then them throwing an unhinged tantrum when they didn’t get their way,” Peters wrote.

A spokesperson for the PSA confirmed they had not written to the Speaker, only the Prime Minister.

Peter said the PSA and Workers First had made it clear the workers unions in the country “no longer represent ordinary, hard working blue-collar kiwis like they once did – they are now controlled by leftwing political agendas and arrogant elitist Labour Party sycophants with soft hands who live in leafy suburbs.”

“When the leaders of these unions are Labour Party candidates, sitting on Labour Party policy committees, run third party campaigns for the Labour Party in elections, and affiliated unions get a vote for the Labour Party leader, New Zealanders need to be asking what their true motivations are and who they truly work for.”

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister told RNZ the issue was a specific disagreement between two parties.

“The Prime Minister is satisfied that it is not a Cabinet Manual matter.”

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

‘Imaginary income’ lands family $4000 Working for Families bill

By Evening Report -

February 24, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

A New Zealander who has left for Australia says he’s been hit hard by Inland Revenue “annualising” his income to claw back Working for Families credits.

Kenneth, who wanted to be identified only by his first name, said he moved with his family from Auckland to Australia in January last year.

“My total New Zealand earnings for that tax year were just under $84,000. However, the IRD has annualised my income, claiming I should be treated as if I earned closer to $110,000.

“Because of this imaginary higher income, they are demanding we pay back $4000 in Working for Families tax credits-money my wife used to keep us afloat while caring for our youngest in one of the most expensive cities in the world.”

He said a number of one-off payments were being treated as though they were daily wages, including $7213 in final holiday pay and $7027 in back pay from a two-year salary negotiation.

“When we challenged this, staff explained that if someone earned $20,000 in one month and nothing for the rest of the year, the IRD would treat them as if they earned $240,000. It is a rigid, ‘computer says no’ approach that is leaving families who are already struggling with a massive bill on their way out the door.

“I believe many other Kiwis are being “ripped off” by this same rule without realizing the math is flawed.”

Tax expert Terry Baucher said the reason that Inland Revenue took this approach was out of concern that otherwise people who left early in a tax year could end up paying less tax than they would otherwise be meant to.

He said the issue was also clearly connected to the abatement level, at which Working for Families credits are removed.

When households earn more than $42,700 a year, their Working for Families entitlements are cut at a rate of 27 percent.

“The threshold is so low, and everything above that is abated at 27c on the dollar. So we have an extremely low threshold, it’s now below the minimum wage. Someone getting 40 hours of minimum wage is now above that. So that’s the real kicker. The extra $26,000 of income just exacerbates that.”

He said that threshold had not been increased since 2018 and when the abatement rate was first introduced it was only 20 cents in the dollar.

Working for Families debt has been highlighted as a problem for some time. There are hundreds of millions of dollars owing, often because people earned more than was expected in a year and received too much Working for Families support. RNZ earlier reported on a case where a couple were overpaid $20,000 and having to pay it back at a rate of $350 a fortnight. (https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/562593/couple-owes-20-000-working-for-families-debt-through-no-fault-of-our-own)

The Government last year announced a review of Working for Families intended to avoid households getting into debt. Options being considered included more frequent reporting of income to ensure that people were not overpaid.

In the 2022 year, only 24 percent of households receiving weekly or fortnightly payments who were squared up by IRD had received the right amount of Working for Families credits.

Baucher said Inland Revenue could make use of tax codes to claw back overpayments.

“Instead of requiring people to suddenly front up with $4000 at a time, it’s probably easier for them to say, ‘ okay, we’re going to adjust your PAYE code and take a bit extra to claw that back’. It would be for those families far more manageable … but to me the review’s window dressing, to be frank.

“The whole question around abatements and thresholds, and the amounts of being paid just needs complete rethink, in my view.”

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

Emergency specialist says only law changes will reduce dog injury statistics

By Evening Report -

February 24, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

A dog runs freely on a roadside. RNZ

The patterns are clear for Dr Natasha Duncan-Sutherland to see.

Dog injury statistics are on the up, and the emergency specialist at Te Toka Tumai / Auckland City Hospital said that would not be fixed without urgent action.

“So if you see a certain number of dog-related injuries or dog bite injuries within a certain region, you can be pretty sure that without any further proper changes, that those are going to happen again the next year,” she said.

“And I think that’s really devastating.”

The next round of statistics would be in the middle of the year in June or July.

“And I am not looking forward to having to look at those next statistics,” Duncan-Sutherland said.

“I don’t look forward to having to look at those statistics again and seeing the same pattern happening all over again the following year with no changes being made.”

Duncan-Sutherland offered her “deepest sympathies” to the victims and families of recent dog attacks.

She had spent years researching the problem.

A decade’s worth of figures showed what had been done so far, including non-legislative strategies, was not working, she said.

“The Dog Control Act was introduced at one point, but things have continued to get worse and particularly over the last few years, we’ve been really trying to say this needs to happen and it hasn’t happened, and I think it’s devastating that has resulted in fatalities,” she said.

“And I think it’s devastating that the problem continues to happen and that those changes haven’t happened fast enough.”

Emergency services at the scene of a fatal dog attack in Northland last week. RNZ

Duncan-Sutherland said what there did need to be was an urgent review of the Dog Control Act with mandatory notification of all dog-related injuries.

She said there should also be mandatory de-sexing of all dogs by six months of age or within 28 days of an owner taking possession, unless owned by a registered breeder or when exempt on veterinary grounds.

Then, Duncan-Sutherland said there needed to be greater powers for local councils and animal control officers as well as minimum fencing standards.

She also called for infringement notices for roaming dogs or attacks on people, particularly children.

What had not lowered the figures, she said, were non-legislative strategies over several years that had included widespread education.

“Despite all of those non-legislative strategies that we’ve implemented over the last five to six years, ACC statistics show us that those changes have not been effective.”

Those figures, she said, showed the breadth and seriousness of the issue.

In 2024 to 2025, there were 29,220 dog-related injuries with nearly half of them dog bite injuries.

Adults were most often hurt on their limbs, but Duncan-Sutherland said children – because of their size – were most often hurt on their face, head or neck.

Rates of injury had been increasing steadily over time, she said.

“And so we really need to look at doing something differently.”

Local Government Minister Simon Watts. RNZ / Mark Papalii

There were growing calls before the recent serious attacks for the decades-old Dog Control Act to be overhauled.

But Local Government Minister Simon Watts said then there was no time to do that before the election, and he would not commit to changes if National returned to power.

He said he was focused on options that did not need law changes.

On Monday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the government was open to intervening but councils could be tougher and enforce the powers they already had.

“We’re very happy to take further action and to support councils in cracking down on this,” he told RNZ.

Duncan-Sutherland said a systematic review had shown legislation, especially laws that reduced the dog population, were the most effective strategies.

“It is frustrating that over the last sort of three years we have been saying that this legislative change needs to happen because we have known about this problem for a long time, for around sort of nearly 10 years, really, we have known that this existed,” she said.

“In fact, 40 years ago, there were people who were doctors who were saying, ‘hey, this is an issue in New Zealand’.”

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Why childcare costs could be set to rise

By Evening Report -

February 24, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

123RF

Some parents returning to work are facing childcare bills of $15,000 or $20,000 a year, and the industry is warning bills could rise.

Stephanie Pow, founder of Crayon, which helps employers with staff wellbeing, particularly around support for parents, said the cost of childcare and early childhood education was a big pressure point for a lot of families.

“It’s equivalent almost to private school fees. A lot of them are parents who would not otherwise be putting their kids in private school. And that’s per child, so if you have twins or you have two or more young children, it multiplies from there. When you look at the OED data, New Zealand is one of the least affordable countries in the world for childcare as a percentage of income.”

She said two parents earning full-time average wages in New Zealand with two children in full-time daycare would spend more than a third of their income just on childcare.

Data from the Household Economic Survey shows that the average cost of early childhood education has risen from $25.71 a week in 2007 to $85.18 in 2013, $95.45 in 2019 and $90.62 in 2023.

Between the March 2025 quarter and December 2025, early childhood education costs increased by 2.5 percent.

Family Boost payments took effect in July 2024, which contributed costs falling 22.8 percent through the same period a year earlier.

Family Boost covers 40 percent of a household’s childcare cost, up to $1560 for households earning up to $35,000 a quarter.

Households with income between $35,000 and $57,286 a quarter an claim either 40 percent of their ECE fees or the maximum $1560 minus 7c for every dollar earned over $35,000 – whichever is less.

Centres are also funded through the 20 Hours ECE scheme, which provides a subsidy for up to 20 hours a week of childcare, at six hours a day. Some centres offer 30 hours using other subsidies.

Costs vary

The Office of Early Childhood Education, an advisory body for the sector, said home-based education fees could range from $5 an hour to $12 or more.

Playcentres were the most affordable. Kindergartens received more money under the 20 hours scheme and could charge as little as $3 per hour for care beyond that, it said.

Most other centres charged $5 to $8 an hour for children not receiving 20 hours funding.

Amanda White, a researcher at the NZ Council for Education REsearch, said the cost could differ a lot.

“Sadly this variation does exist, and can be very costly for some parents and whānau. High quality ECE should be a public good for all children to access. A higher cost does not in any way reflect the quality of education children receive in a particular centre – there is no evidence that private centres offer better education/care than non-profit ECEs like community-based and kindergartens.

“Teacher qualifications, teacher-child ratios and group size are critical factors in terms of ECE quality.”

Fee warning

But the Early Childhood Council, which represents operators, said if changes were not made, the costs were likely to increase, or more centres would close.

It said 443 closed between March 2022 and July 2025 as pay parity requirements and “sustained underfunding” affected the sector.

The Government established a Ministerial Advisory Group in June to review funding for early learning. A paper as part of the review noted that the intention of the 20 hours scheme was for regular reviews to adjust funding to reflect increases in the cost of providing care.

“Many EE service providers say that the funding received for the 20 hours free does not cover the cost of delivering the service. While this may be correct, it is largely anecdotal.”

Services can require kids to attend more than 20 hours and charge for the additional hours, as well as asking for top-up payments.

Early Childhood Council chief executive Simon Laube said since 2019 there had been an 11.5 percent gap between the cost adjustments of the subsidy and inflation.

“We’re saying to the government that they need to, to try and just keep the lights on, put a bit more money into the system.

“If they don’t put in a significant cost adjustment this budget it’s going to lead to either parents having to pick up some of the rising costs through increased fees or more providers are going to fail.

“Our view is yes you can always afford to lose a few centres, overall there are thousands of centres in New Zealand… but the trend has kind of turned and we are losing more centres than we are opening… it’s not really in the interests of parents to lose these options.”

He said because centres were funded on a demand basis, they were sensitive to things like changes in the job market that could mean more parents staying home.

“If you’re putting up your fees, anyone who can do that should have already done that… so now you’re in the real crunchy period where every time you put up fees you’re going to lose enrolments.

“Every time you do it you’re just going to trigger a demand change because they don’t have the ability to pay.”

He said the funding review needed to consider centres’ ability to pay higher salaries. “The Government funding doesn’t actually try to keep up, it’s just set at a certain rate and it never increases. Whereas the obligation we’ve got is that every single teacher moves up an increment every year. Some of those increments are 7 percent between steps once you’re on the scheme.. there’s a real pressure on providers to increase fees just so they can retain their teachers.”

He said the government’s review was a good opportunity to address the problems and find a solution. “But solutions take time and changes to the funding system will take years to design and implement… I can’t just go ‘oh you know, it’ll be okay in the future’. Providers today need a bit of help just to keep the lights on.”

Some centres are making the numbers work, however. It was reported in 2024 that childcare cahrity Best Start made a profit of $32 million in 2023.

Occupany questions

Pow said parents were already finding it tricky to find care in some places.

“When we’re coaching parents we often tell them they should look into it 12 months or more before they intend to put their child into care because it can be so difficult to ge ta spot. There are a lot of wait lists and you don’t want to be in a position where you return to work and you haven’t secured childcare or weren’t able to get your first preference.”

Laube said centres had the highest occupancy in areas like Canterbury, where they could be up to 80 percent full.

“Whereas Auckland, you know, if you talk to the providers, they think that there are too many providers in Auckland. But that’s not really what the data is showing. The data is showing there are, you know, thousands of children up in Auckland who don’t even participate…Auckland’s challenge is something that we’re really trying to drill into.”

Otago University economist Murat Ungor said it was something that the country should address.

“ECE plays a critical role in human capital development. The World Bank notes that the first five years of life are the fastest period of human growth and development, with around 90 percent of brain development occurring by age five. Investing in these early years helps break cycles of poverty, reduce inequality, and boost long-term productivity.

“Recent UNICEF reports rank New Zealand fourth lowest out of 36 OECD and EU countries for child wellbeing, and lowest for mental wellbeing specifically. These statistics show the urgent need to prioritise early investment in the health, education, and wellbeing of New Zealand children.

“Today’s children are tomorrow’s labour force, so by investing more in our children, we will have a healthier and more skilled labour force and thus, a more productive Aotearoa.”

What are parents paying for childcare?

Khandallah Nursery School: One child, 8am to 4.30pm five days a week: $452.40

Chelsea House, Raumati Beach: One child, 35 hours a week: $150

University Kids Fairlee Terrace:: Two children, 28 hours a week: $474.64

Krafty Kidz, Ranui, Auckland: One child, four days a week: $105

High Five Early Education Centre, Hataitai: One child, 8.30am to 5.30pm five days: $275

Busy Bees Westgate: One child, 26 hours a week: $236.60

Little Minds, Whalers Gate, New Plymouth:: Two children, 28 hours a week: $584 a fortnight

Kindercare Belmont: One child, three half days: $218 a week

Busy Bees Daycare, Dargaville: One child, 35 hours a week: $136.50 a week

Royal Oak Childcare Centre, Auckland: One child, 9.5 hours a week: $115

Grey Lynn Kindergarten: One child, two full days: Free

BestStart Ponsonby: One child, 37 hours a week: $254

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

Pay equity law changes ‘flagrant and significant abuse of power’, former MPs say

By Evening Report -

February 24, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

Former National MP Marilyn Waring. Supplied

A group of former female MPs has called changes to the pay equity law a “flagrant and significant abuse of power”.

The unofficial People’s Select Committee was formed in response to the Equal Pay Amendment Act, passed under urgency last year.

The law cancelled 33 claims from female-dominated workforces which sought to prove they were underpaid in comparison to similar male-dominated industries, and raised the threshold for future claims.

The committee, led by former National MP Marilyn Waring and made up of 10 cross-party former MPs, is releasing a report on the changes on Tuesday, after reading nearly 1400 submissions, and holding three months of hearings.

It said the government had violated the rule of law in retrospectively cancelling existing rights and remedies.

“Funded sector employers, charitable organisations and unions spent millions of dollars and thousands of hours, with other resource consequences, on the 33 cancelled claims,” the committee said.

Ministers worked on the pay equity amendment in secret until May when the changes were announced and passed under urgency – no Regulatory Impact Statement was done.

The committee described the processes of planning for and enacting the legislation as a “flagrant and significant abuse of power”.

It also found the law breached the Bill of Rights, the Human Rights Act, and the Regulatory Standard Act principles, as well as a number of international conventions that New Zealand was party to, including International Covenants on Civil and Political, and Economic and Social Rights, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Deputy Prime Minister Nicola Willis told reporters last year that tightening the scheme amounted to about $12.8 billion in savings in total over the next four years.

The committee disputed this could be classified as budgetary savings, because it said the funds were reallocated to other government expenditure and coalition government priorities.

Committee members also said it could find no evidence in available Cabinet documents or parliamentary debates to support scrapping the scheme.

“No minister, or briefing bureaucrat, and no speaker in the parliamentary debate, demonstrated any knowledge of how comparators and factor scoring work.

“The committee found that it is a sophisticated, highly rigorous process of co-research between worker and employer negotiators. The only evidence of attempts to game the system the committee could see were in the behaviours of government agencies.”

Minister for Workplace Relations Brooke van Velden. RNZ / Mark Papalii

In a statement, Minister for Workplace Relations Brooke van Velden said members of the public – including former MPs – were free to hold their own opinions and publish their own material.

“As I said at the time, equal pay is here to stay, and a pay equity system remains.

“The new system is already processing claims under the new law. The government has made the law simpler and more robust.”

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

Dog owners take Auckland Council to court over Monte Cecilia Park off-leash ban

By Evening Report -

February 24, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

123RF

Frustrated dog owners are taking on Auckland Council in court on Tuesday.

Last year, the Puketāpapa Local Board voted four to two to ban dogs from running free in part of Hillsborough’s Monte Cecilia Park.

An interim order halting the decision is in place until the outcome of a judicial review, which starts on Tuesday morning at the High Court in Auckland.

At a gathering at the park over the weekend, Jonathan Sweeney from the Dog Lovers of Monte Cecilia Incorporated Society, told RNZ the 500-member-strong group had raised almost $13,000 in its spare time. Their lawyer, George Barton, had agreed to take on the case pro bono.

“It’s a bit ironic that we’ve had to raise our own funds to pay our legal fees and costs, and yet our ratepayer money is actually funding a KC and the legal team at the council.

“I’m the manager of a sports strapping tape company. Myself and all of our volunteers we’ve got other lives.

“This is a great example of David vs Goliath. We’re just regular people, ratepayers, taking on the might of Auckland Council.”

Sweeney said an overwhelming majority of the community wanted to keep the park as it was.

Out of 900 responses from the public during the local board’s consultation, 88 percent (795 people) were against removing the off-leash bowl area, and just 10 percent (89 people) supported it. A petition opposing the decision with more than 1000 signatures was also handed to the board.

Sweeney said the group would be arguing in court that the local board had “pre-determined” its decision before consulting the public.

It was also contesting the board’s view that the off-leash area was a significant safety risk.

“We have a fair amount of proof in terms of emails and correspondence that, in our opinion, demonstrate a high amount of pre-determination going back more than one year.”

Animal management data showed that between 2019 and 2024 there were 63 dog-related incidents at the park, including attacks, aggressive behaviour and reports of roaming dogs.

In that time, three people were attacked by an off-leash dog, all in on-leash areas. There were 12 dog attacks on animals, and all but one happened in the off-leash area.

Zara Moselen, who brought her dog Nala to Monte Cecilia most days, felt the board was ignoring the community’s voice.

“Hundred and hundreds of people voiced their opinion, and the board still went with the 10 percent.

“I really hope the judicial review is a fair process and our argument can be heard.

“The sense of community at this park you can’t find in many other places. It’s such a special, unique spot for dogs to run around and play. It’s such a small part of this huge park that’s off-lead.”

Louise Fletcher and her dog Ernie also used the park regularly.

“The local council is supposed to listen to public consultation, and they went very much against it. They should listen to what the people who pay the rates actually want.

“It makes me feel minimised as a dog owner.

“In Auckland, we’re really underserved with off-leash areas. We’re getting pushed into smaller spaces. This is one of the few premium places where the area set aside for dogs is actually really good.”

Auckland Council and Puketāpapa Local Board chair Roseanne Hay told RNZ they would not comment on the judicial proceedings while the case was before the court.

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McSkimming claims Andrew Coster ‘advised’ him to file harassment complaint against woman

By Evening Report -

February 24, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

Andrew Coster resigned from the Social Investment Agency last year following the IPCA report into the McSkimming case. RNZ

Disgraced former deputy police commissioner Jevon McSkimming claims Andrew Coster – the Police Commissioner at the time – advised him to pursue harassment charges against a woman who accused him of sexual assault.

The revelation comes in a letter obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act.

The December 2024 letter from McSkimming’s then-lawyer – addressed to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and copied to Police Minister Mark Mitchell and Deputy Police Service Commissioner Heather Baggott – said McSkimming was a “victim of a sustained campaign of stalking and harassment” that spanned several years.

In November last year, the Independent Police Conduct Authority released a damning report into police’s response to allegations of sexual offending by McSkimming.

The woman referred to in the IPCA’s report as Ms Z was charged in May 2024 with causing harm by posting digital communication, in relation to more than 300 emails she allegedly sent to McSkimming’s work email address between December 2023 and April 2024.

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

The charge against the woman was withdrawn in the Wellington District Court in September, because McSkimming did not wish to give evidence.

Following the IPCA’s report in November, RNZ became aware of a letter sent by McSkimming’s then lawyer Michael Heron KC to Luxon and Mitchell.

On Monday, RNZ obtained a copy of the letter under the Official Information Act.

The letter – dated 17 December 2024 – began with Heron saying that on 13 December McSkimming was informed by Baggott that Mitchell intended to advise Luxon to recommend to the Governor-General that McSkimming’s warrant be suspended on a temporary basis, pending the outcome of an investigation.

Heron said McSkimming posed no risk to police.

“He has voluntarily taken leave pending the outcome of the investigation and the further step of suspending him is not required and would, in fact, victimise him further.”

Heron said McSkimming was a “victim of a sustained campaign of stalking and harassment” that began in 2018 and was ongoing.

He said the woman who was stalking him was the same one who sparked the police investigation into McSkimming.

“My client has not been provided with any information about what exactly [Ms Z] alleges. However, that investigation appears to have prompted the Police Minister to request Ms Baggott to set in motion the steps to suspend Mr McSkimming without delay.”

The letter said McSkimming had a “consensual affair” with the woman between May 2016 and May 2018.

Heron said McSkimming informed two members of Police’s senior leadership team in May 2018 about the affair, the nature of Ms Z’s allegations and “his concerns of the risk of blackmail”.

McSkimming had made “continued disclosures” to several people, including telling Coster about the relationship and the nature of the threats and allegations when he was appointed Police Commissioner.

He also disclosed it in 2020 during the process of applying for a non-statutory Deputy Commissioner role, in 2023 when applying for the statutory role, and in 2024 prior to his interview for commissioner.

“Mr McSkimming has also, less formally, disclosed his circumstances to Deputy Commissioner Tania Kura and all his peers, including a number of Assistant Commissioners and senior officers. He has been open in these disclosures about the nature of [Ms Z’s] allegations about him.”

McSkimming had faced an “avalanche of harassment” which had been “persistent and harmful”.

This included sending emails to media organisations about him, filing anonymous complaints about him to the Police 105 online reporting line, and communicating with the IPCA about him.

Heron said Ms Z had blind copied McSkimming into the communications to the IPCA.

“She was in effect using these communications as a form of harassment and pressure.”

Heron said that in March 2024 Coster “advised McSkimming to file a complaint under the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015”.

The impact of the “relentless attack” on McSkimming and his family had been “significant and severe”.

“Throughout this time, however, he has continued to perform his roles professionally and conscientiously.”

Heron said there were occasions where an officer under investigation would be suspended pending the outcome of an investigation. However, that was on a case by case basis.

“In this case, there is reason to believe the filing of a police complaint by [Ms Z] is actually an abuse of process and a further intensification of her long-running campaign of victimisation”.

Heron referred to the case of former Deputy Commissioner Wally Haumaha who in 2018 was subject to an independent review, a State Services Commission review and an IPCA investigation. Haumaha took leave, but was not suspended and eventually returned to his role.

“It follows that if Mr McSkimming is to be treated no different from any other senior officer he should be on leave, but not suspended.

“Further, Mr McSkimming has not been charged with any offence. He remains confident he will not be charged. Applying the presumption of innocence, it would be a significant step to treat Mr McSkimming more harshly than Mr Haumaha, particularly where, as here, there is a context to the allegations against Mr McSkimming that indicates he is already a victim.”

In relation to protecting the integrity of the investigation into McSkimming, Heron said to date the key factor that might impact that was “leaking of information” about the investigations into his conduct.

“Mr McSkimming is not responsible for those leaks and has been severely impacted by them. Last week he had media come to his family home, and family members, including his elderly father-in-law, were door-stopped by reporters.”

No Deputy Commissioner had ever been suspended, Heron said.

“To take such an unprecedented step in this case would be grossly unfair, given the extensive history leading up to the complaint and the fact that NZ Police [and the Public Service Commission] has been kept informed about these events.”

McSkimming requested he remain on leave, on full pay.

“If, however, it is your intention to make a recommendation to the Governor-General he asks to be consulted on both the wording and the timing of any announcement so that his family, particularly his children, can be prepared.

“He strongly hopes this will not be necessary. It would also be fair and reasonable to be clear as to the conditions upon which suspension is imposed and when those conditions will end (for example if there is a decision not to charge him, he must be immediately reinstated).”

McSkimming was formally suspended on 23 December. It was during the police investigation into Ms Z’s allegations that police found the objectionable material on his work devices and a second criminal investigation began.

When RNZ was made aware of the letter last year McSkimming, Coster, Heron, Mitchell and Luxon were asked for a response. Neither McSkimming nor Coster replied. Luxon and Mitchell declined to comment.

Heron said he could not make any comment about matters relating to clients.

“If you have the letter, then it speaks for itself, and you ought to ensure you quote or use it accurately and fairly.”

Coster resigned from the Social Investment Agency (SIA) last year following the IPCA report.

In an earlier statement to RNZ Coster said his resignation was “a result of my acceptance of full responsibility for the shortcomings” identified in the Independent Police Conduct Authority’s report.

“I regret the impact on the young woman at the centre of this matter and sincerely apologise to her for the distress caused.

“I accept that I was too ready to trust and accept at face value Deputy Commissioner McSkimming’s disclosure and explanations to me. I should have been faster and more thorough in looking into the matter.”

Coster acknowledged he should have more fully investigated the allegations when they were brought to his attention, “rather than assuming that their previous disclosure to senior Police staff a few years earlier would have resulted in an investigation if necessary”.

“It is clear that Police’s handling of the whole matter was lacking and that I was ultimately responsible for those matters. It was sobering to read of a number of missed opportunities which should have proceeded differently and more appropriately.”

Coster welcomed Sir Brian Roche’s acknowledgement that the report made no finding of corruption or cover-up, nor did the IPCA find any evidence of any actions involving officers consciously doing the wrong thing or setting out to undermine the integrity of the organisation.

“I made decisions honestly. I acted in good faith. I sought to take all important factors into account with the information I had at the time. While it is not possible to alter past events, I am prepared to take responsibility – I got this wrong.

“I want to apologise to all members of the NZ Police. They work hard every day to keep our communities safe. I know they have been adversely affected by these events.”

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Auckland Lantern Festival to unveil a New Zealand icon

By Evening Report -

February 24, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

Two galloping horse lanterns will be the main attraction for visitors at this year’s Auckland Lantern Festival. SUPPLIED / TĀTAKI AUCKLAND UNLIMITED

A towering lantern of a moa is poised to make its debut at Manukau Sports Bowl when the Auckland Lantern Festival opens on Thursday, giving the annual event a distinct New Zealand flavour.

It was the first time the festival had included a lantern representing a slice of New Zealand history, said Jep Savali, group manager of major events at organiser Tātaki Auckland Unlimited.

“[The moa] became extinct about 600 years ago,” Savali said. “It’s a very prominent animal within Māori culture, that’s why we’ve chosen the moa.”

A moa lantern will be unveiled at the Lantern Festival in Auckland this year. SUPPLIED / TĀTAKI AUCKLAND UNLIMITED

Savali said the three-and-a-half-meter lantern had initially been designed in New Zealand.

A well-known producer in Zigong, China, was then asked to manufacture the lantern before shipping it to Auckland for display.

The entire process took about four to five months, he said.

A lantern depicting a kiwi was being planned for a future festival, he said.

A giant lantern of two galloping horses would also feature at this year’s festival to celebrate the Year of the Horse alongside more than 500 handmade lanterns.

“The horses will be four meters high and three meters long,” Savali said.

“[The lantern] is based on an Eastern Han artifact of a galloping horse treading on a flying swallow,” he said. “It symbolises speed, success and optimism for the year.”

A woman in traditional attire dances in front of one of the snake lanterns at the 2025 Lantern Festival. RNZ / Yiting Lin

In China, the Lantern Festival – also known as the Yuan Xiao Festival – is a festival that marks the end of Spring Festival celebrations.

People typically observe the holiday by visiting colourful lantern displays and eating sweet glutinous rice balls known as tāngyuán.

In some parts of China, festivities also include lion and dragon dances, stilt-walking and traditional riddle games.

In New Zealand, the Auckland Lantern Festival began as a one-night event at Albert Park in 2000.

It has since grown into a four-day festival and is now one of the country’s largest cultural events, moving venues over time as attendance numbers increased.

Lanterns on display at the 2025 Auckland Lantern Festival. RNZ / Yiting Lin

Savali said this year marked the third year the festival would be held at Manukau Sports Bowl.

“There are arguments both ways about where the festival should be,” he said. “Manukau Sports Bowl provides a really large venue.

“If you can imagine, 500-plus lanterns on display, over 50 food stalls, close to 100 stalls altogether, plus family rides, and contemporary and traditional performances on the stages. We needed to find somewhere that could cater for all of that.”

This year, the event will again operate as a free ticketed event, a system introduced to manage crowd numbers and support public transport use.

Ticket holders will be able to travel free on buses and trains from two hours before the festival opens until the end of regular daily services.

Free shuttle buses will also run regularly between Manukau Train Station, Westfield Manukau and Manukau Sports Bowl before, during and after the festival.

Lanterns on display at the 2025 Auckland Lantern Festival. RNZ / Yiting Lin

Savali said parking around the venue was limited and urged visitors to use public transport.

“We’re expecting up to 160,000 people over the four days of the Lantern Festival,” he said.

“The weekends are the busiest – that’s when we expect a large uptake of people to come along to see the lanterns.

“If you can, take public transport,” he said.

The festival will run daily from 4pm to 10:30pm from Thursday to Sunday, with fireworks scheduled for about 9:50pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

Organisers encourage visitors to secure free tickets early to help manage capacity.

By Monday, 100,000 tickets had already been claimed, with tickets for Saturday fully booked.

Organisers said a limited number of walk-in tickets were available each day for visitors who had missed out.

A dragon dance performance at the Auckland Lantern Festival in 2025. RNZ / Yiting Lin

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

Only a quarter of heart attack patients survive the trip to hospital – report

By Evening Report -

February 24, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

Dr Elena Garcia, St John. Supplied / St John

Only a quarter of people who have heart attacks in the community survive the trip to hospital, according to a new report by ambulance services.

Between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025, 2466 people were treated for cardiac arrest by ambulance officers across the country – almost seven a day.

Eighty-one percent of patients received CPR from a bystander, but only six percent received treatment with a defibrillator, otherwise known as an AED.

Twenty-four percent of patients survived to hospital arrival, and only 12 percent survived a month after the event – similar numbers to previous years.

Dr Elena Garcia, deputy clinical director at St John, said making sure people received timely CPR or AED access could be the difference between life or death.

“We know that patients who have recieved community defibrillation from an AED have more than double the odds of survival, so it’s just about getting them to the patients when they need them.

“It’s about having AEDs in communities all across New Zealand, and making sure they’re truly available in terms of being open to the community, 24/7 access, and unlocked.”

Key metrics from the past five years regarding cardiac arrests outside of hospitals. Supplied / Hato Hone St John / Wellington Free Ambulance

Inequalities for women, Māori and Pacific peoples highlighted by data

The data showed Māori and Pacific peoples tended to have cardiac arrests more often, and earlier in life, along with people living in rural and higher-deprivation communities.

Female patients had lower odds of survival at 50 percent, and were about 60 percent less likely to receive defibrillation from another member of the public than males.

Garcia said it was possible there was a fear of removing women’s clothing, or exposing them in an inappropriate way.

“Do what you can and help the patient, because they will be very glad to survive.”

Key facts from the report

72 percent of cardiac arrests happen at home, 16 percent in public areas, and 4 percent in aged care facilities
43 percent of out-of-hospital events were attended by at least one GoodSAM responder
70 percent of those patients were male
94 percent of cardiac events were co-responded to and attended by Fire and Emergency
Median age of patients: Māori – 59 years; Pacific peoples – 60 years; non-Māori, non-Pacific peoples – 69 years

How can you help?

Take part in St John’s community education programme ‘[www.stjohn.org.nz/what-we-do/community-programmes/3-steps-for-life/ 3 Steps for Life]’ for one hour of free CPR and AED training.

Then sign up to [www.stjohn.org.nz/first-aid/lifesaving-apps/ GoodSAM], an app which alerts nearby people trained in CPR and defibrillation, when someone nearby is having a cardiac arrest.

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

Chief executives optimistic about economic recovery, fear being left behind in AI race – survey

By Evening Report -

February 24, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand CEOs are less worried about the impact of global issues than their overseas counterparts. 123RF

Majority chief executives expect improved economics this year
More than a third expecting higher revenue
NZ chief execs more positive about finances, less worried about global issues than global peers
Biggest concern is keeping up with AI technology developments

The country’s top executives are optimistic about economic recovery and the fortunes of their own companies, but fear being left behind in the development and use of artificial intelligence.

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) annual chief executive survey found 58 percent expected improving economic growth in the coming year, fractionally lower than last year. That compared with the global rating of 55 percent.

Thirty seven percent were “very or extremely confident” about their company’s revenue prospects this year, rising to 54 percent looking over the coming three year’s revenue outlook.

PwC New Zealand chief executive Andrew Holmes said the optimism shown in the survey was “cautious”.

“Unlike many of their global peers, they have been less impacted by geopolitical issues and are poised to take advantage of better operating conditions.”

New Zealand’s small economy and isolation accounted for the reduced impact and concern of global issues.

Losing pace in the AI race

Holmes said the big issue worrying chief executives was artificial intelligence, and not being able to keep up with developments.

“It’s being left behind with outdated business models, unable to take advantage of new technology, specifically AI.”

More than half of the local respondents cited this as their main concern, although close to two-thirds also said their organisations were ready for AI, and 70 percent said their technology could support AI.

But Holmes said the survey showed little significant effect of AI on businesses.

“Over 78 percent have yet to see AI have any impact on their organisation, and only a minority are reaping any benefits from AI to their bottom line.”

On most of the issues polled, New Zealand responses were close to those of the global survey, but cyber security and climate change were two weak spots displayed in the survey.

“Only a third of New Zealand respondents [are] expecting their companies to take action to a significant extent to improve cyber security, as a response to geopolitical risk, in the next three years.

“Climate resilience is another weak spot, with fewer than a quarter of respondents, in New Zealand and globally, reporting robust measures to manage climate-related risks while seizing associated opportunities,” the report said.

PwC surveyed 4454 CEOs across 95 countries and territories from 30 September through to 10 November, with 103 New Zealand CEOs taking part.

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

Campervan rentals drive Tourism Holdings’ growth

By Evening Report -

February 24, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

Campervan rentals are driving Tourism Holdings’ growth. photo by Miles Holden

The outlook for the campervan tourism sector continues to improve with New Zealand set for further growth.

“The tourism sector here in New Zealand is in a really positive place. We’ve got some good actions that have been undertaken by the government over the last sort of 14 odd months,” Tourism Holdings (thl) chief executive Grant Webster said, following the release of a strong first half result.

Thl’s campervan rental business helped drive up its first net profit by 17 percent with revenue growth of 4 percent.

New vehicles add to costs

However, the costs associated with the recent expansion of thl’s new RV fleet was seen as a drag on underlying profits.

Forsyth Barr head of research Andy Bowley said thl saw a 46 percent drop in the first half gross profits of new RV sales, with gross margins down 6.5 percent and volumes down 13 percent.

He said the value of New Zealand’s rental growth had declined when currency exchange rates were taken into account, given the expansion of thl’s New Zealand fleet ahead of the peak season, as well as the higher costs of ownerhsip.

“Tourism Holdings reported a 1H26 result ahead of our expectations but with full year guidance that is unlikely to materially change current market expectations,” he said.

Vehicle sales lag behind rental growth

Webster says new vehicle sales had been difficult over the past couple of years.

“(It) has been our Achilles heel … and the growth in rentals hasn’t been able to outstrip that decline,” he said.

“What we are seeing is people are looking more at the used product. They’re trading down.

“We’re still looking for some recovery in that over the next sort of 12 to 18 months.

“But yes, the majority of our growth is definitely in the rentals business.”

Rental growth

Webster said demand for rental vehicles suited growth in a style of travel, seen around the world.

“People are looking more at what their discretionary spend can buy them,” he said.

“And that’s definitely a theme for further recovery, just stabilisation and consumer confidence, GDP, growth, getting through, you know, just like we’re feeling in New Zealand at the moment, we’re getting through that tough time.”

Global tourism demand

“We’re a country that people want to come and visit,” Webster said.

“So is Australia, and indeed, so is Canada. The USA, in terms of our markets, is the one that’s of concern, but we’ll put that to one side.”

Overseas visitor arrivals in New Zealand were 3.51 million in the year ended December 2025, which was an increase of 196,000 from the year earlier.

The biggest changes were in arrivals from:

Australia (up 137,000 to 1.52 million)
United States (up 15,000 to 385,000)
China (up 13,000 to 262,000)
United Kingdom (up 12,000 to 192,000).

“Without a doubt, tourism is still in a really good growth phase, and we’re benefiting from that,” he said.

Regional tourism

Webster said visitors were travelling into regional New Zealand.

“We’re not getting any of the sort of congestion issues that we’ve thought about in the past, and might be a little bit out of Queenstown, but put that to one side so people are enjoying what’s going on.

“There’s been a few weather blips and ferry blips and different things, but no, we’re getting a really positive response from our customers, the international visitors, love New Zealand, and it’s been a good time to travel.”

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

How a US-Israeli attack on Iran could crash UK, German, NZ and Australian economies

By Asia Pacific Report -

February 24, 2026

COMMENTARY: By Eugene Doyle

If Israel and the US attack Iran, the cosy worlds of Europe, Australia and New Zealand could be swept up in an economic catastrophe.

Should the Iranians survive a terrifying onslaught, they have vowed to strike back in a way that could crash the global economy. How they could quite possibly do this is the topic of this article.

The leaders of the Islamic Republic — love them or hate them — know that they face an existential threat; that the continued existence of a unified state called Iran is imperilled.

They also know that the collective West will not stand up for international law and the proscription on launching wars of aggression. Under these circumstances a state will sacrifice anything to survive, including hitherto unthinkable acts like sinking the USS Abraham Lincoln, the glory of the American war machine.

All the signs are pointing to a new Shock and Awe campaign by the United States.

The goal, as it was in the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, is a fast knock-out. Mission Accomplished in a few weeks.

War, however, seldom goes entirely to plan — the Americans never expected they would spend 20 years in Afghanistan and waste trillions of dollars to move from the Taliban regime to . . . the Taliban regime.

Here is a selection of options open to the Iranians if they survive the initial onslaught.

Shut down all civilian flights for the duration of the conflict
Without firing a single missile, Iran can likely bring all flights into and out of the entire Gulf region to a shuddering halt. That’s 500,000 passengers per day.

More than 180 million passengers pass through Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai every year.

Simply issuing a warning that the entire Gulf region is an air combat zone will put the brakes on all major airlines, effectively severing the primary link between Europe, Asia and Australasia for as long as Iran hangs on.

Insurance companies would issue a cancel note on all policies (for airlines, passengers, airports, provisioners) for the entire region.

No airline will defy this interdiction. Would Qantas, for example, fly one of its A380s loaded with mums, dads and kids into a potential kill zone? The Iranians could underscore the seriousness by firing a couple of missiles onto runways or using EW (electronic warfare tools) to spoof or harass planes.

In an interview with @CBSNews , Iran’s FM Seyed Abbas Araghchi said uranium enrichment is Iran’s legal right under the NPT, reaffirming peaceful nuclear policy and commitment to diplomacy
More: https://t.co/XqHaDqxOfl https://t.co/3tGlg9SJKL

— Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran (@Iran_GOV) February 22, 2026

Shut down all oil and LNG shipments
Iran will likely mine the Strait of Hormuz 33 km (21 miles) wide, making it instantly uninsurable for any oil or LNG tanker to move into or out of the Gulf. Huge numbers of smart mines (that can recognise the acoustic signature of a tanker) will be deployed as well as hundreds of semi-submersible drone boats.

Spread out across the Gulf are thousands of short-range anti-ship missiles that will be virtually impossible to suppress.

With no tankers in, no tankers out from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, and Iran itself, the 21 million barrels of oil and LNG that passes through the strait every day will cease instantly.

The price shock will be greater than any previous oil spike. Smaller, out of the way places, like New Zealand could find themselves starved of diesel. According to a recent New Zealand government report our agricultural sector would crater within 90 days.

Once seeded into the Gulf, the mines could take months after the war has ended to clear.

Destroy Israel’s oil rigs and storage facilities
A high-value target for Iran would be the Leviathan and Tamar gas platforms in the Mediterranean. Iran, with saturation swarms of drones used in combination with high-velocity ballistic missiles, could likely break through the defences and devastate a pillar of the Israeli energy system.

Close the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to container ships and tankers
Iran, certainly for the moment, has the strike capability to close the Suez Canal.

Western countries have yawned with indifference and not lifted an eyebrow to support the Palestinians throughout the genocide or called out the US and Israel for violent attacks that have shredded the UN Charter.

Shutting the Canal, possibly for many months, will definitely get their attention. By severing this artery, Iran and its allies would transfer the shock wave of the war directly to the doorsteps of Western consumers and industry.

Combined, the Houthis and Iran have an arsenal of low-cost loitering munitions, anti-ship ballistic missiles and kamikaze boats that can enforce a blockade.

As with the Gulf’s airspace, simply by declaring a Maritime Exclusion Zone across the Red Sea, the Suez Canal route becomes uninsurable for the duration of the conflict, thereby forcing the re-routing of ships around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.

This adds two weeks to cargo shipments, ties up about 12 percent of global freight ships, harms modern just-in-time supply chains and spikes prices for countless products.

Attack Azerbaijan’s oil infrastructure
Very little attention has been paid to Azerbaijan and yet it could play a pivotal role in the denouement of the upcoming calamity. Azerbaijan, with Iran to the south and the Caspian Sea to the east, is a US-Israeli ally. It supplies Israel with 40 percent of its oil imports via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline.

If Azerbaijan were to allow US or Israeli planes or militias to launch attacks from its territory, the Iranians might respond by destroying the pipeline and related oil facilities.

Destroy Qatar’s LNG facilities
After the US and EU largely cut off access to cheap Russian oil and gas, countries in Europe became heavily dependent on US and Qatari LNG.

This creates a vulnerability that the Iranians can use to devastating effect. A precision strike on Qatar’s Ras Laffan liquefaction trains (that purify, cool, and compress the gas), for example, would drop a bomb into the world’s gas market.

Iran has invested heavily in improving relations with its Arab neighbours; this would be a measure of last resort. Qatar’s Al Udeid is, however, the largest US military base in the Middle East and the country has more than 10,000 US troops based there.

Any use of force emanating from Qatar would open Pandora’s box.

Destroy Saudi and other oil facilities
Iran and Saudi Arabia have invested a lot of energy in restoring relations since the US assassinated General Qassem Soleimani in 2020 as he was reportedly en route to meet the Saudis in Baghdad to advance peace talks (ultimately successfully facilitated in 2023 by China).

Iran will hold off attacking Saudi facilities directly but will do so if there is any attempt to break Iran’s blockade or should the Saudis allow US forces to launch attacks from their territory.

Destroy the Gulf’s fertiliser storage facilities
This would also be a strategy of last resort and risk a renewal of hostility between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Desperate people, however, do desperate things.

The Kingdom is the world’s second-largest exporter of phosphate fertilisers, providing roughly 20 percent of the global supply (and approximately 63 percent of New Zealand’s urea imports). Without necessarily knowing its origin, many Australian and New Zealand farms depend on this resource for food production.

Sink the USS Abraham Lincoln or other major ships
The US President may launch his war of aggression against Iran, for example, with a decapitation strike on the Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Who should be held accountable if the USS Abraham Lincoln — the most heavily protected vessel in human history — with up to 6000 US servicemen aboard, with a nuclear reactor on board, bristling with some 90 aircraft and hundreds of different types of missiles, was sent to the bottom of the sea by a salvo of Iranian hypersonic missiles travelling at Mach 8 (about 10,000km per hour)?

According to international law, that would be Donald J Trump, the Nobel Peace Prize aspirant. How would Wall Street react?

Send thousands of missiles into Israel to devastate the economy
In 2025, we learnt that Iran, using its older missiles and a swarm of drones, could turn the Iron Dome into the Iron Sieve.

Have the Israelis been able to acquire sufficient air defence interceptors to stop what could be a blizzard of thousands of missiles and drones aimed at the key infrastructure of the Israeli economy?

Probably not. Will Iran be able to deploy them? Who knows.

Support from Iranian allies in the region
Will the powerful Iraqi Shia militias rise to support Iran and make life untenable for the Americans and other Western interests in Iraq? How will Ansar Allah (the Houthis) respond? Will Hezbollah risk joining the attack?

In truth, none of us know what will happen nor what the Iranians will be willing or able to do after an attack. Time and American violence will provide the answer.

Eugene Doyle is a community organiser based in Wellington, publisher of Solidarity and a contributor to Asia Pacific Report. His first demonstration was at the age of 12 against the Vietnam war.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

View from The Hill: Chris Minns makes sense on ISIS brides’ children, while opposition adds to scaremongering

By The Conversation -

February 23, 2026

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

Among today’s leaders, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns is notable in a couple of ways.

As a Labor leader, his views are a mix of the extremely tough and the very empathetic and compassionate. His handling of the antisemitism crisis illustrates the point.

Also, Minns usually speaks his mind, and answers questions, with a frankness many of his contemporaries shy away from.

These features were evident in Minns’ Monday comments about the cohort of 34 ISIS brides and their children that has the Albanese government tied in knots and new Opposition Leader Angus Taylor responding with a knee-jerk proposal for draconian legislation.

Minns told a Monday news conference: “I’ve got no sympathy for someone who makes a decision to go and join a dangerous ideology like Islamic State”, but “I do have sympathy and concern for the children”.

He said he’d been briefed late last year on state-federal consultations about possible arrivals from Syria.

“It’s been on an official-to-officials level, and it has to do with what happens if or when they return to New South Wales. That was a situation for previous cohorts that came back to Australia [under the Morrison and Albanese governments]. He estimates about a third of the cohort would go to NSW.

In relation to the children, Minns points out that if they stayed in their present environment, when they did return the position would likely be worse.

“I think most Australians […] would say, “well, what is going to happen to these children in the years ahead if they end up in Australia, if they are Australians? What happens to them when the media moves on and we’re two to five to ten years down the line?”

An identified woman stands in a section of the camp housing Australian family members of suspected Islamic State militants who were returned to due to unspecified procedural issues following an attempted repatriation by Syrian authorities, in the Roj Camp in eastern Syria, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. Baderkhan Ahmad/AP

He said the NSW government would take care of the education of returning children (in a context of Australian values), while the “full force of the law” would be applied to the adults (who could face charges).

Minns’ combination of commonsense, concern and directness is in contrast to the stance of the federal government. It has toughened its rhetoric, presumably mainly to avoid being wedged by the opposition and One Nation. It may have also been less than fully transparent about federal officials’ involvement.

Minns’ views about the children are in line with comments of then home affairs minister Clare O’Neil in 2022, after a group of ISIS brides and children had been brought back. “The question for us is: is the safest thing for these 13 children to grow up in a squalid camp where they’re subjected to radical ideologies every single day and then return to Australia at some point when they’re an adult, or is it safer for us to bring them here so they can live a life around Australian values?”

Now Anthony Albanese and current Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, when referring to the children, basically say their situation is the parents’ fault and that’s that. They are more interested in keeping out the remaining cohort as long as possible – therefore pushing the problem down the track – than focusing publicly on the practicalities of when the families can no longer be stopped from returning.

The opposition’s proposal to make it a criminal offence “to facilitate the re-entry of individuals linked to terrorist hotspots or terrorist organisations, or who have committed terror related offences” is preformative politics.

These people are Australian citizens and have a right to return to Australia (with some qualifications – the government applied for an exclusion order against one person on security grounds). To make it a crime for an individual or organisation to assist them in some presently lawful manner would seem highly dubious in principle.

When we come to the practicalities: those helping have been Save the Children and respected Muslim figure Jamal Rifi. Rifi was a prominent supporter of Burke in last year’s election. In earlier years he has defended Scott Morrison against accusations of racism and is much respected by Morrison.

But home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam said: “This is not about targeting a particular group or individual or organisations. It is about targeting anyone who breaks the law”.

The opposition says the private member’s bill, to be introduced in the coming sitting fortnight but destined to go nowhere, will provide that “humanitarian or security-based repatriation could continue with the express permission of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Home Affairs”.

It is about keeping repatriation formally in the hands of government, attempting to stymie self-managed returns and those who might assist them.

But we don’t have any detail, leaving exactly who would be hit as clear as mud.

Mat Tinkler, CEO Save the Children Australia, told the ABC his organisation had done two main things: provided humanitarian relief for the cohort, and advocated for the government to get them home.

“What we haven’t done is engage in any extraction or operation on the ground – that is not within our mandate and not something we would do.

“But I’m really concerned about the sentiment that this seems to express, that somehow supporting women who haven’t been charged, they haven’t been put on trial, they haven’t been convicted of any crime, and their children, who by nature and definition are innocent, trying to criminalise conduct of people seeking to bring those Australian citizens back to Australia – I think it’s a very slippery slope if we go down that path.”

– ref. View from The Hill: Chris Minns makes sense on ISIS brides’ children, while opposition adds to scaremongering – https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-chris-minns-makes-sense-on-isis-brides-children-while-opposition-adds-to-scaremongering-275913

Witnesses sought after pedestrian killed in Te Anau hit and run

By Evening Report -

February 23, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

RNZ / REECE BAKER

Police are appealing for public help after a pedestrian was hit and killed by a car and the driver left the scene.

It happened in Te Anau at about 8.45am outside a business in the town centre.

Police want to speak with the driver, and want to hear from anyone in the area who saw the crash.

They’re also appealing for anyone who may have dashcam footage of it, or of the moments before.

Anyone with information is urged to contact police as soon as possible.

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

Government advises Kiwis in Mexico to monitor updates after security and travel disruptions

By Evening Report -

February 23, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

Passengers remain stranded at Guadalajara International Airport following flight suspensions and lack of transport in Tlajomulco, Jalisco State, Mexico, on February 22, 2026. ULISES RUIZ/AFP

The government is urging New Zealanders in Mexico to monitor updates and follow the advice of local authorities after the death of a mexican drug lord prompted violence and disruptions.

Following the death of Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, the head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, incidents were reported across the state of Jalisco, including in Guadalajara, Chapala and Puerto Vallarta, after a federal law-enforcement operation.

SafeTravel has said that New Zealanders in the affected areas should monitor local media for updates and follow the advice of the local authorities.

Mexican National Guard special forces stand guard around the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime (FEMDO) headquarters in Mexico City on February 22, 2026. ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP

It also advised Kiwis in the region to contact the New Zealand Embassy if they require consular assistance.

Travel in the affected areas had been restricted with airlines suspending some flights in Jalisco, including to Puerto Vallarta. Due to highway blockades across the country, bus service had also been suspended in many areas.

SafeTravel said New Zealanders should get in touch with their travel provider for any updates or disruptions to travel.

It said security incidents were also reported in other parts of Mexico and authorities in Puerto Vallarta had issued a public advisory to stay indoors.

The New Zealand Embassy can be contacted on +52 55 5283 9460 or nzmexico@mfat.govt.nz. For urgent consular assistance after hours, please call +64 99 20 20 20.

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

‘It has been a very invisible service’ – district nurses struggle with understaffing

By Evening Report -

February 23, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

District nurses who have done the job for decades say understaffing is the worst it has ever been. File photo. 123rf.com

Waikato district nurses are at the end of their tether, as demand for their services soars.

District nurses – who provide care for patients in the community rather than in hospitals or clinics – say they are severely understaffed and it is causing burnout and stress, leading to widespread resignations.

They also say it is putting their safety at risk.

It comes as Worksafe considers a complaint from the NZ Nurses Organisation that Health New Zealand’s failure to improve district nurses’ working conditions was a breach of the Health and Safety Act.

Amy* is a district nurse from the Coromandel and says when she finally gets home after a shift she is so exhausted she can not do anything other than quickly eat dinner and then roll straight into bed.

She has done the job for several decades and said understaffing was the worst it had ever been.

She told Checkpoint she has to be on call, almost around the clock.

“If you go out at 11 at night, you might be out for two hours till one in the morning. You’ve then gotta unwind somehow because you’ve just been dealing with a palliative situation… possible end of life and then have to get yourself organised and come to work at eight in the morning.”

District nurses provide care to people in their communities. This includes care for wounds, IV management and palliative care.

It means nurses in rural areas often have to travel long distances multiple times.

Amy said that due to the staffing issues, they can be forced to choose which patients to see that day.

“It has been for too long, a very invisible service. And it’s only when the wheels start falling off and we start saying ‘no, I’m sorry, we can’t take patients, we actually can’t see them’, that it’s created a crisis. The risk is also that people are discharged without the support that they need. They have another crisis where they end up back in hospital very quickly.”

Amy said without district nursing, 30 percent of their patients would end up in hospital, which would come at a far higher cost to the taxpayer.

“There isn’t a team wrapped around them. Every time they’re at a patient’s house, there isn’t somebody to ring. There isn’t a doctor just down the hallway or whatever. So that decision making happens for those nurses every day individually in a person’s home when they’re right there.

“You can’t just go and get somebody else to just come and have a quick look… it’s not a thing, so responsibility is very high.”

Sarah*, another Coromandel district nurse, said many of her colleagues over the years had resigned because they could not cope with the physical and mental toll of the job.

“I know there are some people that are on anti-depressants, I personally am not at that stage yet, but then it takes a lot to stress me out.

“But when you’ve got a family, I’ve only got a husband at home, but there are staff members who’ve got families and young children.”

Sarah said district nurses can be sent to isolated areas where there was no phone signal so they were unable to call for help if it was needed.

“At the moment we do go out by ourselves, we also go out to houses we’ve never been to before and they could be out in the middle of nowhere.

“You don’t know what you’re going to find when you get to that house. Sometimes, it’s not a very nice environment and you really don’t want to be there, so sometimes we just turn around and drive off.

“But you don’t know that until you actually get to the house.”

The situation is similar in Hamilton.

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation said 34 full-time district nurses were needed across Waikato in 2024.

But NZNO Waikato organiser Nigel Dawson said demand for the service had nearly doubled since then.

“We need as soon as possible to re-do those calculations to look at what is required for safe staffing now.”

Dawson said district nurses in Hamilton are also often confronted with verbal and physical intimidation.

“A nurse had stopped at a traffic light and an offender jumped in with a machete, they didn’t actually take the car, but they forced her to drive around.

“She eventually managed to abandon the vehicle safely, but obviously with significant stress.”

In November last year, the NZ Nurses Organisation (NZNO) wrote to Health NZ Te Whatu Ora and said the understaffing of district nurses was putting their safety at risk.

Worksafe said it was considering the NZNO’s complaint.

Health New Zealand Waikato chief nursing officer Cheryl Atherfold said it was currently recruiting an extra 13 full-time district nurses.

It was also reviewing community models of care such as district nursing, while strengthening night-call processes.

Every Health NZ Waikato car has a distress alarm on each key ring, which staff can push if they felt unsafe while out in the community.

Heath NZ have started their 2026 patient safety calculations and District Nursing will be recalculated.

*Names have been changed to protect identities

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

New teen farmers get a shedful of sheep to learn the ropes

By Evening Report -

February 23, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

Taiwhakaea Osborne is in the second year of the Pāmu scheme. RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham

Teenage farmers are getting put through their paces in a new scheme helping youngsters enter the industry.

Government-owned company Pāmu has 19 apprentices learning the ropes at its farms, which many will go on to work for.

After experiencing dairying and livestock, the apprentices – who are already well into their work – can specialise in their chosen field.

Five of this year’s apprentice intake are at Rangitāiki Station, about 40 minutes southeast of Taupō, ready to start their day when RNZ turns up.

Sixteen-year-old Tori Cheetham has just moved out of home to join this year’s apprentice intake. Supplied / Pāmu

Sixteen-year-old Tori Cheetham has just moved from Gisborne, and 17-year-old Ryan Sayers has come from Hamilton.

“I moved in on 10 January and we started on the 12th. It’s pretty cool. It’s such a cool experience being able to learn the different trades of it – doing the dairy and the livestock,” Cheetham said.

“I’ve done a bit of both. I’m interested in the dairy aspect but also I’m beginning to like the dry stock, but beef more than the sheep,” Sayers said.

In a shed, the apprentices are killing sheep and preparing them for dog tucker, as practice for getting the cuts right for human consumption.

It is just their third time doing this, but apprentice scheme manager Gary Brady said they were already getting a handle on something they were likely to do a lot as junior shepherds.

“They’ll get a shed full of sheep and they’re told that’s your job for the day, and they’re dog tuckers, so it’s important they learn these basics.”

Brady said once they fully knew what they were doing, it should take about 30 minutes a sheep.

Alex Iremonger says he doesn’t come from a farming background, but wants a career in the industry. Supplied / Pāmu

Alex Iremonger, 18, from Whakatane, worked quickly through his first sheep.

“We’ve just been doing some dog tuckers, so some not-as-well-off sheep – we captive bolt them, pull them out, cut the throat and then proceed to break them down from the shins to brisket.

“Then we take the skin off, open them up – that’s basically the finished product.”

Iremonger said he did not have much of a farming background, apart from working for a few months on a dairy farm.

But now he had chosen it as his career, he wanted to one day be a farm manager, and he said he had learnt plenty in his first few weeks as an apprentice.

“We’ve learnt to crutch, do dog tuckers, muttons, drench, give animals shots, just learned animal stockmanship, how to treat animals in the yards, how to move and shift animals.

“Also, we’re just learning a lot of people skills, how to budget, how to finance, how to deal with other people.”

Gary Brady says more than 100 people applied for 10 apprentice places this year. Supplied / Pāmu

The apprentices’ efforts impressed Brady.

“Ewes are a little bit tough, but they’re really good to learn on. If you can get the pattern and get everything tidy on these then the house meats come out really good.

“You can see a bit of wool and stuff on the leg there,” he said, pointing to one of the sheep carcasses.

“It doesn’t matter so much with these. I’ve never had a dog say, ‘I’m not eating that.’ It’s good learning.”

There was high interest in the scheme, with more than 100 applicants for the 10 places this year, he said.

After a three-week induction, the first years are then straight into work training, each getting a chance to look at dairying and livestock farming. Second and third years get to work in their areas of specialisation on Pāmu farms.

While the first years continue with their dog tucker, Taiwhakaea Osborne is hard at work loading bulls on to a stock truck.

He also gets to work with and train farm dogs – which he calls using Te Reo Māori, Osborne’s first language.

The second-year apprentice is working at Rangitāiki Station while still studying for his industry qualification.

“This year I’m focusing more on the feed allocation for stock. I’m currently working in the bull unit. It’s a 375-hectare block. In the summertime we’ve got about 1000 to 1200 bulls on farm.

“In that time I’m learning feed allocation and animal welfare and animal health.”

The 19-year-old, from Whakatane, also wants to be a farm manager.

When he speaks to RNZ, he’s fresh of an encounter with an angry animal.

“I noticed a bull that wasn’t moving so I decided to try to use my bike to give it a helping hand. It did not like that.

“It charged at me. I thought maybe that was a one-time thing, so I tried it again. He chased me.

“I though this is an unsafe situation for me and my bike, so I left it in the paddock.”

Osborne said that was all part of the learning.

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Jean Tong’s Do Not Pass Go is Kafka for the modern corporate age

By The Conversation -

February 23, 2026

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Austin, Senior Lecturer in Theatre, The University of Melbourne

In the shadow of Franz Kafka’s visionary dystopian fiction, the faceless, hierarchical machinery of bureaucracy has long served as a symbol of quiet, grinding despair. Kafka’s institutions are at once impenetrable and absurd, systems that trap individuals in a perpetual tension between resignation and the faint, flickering hope of change.

Playwright Jean Tong’s Do Not Pass Go sits in this tradition, offering a sharp, often darkly comic examination of conformity and resistance within the modern corporate structure.

Penny (Belinda McClory) and Flux (Ella Prince) are an unlikely duo thrown together on a surreal production line. Flux is a new recruit, still learning the rhythms and unspoken rules of the nameless organisation. Penny is a seasoned employee who has survived the most recent round of redundancies.

From the outset, they appear mismatched, an odd couple divided by age, temperament and philosophy. Penny embodies corporate compliance. She has internalised the company’s expectations so completely they seem to govern her every action. She has never taken a day off, faithfully performs the recommended workplace exercises during her breaks and refuses to take personal calls on company time. For Penny, survival depends on obedience.

Flux, by contrast, views employment as transactional, a means to an end. They are unafraid to take a mental health day and openly question procedures Penny accepts without hesitation. Their early exchanges crackle with tension, shaped by suspicion and incomprehension and the differences that seem to define them.

A sterile environment

The set (from Jacob Battista) reinforces this emotional and ideological divide. The action unfolds almost entirely within a stark white room bathed in fluorescent overhead light (lighting by Harrie Hogan), a space hovering ambiguously between factory floor and science laboratory.

It is clinical, anonymous and faintly menacing.

In this sterile environment, Penny is aghast to learn Flux did not complete the online training modules before their official start date. Flux, perplexed, asks why they would work before being paid. This small but telling disagreement encapsulates the broader philosophical gulf between them.

Production image: two people in a sterile room hold boxes and look at where they came from. — The days and months blur together in the purgatory of workplace monotony. Pia Johnson/Melbourne Theatre Company

Tong allows the narrative to unfold at a deliberate, contemplative pace. Katy Maudlin’s direction is considered and deft. Time stretches and folds in on itself; days and months blur together in the purgatory of workplace monotony. Boxes arrive through a mysterious “box door”. Penny and Flux methodically open, catalogue and repack their contents. Pool floaties are inflated and deflated. Ribbons are measured and cut. Plastic fir tree Christmas ornaments are checked and counted.

There is no rationale or meaning to this work. As the play progresses, the boxes accumulate, slowly encroaching upon the white space. The endless stocktake becomes both a literal task and metaphor for existential stasis and ultimately reveal how difficult the rhythm of the workplace can be to resist.

Building a friendship

Initially their exchanges are stilted; Penny’s clipped, interrogative responses set against Flux’s fluid, stream-of-consciousness reflections. But the dialogue gradually softens. Each begins to absorb something of the other.

Flux helps Penny navigate her teenage daughter’s climate anxiety, gently introducing language and empathy where Penny once defaulted to confusion. In turn, Penny becomes an almost maternal figure to Flux, offering reassurance, steadiness and concern beneath her rigid exterior, specifically in relation to Flux obtaining a credit card to support their desire for costly gender affirmation surgery.

Although Penny is confused about Flux’s desire to change their body, Penny’s concern is more about Flux finding themselves in a difficult financial position. Penny and Flux’s bond becomes an act of quiet rebellion against the isolating logic of the institution.

The unseen corporate overlords loom throughout. A performance review instructs Flux to increase their productivity. At one point, a cake arrives unannounced through the box door. Penny reacts with alarm: cake preceded the last wave of redundancies, and so she promptly throws it in the bin, despite Flux’s delight. The gesture captures the atmosphere of paranoia cultivated by opaque management practices.

Production image: two people, a sterile room, lots of boxes. — An unexpected, deeply moving friendship emerges. Pia Johnson/Melbourne Theatre Company

Beneath the humour lies a deeper inquiry into institutional oppression. As Flux encourages Penny to pursue an ADHD diagnosis, the play probes the tension between social and medical models of disability. Penny muses her suburb reportedly has a high proportion of neurodiverse residents. Is the environment producing neurodivergence, she wonders, or do neurodivergent people gravitate there because it offers belonging? The question lingers, unresolved. Flux convinces Penny to ask for workplace adjustments; Penny is unsurprised when management denies her requests.

In a powerful scene toward the end of the play, Flux offers a monologue: a compelling metaphor on difference, desire and longing, deciding not to go ahead with their surgery… yet.

The moment marks a shift in the sterile surrounds. The characters move outside of the tight confines of their workplace and a warm orange glow envelopes them. Their shared humanity – the messiness, chaos, care and connection troubling the corporate machine – is highlighted.

Do Not Pass Go is a quietly devastating meditation on labour, conformity and the fragile human connections persisting, despite them.

No easy solution is offered. Instead, the suggestion is resistance may begin in smaller, subtler acts: questioning a rule, taking a longer break, making an offer of solidarity or care to a work colleague, choosing compassion over compliance. In doing so, the play honours Kafka’s legacy while speaking urgently to the anxieties of the modern workplace.

Do Not Pass Go is at Melbourne Theatre Company until March 28.

– ref. Jean Tong’s Do Not Pass Go is Kafka for the modern corporate age – https://theconversation.com/jean-tongs-do-not-pass-go-is-kafka-for-the-modern-corporate-age-274979

Wellington business losing thousands after sewage leak restrictions

By Evening Report -

February 23, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

The no go zones include Ōwhiro and Island bays. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

A business owner who has lost tens of thousands of dollars due to Wellington’s sewage leak wants a more targeted rāhui so beach users can return to parts of the coast that are currently off limits.

The city’s southern coast has been off limits since the Moa Point treatment plant failed catastrophically sending about 70 million litres of untreated sewage to the sea daily.

The no go zones include Ōwhiro and Island bays, just a few kilometres from the plant.

The results of water samples taken on Friday along Wellington’s south coast show a significant drop in the amount of bacteria in the water, but the Rāhui or ban is still in place.

Wellington Water said work on the larger air vent for the outfall pipe has finished, which should help the flow of water through the long outfall pipe and reduce what goes through the short outfall pipe in bad weather.

Dave Drane owns Dive Wellington at Island Bay, and the spill has already cost his business significantly.

Drane told Checkpoint the business was down $25,000 in comparison to February last year.

“We have no other option of where to take people. The marine reserve’s our big draw card and that’s what brings people to us and we’re unable to dive it at the moment.”

At this time of year, the school would normally have 20 to 30 people a day diving in the marine area that is now blocked off.

The business also runs a dive diploma, training divers for a full year.

“They dive just about every day, they do 100 dives in a year, so it’s affecting them quite dramatically.”

“We’re diving in the harbour when we can, but as soon as there’s a big northerly, it kills the harbour diving for us, like the south coast is where you have to go in a big northerly.”

Untreated water was leaking onto the capital’s south coast beaches. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

Drane said the other option is to take the boat out further towards Red Rocks, but strong winds often make that difficult too.

The marine reserve extends through Ōwhiro Bay, which Drane said often experiences pollution already.

“As soon as there’s a downpour of rain, we have the overflow from stormwater. So if they’re testing in Ōwhiro Bay, quite often they’re getting the result of that anyway.”

Drane said he wants to see the Rāhui lifted for places further out from Moa Point, including Ōwhiro Baywhich he said has had close to clean testing for a while now.

He told Checkpoint he is “disappointed and pretty angry” at what had happened, and it was “embarrassing” to have to inform customers that they couldn’t go in the water.

“We’ve got this jewel, Tapituranga Marine Reserve, right on our doorstep, and we’ve spent years just like leaving it alone to grow as it should, and now it’s getting polluted, supposedly, and it should never have happened in the first place.”

“There’s other businesses that are suffering more than us, even, like the surf shops in Lyall Bay and things like that, it must be devastating for them.”

Drane said they would not be covered by insurance for the losses caused by the spill.

“My thought would be that Veolia or someone’s insurance company should have some sort of compensation underneath their insurance.”

While he recently attended a meeting fronted by Wellington Mayor Andrew Little, and various Green MPs to discuss the spill, Drane said no-one from Veolia was there to front up.

“Those that need it, give them compensation and make sure this never happens again.”

Drane said it was “terrible” to be not know how long it would take before the beaches were safe for use again.

After taking samples on Saturday morning Wellington Water was still urging people to avoid swimming, diving, gathering or eating kaimoana along the south coast.

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Companies could favour road as KiwiRail assets face decline

By Evening Report -

February 23, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

KiwiRail has to meet budget cuts of $200 million over the next three years. Supplied by Kiwirail

Companies sending goods up and down the country’s railways could begin to favour road transport as KiwiRail manages declining assets, an expert says.

KiwiRail is focusing on upgrades and electrification in Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga – the so-called “golden triangle” – and other main freight lines while it manages older assets elsewhere.

The company said it was the only option that would allow it to meet budget cuts of $200 million over the next three years.

It’s preferred option to make “modest improvements” to network reliability and resilience would cost $6 to 7 billion, KiwiRail’s Rail Network Investment Programme said.

But the option it was forced to take due to budget constraints “attempts to keep all lines open but accepts there is potential for some line closures” at a cost of $4 to 5 billion, it said.

Rail, freight and public transport consultant Michael van Drogenbroek, who used to work for KiwiRail, told Nine to Noon freight lines could become less reliable.

“There’s potential risk there, if the main trunk was degraded in some way south of the golden triangle, that train speeds would have to be reduced, and therefore productivity of the rail network reduces, and customers start to move away.”

That was particularly a risk for services that needed to meet Cook Strait ferry connections, said van Drogenbroek.

But he said there was still significant investment in rail networks, and KiwiRail was taking a pragmatic approach.

“What it does mean… is a focus on areas where there is perceived to be growth,” he said.

“KiwiRail will always focus on where the bulk of the traffic is.”

That included coal on the West Coast of the South Island and interisland rail freight between Auckland and Christchurch, he said.

“Whilst it’s a focus on the golden triangle… It’s not an exclusive focus on that.”

Places south of the golden triangle still needed rail investment in the longer term, he said.

“This doesn’t take the option away to do that, but it really does defer a decision in some cases, across what the future state of the national rail network is.”

KiwiRail would not leave “key customers” in the lurch, said van Drogenbroek.

“They’re not gonna walk away from coal on the West Coast, just like they’re not gonna walk away from Fonterra, which moves a huge amount of dairy powder from the likes of Edendale in Southland to the Port of Otago.”

With a “managed declined” approach, there was a point where lines could no longer be nursed along, he said.

“If you get past a certain tipping point, it all becomes too difficult and the regulator steps in and says you have to stop trains on certain sections of line.”

But van Drogenbroek said New Zealand railways were being managed pragmatically and there was still significant investment in the network.

KiwiRail’s chief infrastructure officer Siva Sivapakkiam said the funding constraints mean prioritising lines which are most used: Auckland and Wellington metros, the golden triangle and the main trunk lines in the North and South Islands.

“We are working to save money nationally by introducing new, more cost-effective approaches to upgrade work,” he said.

“For example, we are delivering more standardised bridge designs, where most bridges previously tended to be bespoke.”

Renewals on parts of the network would be “staged and partial”, and increased inspections and day-to-day maintenance would ensure service standards were adequate, said Sivapakkiam.

Rail minister Winston Peters said the point of the Rail Network Investment Programme was to “arrest the decline in network condition through prudent renewals of assets and efficient maintenance activity”.

He said KiwiRail has been spending 61 cents in its network dollar on maintenance and renewals, which was forecast to lift to 75 cents over the coming decade.

Taking an iterative approach and dealing with renewals over years would allow the network to stay open during that work, Peters said.

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

Students struggling to find part-time work

By Evening Report -

February 23, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

There have been eight times more applications than jobs on Student Job Search. 123rf

Student Job Search says the number of students trying to find work is heartbreaking.

The government-funded employment organisation has seen thousands more applications than it has vacancies on offer.

In January, it had 4600 jobs listed and a whopping 38,000 applications for positions.

The nature of the work has also changed drastically, with very few permanent positions on offer.

University students in Auckland told RNZ the market is tough.

“I haven’t been able to get any jobs for two years now. Even your normal part-time ones like fast food, local cafes, [and] things in the mall,” one student said.

“It’s really tough. I have been applying since I was a young teenager and I still have not got a job. It’s really hard. You have to know someone,” another said.

“[I have applied for] Probably like 150… I was trying to find jobs for weeks and weeks and weeks, and then I finally got one, but it was only casual and I was wanting part-time,” a third said.

Student Job Search chief executive Louise Saviker told Checkpoint the market has completely changed.

“It is heartbreaking, but also so incredible the level of determination and resilience this group is showing. The amount of applications they are submitting and the fact they are just never giving up is just extraordinary,” she said.

“They are an incredible group, they’re ready and available to work and really super keen to do so. So, for employers, we’d really ask that they would consider listing work and thinking about students and hiring a student because they really are highly educated, innovative and ready to go.”

Saviker said while job listings are back at pre-Covid levels, the jobs available are far less secure. Instead of having one part-time role, students are often juggling multiple roles, such as casual employment.

Another factor Saviker said was that some graduates can’t secure full-time permanent work, and so they are holding on to their part-time or “student-like” roles, putting increased pressure on student work. Saviker says some students are also studying further because they can’t get full-time work.

Saviker said once the market recovers, she expects student employment to be in a better position.

“The employment market is often the last to recover in an economy. We are seeing this, and we saw this after the GFC as well, and students tend to fare better or worse. So, the troughs tend to be bigger for the students, or worse for the students.”

It comes after the latest figures, from Stats NZ, have revealed unemployment has risen to its highest level in more than a decade – 5.4 percent – with more people chasing work than jobs being created.

A total of 165,000 people are now unemployed – that’s a rise of 4000 on the previous quarter and 10,000 on a year ago.

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Muriwai residents describe escape from Cyclone Gabrielle landslides

By Evening Report -

February 23, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

Slips at Muriwai following Cyclone Gabrielle. RNZ / Finn Blackwell

Residents of Auckland’s Muriwai have described their frantic escape from landslides during Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023.

A coronial inquest is investigating the deaths of volunteer firefighters Craig Stevens and Dave van Zwanenberg after they were critically injured in a landslip.

The pair were responding to slips on Motutara Road when another landslide fell and buried them both.

Firefighters Dave van Zwanenberg (left) and Craig Stevens Supplied

Eddie Wood, whose home on Motutara Road was destroyed in the slips, described the events of that evening.

He and a friend, Jordan Mickley, were trying to divert water away from Wood’s property when a slip came down between them.

“We couldn’t see where the slip was. It was obviously pitch black,” Wood said.

“In sort of a fight or flight situation, I just ran and jumped over our fence, our retaining wall, and hit my head on the way down. Jordan was closer to the house, so he ran around the front of the house.”

Jordan Mickley told the court he ran to alert Wood’s wife, Hannah, and their children.

“[Wood] sort of jumped out of the way, and my thought was just to bang on the door, because I knew the kids were downstairs, and get Hannah to unlock the door and get the kids out,” Mickley recounted.

Mickley picked up Wood’s youngest son, Nico, and went to hand him over the wall to Wood when he noticed his head was bleeding.

“From what I remember, I was trying to yell to Eddie to grab Nico. I was going to pass him down the retaining wall, and then figured out that Eddie had smacked his head,” he explained.

“He wasn’t really responding that well. Then we just decided to walk through the garden and down through the mud to the driveway.”

The group made it to Mickley’s ute and drove to his house further down the road.

There they saw Craig Stevens and Dave van Zwanenberg, who had rushed to the scene.

Eddie Wood told the court that Stevens was a close family friend and had offered to help, but Wood urged the firefighters to visit his neighbour instead.

“Craig came over and he said, do you want some help? Do you want me to help? I said no. Do you want us to check on your house? And I said no, just go get Jen out of her house,” he said.

“My main concern was for my neighbour, Jen, because Hannah had been messaging her, and I know that she was quite scared.”

Some time later, the phone rang.

“I’m not sure how much time passed between, but Hannah’s phone rang, and it was Jen, and she said that there had been a slip and the guys were trapped,” Wood said.

While Eddie Wood recovered from his injuries, Jordan Mickley picked up some tools and rushed back to help.

Mickley said he could hear Stevens from under the rubble of the house.

“I could hear him responding, I suppose, to people calling his name,” he said.

“At some point, from what I could feel, it was getting a bit hectic and frantic, and yeah, we were asked to leave.”

Wood, Mickley, and their families evacuated to the nearby surf club where they waited for news about the missing firefighters.

Phelan Pirrie, the chief fire officer at Muriwai at the time, was with the two firefighters on Motutara Road.

He had just rescued Wood’s neighbour, Jen, when he heard Craig Stevens call for help from next door.

“It was then on my portable radio that I heard Craig asking for help,” Pirrie recounted through tears.

“I asked Craig questions over the radio to see if he could provide any information to help me determine where he was, but he wasn’t responding to questions. I could still hear him calling out for help.”

Craig Stevens was eventually freed from the landslide, but he was severely injured and he died in hospital the next day.

Dave van Zwanenberg was found dead the day after that.

The inquest continues this week with evidence from other firefighters.

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Severe flooding – in central Australia? How a vast humid air mass could soak the desert

By The Conversation -

February 23, 2026

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steve Turton, Adjunct Professor of Environmental Geography, CQUniversity Australia

On average, Australia’s driest town, Oodnadatta, gets just 172mm of rain a year. But the small town in inland South Australia is likely to get two years’ worth of rain in a single week.

Rainfall records are likely to topple across inland areas, as rains of 150–300mm are predicted this week, following heavy rains in recent days.

Heavy rains are lashing swathes of arid central Australia, as intensely humid tropical air from the Top End is pushed south. Alice Springs is on flood watch. The Trans-Australian rail line is cut amid track washouts. The Northern Territory’s main highway is closed.

More is to come as extreme rains continue over the driest parts of Australia this week. Severe weather warnings for heavy rain have been issued for parts of Queensland, Northern Territory, New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria. Intense rainfall and damaging winds from localised severe thunderstorms will lead to flash flooding. Flood warnings have been issued for rivers and streams across the entire Lake Eyre Basin. The sheer scale of this event is remarkable – and concerning.

Many remote communities will be cut off for weeks and stock losses are likely to be significant. Western Queensland is already reeling after major floods earlier this year. In coming weeks, floodwaters will engorge rivers flowing to Australia’s lowest point, Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, which could fill for the second year in a row – a rare occurrence. There’s even a possibility the lake could top its 1974 depth record of 6 metres.

Map of the 8-day total forecast rainfall from February 23 to March 2, 2026 — This map shows the total rainfall forecast over 8 days from February 23 to March 2, 2026. Earlier rainfall is not included. Bureau of Meteorology, CC BY-SA

What’s causing this?

In recent days, a very slow-moving tropical low has intensified as it moved southeast through the NT.

On the northern and eastern flanks of this weather system lies an incredibly humid airmass from the oceans off Indonesia. As this saturated air moves south, an upper trough extending into northwest New South Wales is forecast to deepen on Tuesday, increasing the risk of heavy falls.

This combination is a recipe for intense rain. As the strengthening upper trough intersects with the humid tropical airmass, it will push saturated air higher up in the atmosphere. Once high enough, the water vapour will condense and fall as heavy rain.

The warmer the air, the more water it can hold. The tropical low is likely to stay almost stationary over central Australia all week, which means it will dump most of its water before eventually weakening.

Alice springs flood, people watching water going over flooded bridge and road closed sign in foreground. — Alice Springs is on flood watch as waters rise for the second time in a fortnight. Waters unexpectedly rose over Undoolya Road Bridge on February 12th. The town is bracing for new floods. Rhett Hammerton/AAP

Two fillings of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre?

Since European colonisation, Australia’s largest salt lake has only filled to near or full capacity four times – most recently in 2025.

There’s still water in many parts of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre from last year’s floodwaters. At last year’s peak, the ephemeral lake covered about 80% of its maximum extent and was just over 2 metres deep in the two deepest parts of the lake, Belt Bay and Madigan Gulf.

As of February 10, many parts of the lake still hold water. These waters came from the torrential rains that hit western Queensland almost a year ago.

satellite map of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre while full, green arm of lake and brown arm, white saltflats around. — In December 2025, Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre still had plenty of water. Different mixes of microbes in the saline water are likely responsible for the different colours in Belt Bay (left) and Madigan Gulf (right). NASA Earth Observatory

Floodwaters typically take months to snake through the lake’s often-dry inland tributaries. If the lake fills again this year, it will be highly unusual.

That’s because the La Niña climate driver in the Pacific Ocean is rapidly weakening and an El Niño is likely. La Niña years tend to bring colder, wetter conditions to Australia, while El Niño years tend to be hotter and drier.

Until now, every filling of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre recorded has been linked to strong La Niña years. Last year’s partial filling took place during a moderate La Niña.

It’s getting harder to project what’s likely to happen based on past experience. When the lake filled to a record depth of 6m in 1974, widespread falls of 300–600mm fell on dry catchments. This year, many northern rivers and streams in the Lake Eyre basin were already at minor or moderate flood level before this huge rain-bearing system formed.

Is there a climate change link?

One of the most visible and devastating changes from global heating is what’s happening to the global water cycle, which moves water from lakes and oceans to clouds to rivers, lakes, snow and ice and back again.

Burning fossil fuels and other emissions have made the world 1.48°C hotter than the pre-industrial period. This is already supercharging the water cycle. This is why we’re witnessing extreme rainfall hitting more often and more intensely across the globe.

There’s a clear link between climate change and more extreme rains and floods. For every 1°C of warming, the atmosphere holds 7% more water vapour. But this figure could be even higher for short-duration rainfall, such as during severe thunderstorms.

Without attribution studies, we can’t say this week’s extreme rains have a direct climate change influence. But the overall trends are very clear.

For the dryland and desert towns, communities and stations bracing for impact, this will be small comfort. It’s crucial we don’t underestimate these rains. They are packing a punch.

– ref. Severe flooding – in central Australia? How a vast humid air mass could soak the desert – https://theconversation.com/severe-flooding-in-central-australia-how-a-vast-humid-air-mass-could-soak-the-desert-276618

Historic war medals found during search, police looking for owners

By Evening Report -

February 23, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

The medals include a 1939-1945 star, an Atlantic star, a Burma star, and the 1939-1945 war medal. SUPPLIED/POLICE

Police have recovered four historic war medals during a search at a Palmerston North address and are now looking to find the owners.

The medals were found during a search at an address in Kelvin Grove, and police believe they are stolen.

The medals include a 1939-1945 star, an Atlantic star, a Burma star, and the 1939-1945 war medal.

Police believe these hold significant sentimental value and would like to return them to their rightful owner.

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

Is surgery necessary for my endometriosis or ‘suspected’ endo?

By The Conversation -

February 23, 2026

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodie Avery, Research Co-Lead, Chronic Reproductive Health Conditions, Robinson Research Institute, Adelaide University

If you live with pelvic pain, period pain, sex or bowel symptoms, you may have been told you could have endometriosis, and that surgery is the “gold standard” for diagnosis and treatment.

But over the past few weeks, questions have been raised about whether surgery is actually necessary for women to detect and treat endometriosis.

This week’s ABC Four Corners highlights stories of women undergoing repeated unnecessary surgeries for endometriosis which caused significant harm and left some women unable to have have children.

So where does that leave people who have or suspect they have endometriosis?

Surgery is not always necessary but can be helpful in some instances. But it’s never a simple yes-or-no decision. Let’s look at what the evidence says about who might benefit from surgery and when it’s unnecessary.

What is endometriosis and what is surgery for?

Endometriosis occurs when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus (womb) grows outside the uterus – usually in the pelvis or other areas. It affects about one in seven women and those presumed female at birth.

Surgery for endometriosis has two roles:

diagnosis: seeing whether endometriosis lesions are present
treatment: removing or destroying visible disease.

Surgery is no longer needed for diagnosis

Historically, laparoscopy (keyhole surgery) with biopsy was considered best to diagnose endometriosis. If tissue removed at surgery showed endometrial-type cells under the microscope (histology), diagnosis was confirmed.

However, endometriosis care is evolving with imaging and our understanding of pain science is improving. Australian and international guidelines now allow clinicians to diagnose endometriosis based on symptoms.

Deep and ovarian endometriosis can often be diagnosed with specialised ultrasound or MRI. This imaging can also help guide decisions about whether or not to undergo surgery.

So surgery is no longer required to “prove” a person has the condition.

When else might surgery be unnecessary?

Surgery shouldn’t be the first and only treatment option for endometriosis.

Surgery may not be needed if symptoms are manageable with hormonal therapy, allied and complementary health therapies, and lifestyle modification, or the risks of surgery outweigh the benefits.

Just because endometriosis is there, does not mean it causes the symptoms. Adenomyosis (a condition where endometrial-like tissue grows in the muscle wall of the uterus), irritable bowel syndrome, pelvic floor dysfunction and bladder pain syndrome can coexist with endometriosis.

Sometimes treating these other conditions can improve quality of life without surgery.

When might you consider surgery?

Surgery may an appropriate treatment when:

pain is severe and persistent, and medical therapies have not helped
imaging suggests deep endometriosis is affecting key organs such as the bowel, bladder or ureters, which can cause complications
fertility is affected and other options have been explored.

In these cases, surgery is considered for treatment, not diagnosis, and should be performed by an expert clinician – especially for deep or complex disease.

Early surgery may provide symptom relief, but there is little evidence lesions rapidly worsen over time or that urgent surgery improves long-term outcomes.

Although laparoscopies are generally safe, they’re still performed under general anaesthesia, which comes with risks. Other risks from surgery include:

bleeding or infections
damage to bowel, bladder or ureters
adhesion formation, where scar tissue forms and fuses to other parts of the pelvis.

Even after successful surgery, pain may return over time. This doesn’t mean surgery failed or was inappropriate. It means endometriosis and pelvic pain are chronic, complex conditions.

What if the surgeon doesn’t find anything?

Sometimes a surgeon looks inside the pelvis and doesn’t see endometriosis, or histopathology (the tissue taken for analysis in a laboratory) is negative.

This may mean the disease isn’t there, but sometimes it’s not that straightforward. Surgeons may miss a lesion that is microscopic or hidden in difficult-to-access areas such as the bowel.

Histopathology accuracy also depends on many factors. The diseased part of the lesion may be missed during analysis. If the lesions are surgically burnt away (ablated), or very tiny endometriosis lesions are cut out (excised), they may be destroyed by the surgical instruments, making pathology review impossible.

Other times, abnormal-looking areas are removed, when these are in fact not endometriosis.

Questions to help you decide

If you are considering surgery for endometriosis, it can help to ask your doctor:

what is the goal of surgery?
what does my imaging show?
what are the alternatives?
what other conditions do I have that may contribute to my symptoms?
how might surgery alleviate these symptoms?
what is your experience with complex endometriosis?
what improvements in pain can I realistically expect?
what are potential complications in my case?

A good surgical consultation should discuss your symptoms, priorities, past experiences and treatments, discuss benefits, limitations and uncertainties around diagnostic tests, and treatment options.

If you feel pressured into surgery, or your surgeon quickly suggests booking surgery without offering other options, seek a second opinion.

If you decide on surgery to manage pelvic pain, your clinician should offer other treatments, such as pelvic physiotherapy and/or medication, which can be used in conjunction.

For those who aren’t planning a pregnancy, evidence shows people who use a hormonal medication to suppress oestrogen after surgery have lower rates of recurrence than those who do not.

For some, surgery is transformative. For others, it offers limited relief. Individualised care is key. The goal is to improve quality of life, not simply to find endometriosis. That decision should be made with you, not for you.

Thanks to Adelaide University Adjunct Lecturer in Gynaecology Mathew Leonardi and Endometriosis Group Leader at Adelaide University’s Robinson Research Institute Louise Hull for their input into this article.

– ref. Is surgery necessary for my endometriosis or ‘suspected’ endo? – https://theconversation.com/is-surgery-necessary-for-my-endometriosis-or-suspected-endo-276365

The ‘first-night effect’: why it’s hard to sleep when you’re somewhere new

By The Conversation -

February 23, 2026

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Charlotte Gupta, Sleep Researcher, Appleton Institute, HealthWise Research Group, CQUniversity Australia

It’s nighttime and you’re exhausted. But the hotel bed feels wrong. The mini fridge won’t stop making that low, irritating hum. The power outlet lights feel brighter than the sun. Outside, random car honks and noises make sleep feel like a distant possibility.

Many of us struggle to sleep in new environments, even when we’re physically tired. But why? The short answer: a mix of biology and psychology.

Broken routines and missing sleep cues

Your brain is wired for predictability, especially at night, during our most vulnerable behaviour: sleep.

A combination of internal and external cues work together to create the right conditions for rest.

Internally, your body signals that it’s time to sleep by decreasing core body temperature and increasing the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin. This makes you less alert.

Externally, your environment needs to support these signals, not compete with it. At home, your typical pre-sleep wind-down habits and familiar surroundings tell your body it is safe to sleep.

But sleeping somewhere new often disrupts these sights, sounds and sensations your body relies on.

There may be different light levels (for example, from hotel room clocks or street lights), unfamiliar noises (such as elevators, traffic and neighbours) and different bedding (for instance, a firmer mattress or softer pillows).

And you may be doing different activities, such as eating out late or working on a laptop on your bed.

An alert brain in a new place

From an evolutionary perspective, lighter sleep or more frequent awakenings when we’re somewhere new may be protective, allowing us to detect potential threats more quickly and respond to danger.

This is known as the “first-night effect”. It means when we sleep somewhere new, our brains don’t fully switch off.

Brain activity recordings have shown that during the first night in a new environment, the left side of the brain remains more responsive to unfamiliar sounds, even during deep sleep, compared to the second night. Once we become familiar with the space, this vigilance usually fades.

But even when we start to get used to a new environment, other factors can still interfere with our sleep.

Stress, travel and emotions

Sleeping in a new environment can also be stressful.

Your brain may be running through logistics and to-do lists, thinking about your early flight, or scenarios where you forget important belongings. Maybe you’re also experiencing jet lag.

Emotions such as homesickness, excitement, anticipation or anxiety can disrupt sleep as well. Even positive stress – for example, feeling excited about a big trip – activates the same arousal systems in the brain as negative stress. The brain doesn’t distinguish why those systems are switched on.

Unfortunately, a heightened arousal system and sleep are competitors. When your stress response is active, it directly interferes with the brain’s ability to disengage and transition into sleep, even when you’re physically exhausted.

But some people actually sleep better away from home

For some of us, being away from home can actually remove everyday distractions: there are no household responsibilities, no unfinished tasks competing for attention, and clearer boundaries between “work time” and “rest time”.

The change of environment may also reduce bedtime rumination, which is often triggered by familiar home environments tied to stress, deadlines or to-do lists.

Better sleep when we are away may be to do with the amount of sleep we usually get at home. Research shows that individuals who are not getting enough sleep at home are likely to get better sleep when travelling.

If your sleep improves when you’re away, it might be an opportunity to consider how stimulating or busy your usual sleep environment has become – and what you can do to make it calmer.

Tips for sweet dreams at home or away

Reassure yourself. If you have a rough night of sleep in a new place it doesn’t mean something is “wrong” with you. It’s a normal, protective response from a brain that’s tuned to safety and familiarity. You might need a night or two to settle in.

Choose sleep-friendly accommodation when you can. Many hotels are deliberately designed to support good sleep and these features, such as pillow menus, melatonin-rich foods on the room-service menu, or even a personal sleep butler, can make a real difference.

Plan for a slower first day. If you know you’re sleeping somewhere new, expect that the first night might not be your best. Where possible, avoid scheduling demanding tasks the next morning and give yourself time to adjust.

Pack your sleep routine in your suitcase. Just as parents might do for their small child, pack your sleep routine with you. If you have a particular pillow case or a sleep mask, or a certain scent that helps you sleep at home, try bringing these with you so your brain has some familiar cues in an unfamiliar environment.

If you notice you sleep better away from home, take a look at your home sleep routine and environment. Keep your room cool and dark and make your bed comfortable with supportive pillows and fresh bedding. Establish a relaxing wind-down routine: dim lights and limit screens in the evening, and stick to consistent bed and wake times, even on weekends.

– ref. The ‘first-night effect’: why it’s hard to sleep when you’re somewhere new – https://theconversation.com/the-first-night-effect-why-its-hard-to-sleep-when-youre-somewhere-new-270299

Police staff leave jobs after investigations into inappropriate content

By Evening Report -

February 23, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

Ten police staff remain under investigation. 123rf.com

Three police staff have left their jobs following investigations in relation to “misuse and inappropriate content”.

RNZ earlier revealed 20 police staff were being investigated, three of whom were facing criminal investigations. In total, six staff had been stood down.

The staff were identified in a rapid review of police’s information security controls prompted by child sexual exploitation material and bestiality being found on former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming’s work devices.

Deputy Commissioner Jill Rogers

On Monday, Deputy Commissioner Jill Rogers told RNZ 10 Police staff, five of whom have been stood down, remained under investigation.

“In total, Police have investigated 18 cases. Several more were initially identified but later excluded when the searches in questions were found to be work-related.

“To date, five cases have been resolved through either disciplinary action or performance management. Three people have resigned or retired during the process.”

RNZ understands one of the staffers investigated is an award-winning detective based in the Auckland region.

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

Rogers earlier told RNZ the staff that had been stood down were investigated for “serious matters” that ranged from potentially accessing objectionable material, or accessing inappropriate material while also subject to separate misconduct matters.

Some of the staff being investigated may have had legitimate purposes for accessing material, which police would verify through their inquiries.

Police were not able to disclose the ranks of those under investigation.

Rogers earlier confirmed to RNZ a police officer had been stood down from duty for “inappropriate content on a police device”.

“The officer is under employment investigation for serious misconduct, relating to inappropriate, but not objectionable, material on a police-issued device. The alleged misconduct was uncovered through following recent audits of staff internet usage.”

Police Commissioner Richard Chambers earlier told RNZ the misconduct being investigated was uncovered as a result of the new monitoring measures introduced following the rapid review of the settings for police devices, launched after McSkimming’s resignation.

“I sought that review because of my concern that such conduct was not being detected. This offers some reassurance that we now have the necessary tools to detect potentially inappropriate behaviour.”

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

NZDF monitoring fuel sheen reported near Manawanui wreck

By Evening Report -

February 23, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

UAS footage of RNZN Divers surveying the area around HMNZS Manawanui on the Southern Coast of Upulo as part of Op Resolution. New Zealand Defence Force

New Zealand’s Defence Force is continuing to monitor the wreck of the sunken HMNZS Manawanui after a fuel sheen was reported off the south coast of Samoa’s island of Upolu.

NZDF personnel and divers from Samoa have found no evidence of a leak or sheen, and water samples have been taken for analysis.

“The absence of a sheen and any evidence of a leak suggests there was either an intermittent discharge of trapped fuel from a pump or pipe, or the sheen originated from another source such as a passing vessel. Events such as this will occur from time to time as the wreck settles and begins to degrade and as traffic in the vicinity of the wreck begins to normalise,” NZDF said in a statement.

It said salvors hired by NZDF concluded the removal of fuel and other pollutants from the wreck of the Manawanui.

“The salvors hired to pump the fuel and other pollutants from the ship following the sinking were very thorough in searching all tanks as well as compartments that could likely contain fuel. In March 2025 at the conclusion of salvage work to remove diesel fuel and other pollutants we advised that there may be a very small amount of residual fuel remaining somewhere in the vessel.

“An NZDF engineering report concluded that if there was fuel remaining on the vessel it would be trace amounts only, and if any escaped it would likely quickly disperse through wind and wave action.”

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

Retail spending stronger than expected at end of last year

By Evening Report -

February 23, 2026

Source: Radio New Zealand

Sales in hardware, building, and garden supplies rose in the final quarter of last year.

Retail sales volumes up 0.9 percent in December quarter on previous quarter, up 4.4 percent on year ago
Strongest sales seen in electronics, DIY and garden supplies
Twelve of 15 store types report higher sales, 12 of 16 regions have higher sales
Lower interest rates feeding into spending, and lift growth prospects

Stronger than expected retail spending at the end of last year is fueling talk of a solid quarter of economic growth.

Stats NZ data showed a 0.9 percent rise in retail volumes – which exclude the effect of inflation – in the December quarter, to be 4.4 percent higher than a year ago.

“Spending on discretionary items helped drive an overall increase in retail activity,” economic indicators spokesperson Michelle Feyen said.

“Pharmaceutical and other store-based retailing, electrical and electronic goods, and hardware, building, and garden supplies saw the largest increases in activity this quarter.”

The quarterly rise was the fifth in a row, but weaker than the September quarter. Core retail spending, which excludes fuel and automotive spending, grew 1.5 percent and was the strongest in more than two years.

Falling interest rates, rising spending

Economists were enthused by the numbers, which they regarded as an indicator that lower interest rates were feeding into consumption, which would feed into economic recovery.

BNZ economist Matt Brunt said the strength of the past year had to be seen in the context of the battering the retail sector had taken from the downturn and recession in recent years.

“Retail sales volumes are still 5.1 percent below their peak in mid-2021. And merchants continue to report profitability challenges. But today’s figures are compelling evidence that genuine improvement is occurring.”

Even so Brunt said the BNZ was nudging up its growth forecast for the end of 2025 to 0.6 percent.

Infometrics economist Rob Heyes said the growth in spending was apparent in more parts of the country and through a wider range of store types.

“But with an increasing number of homeowners rolling onto lower fixed mortgage rates, the benefits of the recovery are being felt in spending growth across most regions.”

Strongest regional growth was in the South Island at 2.3 percent for the quarter compared to the North Island’s 1.5 percent, although the biggest quarterly increase was in Hawkes Bay followed by Canterbury and Otago.

ASB economist Yen Nguyen expected the retail rebound to continue through the year.

“The retail sector’s recovery is expected to continue gradually, with a more pronounced improvement anticipated in the second half of the year, driven by lower borrowing costs and a broadening economic recovery.”

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