Category: Asia

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All Whites to take on England

Source: Radio New Zealand

England captain Harry Kane Pressinphoto / PHOTOSPORT

The All Whites will play England as a part of their final preparations for this year’s FIFA World Cup.

The two sides will meet in Florida on 6 June, five days out from the start of the tournament.

England, who went through World Cup qualifying with a perfect sevens wins in their European group, are currently ranked four in the world and New Zealand 85.

The game will see the All Whites face their highest-ranked opponent in 17 years and they will clash with England for just the third time in history.

New Zealand last faced England in 1991, losing two friendlies in Auckland and Wellington.

“Our strategy over the last year has been to take on top-ranked sides to ensure we are in the best place to perform at the tournament, and this match gives us a final opportunity to really test ourselves against one of the favourites,” All Whites coach Darren Bazeley said.

“England are a great side with big names all over the pitch, but we want our players to face that type of challenge so we can work collectively to find solutions against top teams.

“This match should be a great occasion but also a critical part of our final preparation before we face Iran in Los Angeles at the FIFA World Cup 2026.”

Captains shake hands, Stuart Pierce (England) and Malcolm Dunford (All Whites), All Whites v England, Athletic Park, Wellington. 1991. Troy Restieaux / www.photosport.nz

Prior to departing for the World Cup the All Whites will play two home games in March against Finland and Chile as part of the FIFA Series 2026.

At the World Cup, New Zealand play Iran, Egypt and Belgium in group G, while England will face Croatia, Ghana and Panama in Group L.

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

LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/02/12/all-whites-to-take-on-england/

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Raw sewage still pouring into Wellington waters raises questions, and anger

Source: Radio New Zealand

A Breaker Bay local with a long history of fighting for clean water in Wellington explains why the sewage dump is so catastrophic, for health, history, and the environment.

Ray Ahipene-Mercer with his jar of 24-year-old water from Moa Point sewage treatment plant. Sharon Brettkelly

Ray Ahipene-Mercer keeps a jar of 24-year-old water in his refrigerator, labelled ‘Moa Point Final Effluent’.

“It looks like a glass of water, hasn’t got a single bug in it, no discolouration, nothing,” he says.

It is a memento of the new sewage plant which he battled over for years as the co-leader of the Wellington Clean Water Campaign.

But nearly 30 years after that successful campaign to stop the dumping of raw sewage in the sea, it is happening again.

Since last Wednesday, more than 600 million litres of untreated sewage have poured into the water off the south coast after a catastrophic failure of Moa Point, the city’s main treatment plant.

On a sparkling summer day Ahipene-Mercer looks out from his Breaker Bay home just around the corner from the plant and the bays are empty.

“I’m looking at the water about 50 metres away, it’s beautiful and yet underneath it there is this darkness. There is not a person walking the dog, having a walk, swimming, surfing, nothing,” he tells The Detail.

The former city councillor is angry, not just about the health risks to humans, but the damage to the environment and risks to the kororā, and to historic Māori sites.

“Toilet water is now brushing up against historic sites at Tarakina Bay. One of the reasons this campaign in the 80s was so successful, we married Māori concerns and Pākehā concerns together and that’s why we won that campaign,” Ahipene-Mercer says.

“I’m very angry, because of all this work we did. It’s not in vain however because Wellingtonians have responded magnificently.”

After a catastrophic failure last Wednesday at Moa Point, Wellington’s main treatment plant, more than 600 million litres of untreated sewage has poured into the water off the south coast. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

The plant failed early last Wednesday morning during a bout of heavy rain. With the threat of more bad weather this weekend, there are fears the situation could get worse.

‘It’s going to get smellier’

The Post journalist Tom Hunt has been writing about Wellington’s wastewater woes for years and is experiencing first-hand the effects of days of raw sewage flowing into the sea.

“It gets worse the longer it’s there and it’s apparently going to get smellier as well,” he tells The Detail.

“I live not far from the tip and it was a still night last night and I could pick up a faint smell,” he says. “They’ve got these tanker trucks that Wellington’s quite familiar with because in covid time there was another pipe failure and they’d take the wastewater to the tip and they were called ‘turd taxis’. They’re just back and forth ferrying all the stuff out of the olympic-sized swimming pool room and just clearing that out and taking it to the tip.”

Wellington Water chief executive Pat Dougherty broke the news last Wednesday that a room in the plant was three metres deep in sewage, blowing the electrics and badly damaging or destroying equipment.

In the immediate aftermath raw sewage was flowing through a short outfall to five metres off the coast but it is now going through a longer 1.8 kilometre pipe.

“But it is still untreated sewage … and for the foreseeable future we will have effectively raw sewage being pumped off the south coast very near a marine sanctuary not far from a nesting area,” Hunt says.

It could be months before the sea on the south coast is safe for walking, swimming and collecting kaimoana.

It brings back memories for Hunt, who grew up around the south coast of the polluted waters in the 1980s.

“That was a different time when the south coast was not a desirable place to be.”

He says now they’re “back in that for a mystery reason, we still don’t know what caused it.”

Hunt explains the numerous reports of warnings and abatement notices issued to the operator, French-owned Veolia which is paid roughly $17 million a year by Wellington Water to run the plant.

He says it is too soon to say who is at fault and a full inquiry will impel people to give evidence.

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LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/02/12/raw-sewage-still-pouring-into-wellington-waters-raises-questions-and-anger/

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‘Stop the supply’: NZ needs to stop seeing smoking as an individual problem, expert says

Source: Radio New Zealand

A tobacco control advocate says getting the country back on track towards its smokefree targets will require a policy shift away from focussing on individuals. 123RF

At the end of 2025 New Zealand missed its smokefree target and a tobacco control advocate says getting back on track will require a policy shift away from focussing on individuals towards whole system change.

The target was to reach smoking rates of below 5 percent for all population groups. According to the latest NZ Health Survey, 6.8 percent of the total population were daily smokers, but rates for Māori remained stubbornly higher at 15 percent.

The government released a revised Smokefree Action Plan at the end of 2024.

Associate professor at the University of Otago and co-director of Aspire Aotearoa Anaru Waa (Ngāti Hine) told RNZ that reaching a Smokefree Aotearoa might require a rethink of the goal, moving away from thinking of it as a problem of too many people using nicotine towards a problem of tobacco industry exploitation.

“I think the big thing is to achieve the goal, we’ve got to stop focusing on individuals. I mean, we need to support people to quit … it’s vital, but actually the focus should be on the industry and where they sell their products. And so the only way to get to an end game is to stop the supply.”

However, the goal of a smokefree Aotearoa was still achievable, he said.

University of Otago associate professor Anaru Waa (Ngāti Hine). Supplied / University of Otago

“When you can buy cigarettes or vapes at any corner store, at service stations and so forth, that’s the problem. So I think it’s entirely achievable, in fact we could achieve it within two years if we wanted to, if we had a government that was committed to it.

“In fact, I think we need to have a fairly close time frame, because I’m worried that the longer we take to achieve the goal, the more time we give the industry to adapt.”

Waa said any revamped smokefree plan would need to have tailored measures to support Māori, although he said tailored measures would not achieve the goal alone.

“In Aotearoa, it started in the 80s, our tobacco control programme largely focused on individuals and the assumption was that individuals need resources to do what we want them to do, either quit smoking or not start smoking. We know that those resources aren’t the same throughout society, so some people have more social support, are less exposed to retailers, we know that there’s more vape retailers in poorer communities … [if we] run with the assumption that if we focus on individuals, what we do is we get slow change and we get inequitable change.

“So the only way to make the change fair and equitable is to have big, wide-ranging measures that affect everybody in the same way. Therefore, getting rid of our smoked tobacco is a really good start, addressing other nicotine products to make sure they’re only there as therapies, if at all, and that’s the best way to do it.”

Associate Minister of Health Casey Costello said New Zealand had made great progress in reducing smoking rates – especially since 2018 when vapes became widely available. The gains had been particularly noticeable for young people and for Māori, she said.

“When the NZ Health Survey began in 2011/12, more than 37 percent of Māori were daily smokers. In the latest survey that figure was down to 15 percent. Since 2018, Māori smoking rates have halved and the latest stats show 118,000 Māori have quit smoking in the last five years.

“These reductions are really significant; no other country is making this sort of progress.

“But of course we still have a way to go – we want to stop people smoking to reduce the health impacts and there’s a particular focus on supporting Māori and Pacific populations where rates are higher. The official target we’re working towards is to reduce smoking rates below 5 percent for all population groups.”

Costello said the Smokefree Action Plan 2025 covered a range of actions across four key areas: reducing smoking uptake, increasing quit attempts, improving access to quit support, and supporting people to stay smokefree.

“To reach the 5 percent goal, health promotion campaigns, community mobilisation activities and stop smoking services need to be targeted and appropriate for the communities and population groups they are trying to reach.

“For example, Health New Zealand’s Breakfree to Smokefree social media campaign is targeted at Māori and Pacific smokers and government-funded Kaupapa Māori quit smoking programmes across the country support Māori to quit in a culturally appropriate way.”

Associate Minister of Health Casey Costello. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

But Waa called the plan a “rehash” of what had been done in previous decades.

“[The plan] was about, you know, focusing on young people to stop picking up smoking, some measures around disposable vapes which was important, and supporting people to quit smoking. But we know these measures, like I said, have a small incremental change over time, but they’re inequitable.

“So it was a rehash of what we already know, while important, wasn’t going to achieve the goal at all. And in fact, I’d also argue that they probably had less resource to do what they had previously. So it was a bit of a window dressing.”

Costello said because most who were still smoking were older, long-term smokers, it was important to provide access to less harmful products that could help people quit smoking and to encourage people to get help as stopping smoking was not easy.

“People are around four times more likely to quit smoking by using a stop smoking service, than by trying on their own.”

In the lead up to the election in November, Waa said he would be looking closely at each party’s policies around tobacco, although he noted the repeal of the Smokefree Act was not in National’s manifesto heading into the last election in 2023.

“Let’s be clear, the repeal of the Act means that a lot of people are going to continue to smoke. And we know that a lot of those people who continue to smoke are going to die or have, you know, really large harm. So there’s a huge harm on society, which this government has caused.”

Waa said he would also like to see efforts to curb tobacco industry influence and lobbying.

Labour’s health spokesperson Ayesha Verall has proposed a member’s bill “to protect New Zealanders’ health from the influence of big tobacco and shed light on their links to decision-makers”.

“We definitely need stronger measures because as we close the door on tobacco, it’s not as if the industry isn’t thinking about what they’ll do next. What they’ll do next is get more people addicted to vapes,” Waa said.

Waa said whatever the approach to reaching a Smokefree Aotearoa, it could not be a piecemeal one – it is a system and needed to be addressed as a whole system.

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

LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/02/12/stop-the-supply-nz-needs-to-stop-seeing-smoking-as-an-individual-problem-expert-says/

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Wellington Water quiet on Moa Point plans, cites upcoming inquiry

Source: Radio New Zealand

Wellington Water staff are now able to enter the failed Moa Point treatment plant. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

Wellington Water staff are now able to enter the failed Moa Point treatment plant but they cannot provide details of the work being done or who is involved.

Nearly 80 percent of the equipment inside the plant was damaged when it was flooded by a backflow of raw sewage last week.

At the peak of the equipment failure, 3300 litres of untreated wastewater went into the sea every second.

Since then a stretch of the Capital’s south coast had been off limits for swimming and gathering sea food.

Wellington Water expected it could be months before the plant was returned to full operations.

It said cleaning work was continuing, with fresh water flushed through the biological treatment areas of the plant to reduce levels of hydrogen sulphide, which made the interior of the plant hazardous to enter.

On Wednesday the water entity said it had “begun a closely managed entry” to the plant.

But it could not confirm specifics regarding who was now able to access the site, the conditions inside, what was being done to ensure the people’s safety or what was being revealed now that access had been acheived.

Earlier this week, Wellington Water chief executive Pat Dogherty said, initially, a room at the bottom of plant, the size of an Olympic Swimming Pool, was 3 metres deep in wastewater.

RNZ’s requests for information regarding the access to the site were put to Wellington Water at the beginning of the week in response to interviews with Dogherty where he said Monday would be the first day staff could safely go into the building to assess the damage.

On Wednesday, a statement from Dogherty said Wellington Water would be stepping back from making public statements about “aspects of the Moa Point incident and response” following an announcement from Wellington Mayor Andrew Little that the government would look to establish an independent inquiry into the plant’s failure as soon as possible.

“Now the inquiry has been signalled, it is important we allow that process to run its course. This means that we are unable to provide any further public statements regarding aspects of the Moa Point incident and response that may be included in the inquiry,” Dogherty said.

At the begining of the week, Little said Wellington City Council and central government would work together to ensure an inquiry was independent and had the right powers to make sure a similar problem never happened again.

Little said a ministerial inquiry would meet his preferred criteria of having independence, the right expertise and the power to access information.

“A ministerial inquiry has all that. It is more formalistic and does take a longer period of time to get the appointments up, get the terms of reference sorted out and then get it going. For me it is about having those criteria met but doing something that is as quick as possible. Those are the things that we are talking through,” Little said.

A spokesperson for Wellington Water said it hoped to provide more details of the work being done in the plant on Thursday.

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

LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/02/12/wellington-water-quiet-on-moa-point-plans-cites-upcoming-inquiry/

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Schools accused of giving illegal scholarships to foreign students

Source: Radio New Zealand

Photosport

One of two schools that illegally gave scholarships to foreign students who played in their top sports teams says it only happened because a sponsorship deal fell through.

The other has not responded to RNZ’s questions.

School sport leaders say they do not believe the cases are symptomatic of a wider problem, but an auditor told RNZ he doubts many of his peers know to keep a lookout for scholarships to foreign students when they review schools’ finances.

The Office of the Auditor General brought the https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/541873/schools-spending-money-on-gyms-family-travel-for-principals-auditors-say breaches to light in reports published in February and December last year, covering audits of school annual reports for 2023 and 2024.

“We highlighted that two schools breached legislation by meeting the costs of an international student through a scholarship. Legislation requires schools to charge fees for international students that at least cover the estimated costs of providing tuition and capital facilities,” the most recent report said.

The Office of the Auditor-General told RNZ the schools were Westlake Boys’ High School and Howick College and RNZ understands in both cases the students represented the Auckland schools in top-level sport.

The Howick College annual report for 2023 showed the breach related to two foreign students.

“Without modifying our opinion, we draw the reader’s attention to a breach of legislation. The School enrolled and met the costs of two international students, including homestay and other school fees in the year ended 31 December 2023 through scholarships,” the auditors wrote.

“This is a breach of section 521(1) of the Education and Training Act 2020 which requires state schools to charge fees for international students that are not less than the estimated costs of providing tuition to a student in the relevant subject, course, or programme, including the provision of capital facilities, plus any other fees prescribed for international students.”

The Westlake annual report for 2024 had a similar comment but for one international student.

RNZ understands a third party alerted the firm that audited both schools’ accounts that it was illegal for state schools to subsidise the education of foreign students.

The firm did not respond to an RNZ request for comment.

Former Deloitte auditor Priyesh Ramesh told RNZ he doubted many auditors knew scholarships for foreign students were forbidden and it was unlikely they would check whether a scholarship in a school’s accounts was for a domestic or foreign student.

However, principals told RNZ the rules prohibiting schools from waiving or otherwise covering foreign students’ tuition costs were clear and the cases did not represent part of a wider problem.

The Education Ministry’s handbook of financial information for schools said scholarships must be open to every student at a school unless the giver of the scholarship has created a special trust.

Its website said international students not on a ministry-approved exchange programme must be charged fees that cover the cost of tuition and access to facilities.

Westlake headmaster Paul Fordham said the situation preceded his tenure as principal but it appeared the school helped a student after a sponsorship arrangement fell through.

“It certainly wasn’t a scholarship situation,” he said.

“It was a situation where a sponsorship had fallen through and the school essentially stepped in to meet the costs.”

Fordham said the school worked with auditors and the ministry to understand the breach and resolve it.

He said in the second year, 2024, the school found sponsorship that would cover what it believed were the student’s tuition and capital costs.

“We’ve tried to meet the rules but it’s a tricky situation when you’re dealing with a person.”

He would not confirm details about the student or the sport they played.

Fordham said he had not previously heard of third parties providing scholarships or sponsorships for foreign school students.

“It does seem unusual and I don’t know if it’s a generally-used practice. It’s certainly a one-off from what I could establish at Westlake,” he said.

Asked if schools were aware that they could not waive international students’ fees, Fordham said common sense suggested they should not do that.

“Money that’s given to schools for operational needs and facilities etcetera certainly isn’t given for the purposes of subsidising international students’ costs,” he said

Fordham said Westlake had 200 foreign students and some represented the school in sport.

He did not believe foreign students’ participation in school sport was creating problems.

School Sport New Zealand chief executive Mike Summerell said schools could have no more than two international students in any teams competing in School Sport championship events.

He said in the past some schools recruited top foreign athletes for short periods to bolster their teams and the rules were designed to prevent that from happening.

Summerell said School Sport redeveloped its eligibility rules extensively in 2025 and would review them, including those covering the inclusion on non-domestic students, this term.

Summerell said it was difficult to track how many foreign students were playing in top teams.

“There’s not necessarily an outcry by schools to say that international students are filling up these spaces, but I would hazard a guess that there are certainly international students taking opportunities at these championship events for a lot of schools and that’s not necessarily a problem.

“Whether that leads to success for those schools is really not something I have the data to comment on.”

Summerell said he did not know how well schools understood the ministry’s rules prohibiting the use of school funds to cover foreign students’ fees.

He said School Sport rules forbade offering sport scholarships.

“If there was evidence that schools were providing scholarships… that weren’t publicly-available, and by that I mean that’s on their website that there’s a scholarship for X and it’s contestable, then there’s provision under the School Sport New Zealand eligibility rules and our integrity framework to look at that and investigate whether that’s fair,” he said.

However, Summerell said it was extremely difficult to prove if a school had provided scholarships that broke the rules.

College Sport Auckland chair Tim O’Connor said many schools had foreign students in their sports teams and Education Ministry rules about their fees were clear, as were the School Sport New Zealand rules on participation.

O’Connor agreed that though schools were prohibited from waiving or subsidising foreign students’ fees, there was nothing to stop third parties providing scholarships or sponsorships and that should be monitored in case it became a problem.

He said sport was an extra-curricular activity and the primary purpose of schooling, including for international students, was to provide an education.

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

LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/02/12/schools-accused-of-giving-illegal-scholarships-to-foreign-students/

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New ‘cheeky and playful’ take on Swan Lake

Source: Radio New Zealand

Swan Lake was ripe for reinterpretation, says the leader of Australia’s premier circus company.

Circa’s latest production Duck Pond blends the classic ballet and Ugly Duckling stories into a high-energy, acrobatic visual feast.

“Somewhere in the back of my fetid imagination, it got melded into the story of The Ugly Duckling, both tales of birds and emerging into identity,” Yaron Lifschitz told RNZ’s Nine to Noon.

Circa is bringing its version of the classic ballet Swan Lake to the Auckland Arts Festival next month.

Pia Johnson

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LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/02/12/new-cheeky-and-playful-take-on-swan-lake/

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Government wants to bypass fast-track process for proposed liquefied natural gas terminal

Source: Radio New Zealand

A proposed liquefied natural gas terminal will bypass the fast-track process, documents show. RNZ

A proposed liquefied natural gas terminal will bypass even the fast-track process in order to be built in time for winter next year, documents show.

The government plans to rush through as many of the required approvals as possible ahead of the election, “to give the preferred supplier greater policy certainty that New Zealand is committed to developing the facility”, a Cabinet paper said.

A critic of the proposal says pushing the entire process through so quickly is unwarranted and the public and local communities should be properly consulted.

Energy Minister Simon Watts said this week that the government would proceed with plans to commission a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facility in Taranaki, with whole-of-life costs spread across all electricity users through a levy.

Watts said it would result in overall savings to households, because it would help to lower electricity premiums during dry years when hydro lakes ran low.

The Cabinet paper, released after the announcement, noted that “timing is very tight” to get the facility up and running in time for winter 2027.

“An LNG terminal will require regulatory consents and approvals if it is to be operational ahead of winter 2027, and the existing Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 processes are unlikely to be sufficient,” Watts wrote.

“I propose developing an Enabling Liquefied Natural Gas Bill to provide the necessary consents, approvals, levy power and any modifications to existing legislation to enable the preferred LNG facility to be built and operational ahead of winter 2027.”

Energy Minister Simon Watts. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

That would protect against the risk of late project delivery, the paper said.

The paper also warned that a future government might not proceed with LNG, and recommended signing contracts by the middle of this year to lock the concept in.

Expediting consents through special legislation would also help, it said.

“Our objective is to provide as many of these approvals as possible before the election.”

There were still risks even with a rapid consent process.

“LNG import facilities are highly technical in nature,” the paper said.

“Further, New Zealand does not have an ideal location (large deep-water port close to the main gas pipeline) to locate an LNG import facility, meaning that the technical challenges of importing LNG here are more significant than in some other countries.”

The government should carry out further technical analysis before proceeding with a preferred proposal, and “be prepared not to proceed with an accelerated proposal should further analysis suggest that the proposal(s) is/are unworkable”.

That could include considering options that might not be up and running until late 2027 or early 2028.

However, any construction and delivery delays could mean “substantial industry exits”, the paper warned.

During the 2024 energy crisis, several industrial users paused operations while others closed completely.

2027 not ‘a magical winter’

Environmental Defense Society chair Gary Taylor said the LNG proposal and the timeframe “sounds like another rushed project, redolent of the [Interislander] ferry fiasco”.

Environmental Defense Society chair Gary Taylor. Supplied

“Good policy, particularly when it involves significant capital investment, should not be rushed like this,” he said.

“I don’t see why the winter of 2027 is a magical winter. If time is constrained, then let’s go for winter 2028 and do it properly.”

Claims of more industry exits if a dry year occured in the meantime were just that, he said.

“Those with vested interests do tend to wave shrouds to support their cause.”

Instead, additional time could be used for a more considered analysis of the proposal and its alternatives, along with more meaningful engagement during the political process.

“It would enable much better consideration than you’re going to get through a rushed select committee process if this proposed bill is put through the House under urgency,” Taylor said.

Multiple reports, including one commissioned by the government, have warned that imported LNG should only be considered as a last resort.

An annex to the Cabinet paper, comparing LNG to alternatives such as diesel peakers, concluded LNG could be brought online faster than any other option – though it gave a timeframe as late as 2029 to get a facility operational.

No substantive consideration was given to grid-scale battery storage systems, or rooftop solar.

Large-scale battery technology had not progessed enough to cover “long-duration cover needs”, while rooftop solar would not provide enough additional energy during winter, when supply was most likely to be a problem, the annex said.

Cabinet proposal mirrors independent report details

Much of the detail in the Cabinet paper mirrored the findings of an independent report commissioned from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) last year by the four gentailers – Contact, Genesis, Mercury and Meridian.

That report recommended LNG only as a fuel of last resort and recommended a $2 per megawatt hour (MWh) levy across all gas and electricity users to make it economically feasible.

The Cabinet paper referenced the BCG report several times, including its estimate of a $10/MWh saving on electricity prices.

A spokesperson for Watts’ office said the $10/MWh was “estimated by MBIE based on Concept Consulting modelling and MBIE’s analysis”, but said it was also consistent with the BCG estimate.

That $10 figure – together with the final proposed levy of between $2 and $4 – appeared to be the basis of the government’s claim that households would save an average $50 on their annual power bills.

A net $8/MWh saving – if it were passed on in its entirety – would translate to between $56 for an average household using 7MWh of electricity a year.

Watts’ spokesperson did not confirm whether that calculation was the same one the government had arrived at.

A natural gas rig in Taranaki. Supplied

The Cabinet paper underscored the importance of not creating an ongoing dependency on LNG, which it said would risk an overall increase in power bills.

“Put simply, LNG should function as an insurance product: available when required but used only infrequently. Perhaps counterintuitively, LNG provides the greatest benefit when it is available as back-up and rarely used.”

BCG partner and report author Richard Hobbs said having LNG as a stand-by option in that way broadly made sense, but BCG had made many other recommendations.

“In and of itself, it’s not a silver bullet. There are a lot of other things that need to be done.”

The government needed to keep up the pace of renewables development, and address domestic gas supply and demand.

That included focusing on extracting what remained in existing gas fields – not exploring for new fields that could take a decade or more to come online.

The major gap was “really around the demand side, where there is not a programme to support users to transition from gas to electricity or biomass”, Hobbs said.

His report had recommended a $200 million fund to assist that transition.

The government scrapped the Labour-led government’s Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry (GIDI) fund, which served a similar purpose.

The Cabinet paper noted the need to “continue efforts to strengthen domestic gas supply and ensure alternatives like biomass and electrification continue in parallel, to create optionality, not dependency [on LNG]”.

It noted the BCG recommendation to set up a transition fund but did not endorse or suggest such a policy.

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LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/02/12/government-wants-to-bypass-fast-track-process-for-proposed-liquefied-natural-gas-terminal/

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Health experts call on Pharmac to fund female-specific testosterone

Source: Radio New Zealand

A woman applies post-menopause hormone gel. COLLANGES / BSIP via AFP

An endocrinologist says more than half the women she sees on testosterone for low libido are taking too high a dose, and she and her colleagues are calling on Pharmac to finally fund a female-specific product.

Pharmac is set to consider funding AndroFeme 1 on Thursday, which unfunded costs anywhere between $150 and $250 for a three-month supply, depending on the pharmacy.

To avoid that cost, many women are prescribed a funded alternative, called Testogel, which is formulated for men.

Testosterone is usually thought of as a male hormone, but it is also found in women. It is prescribed to treat low libido, also know as Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD), in women who are postmenopausal.

Women’s health advocate and director of Cala Clinic, Jenna Scullin, explained: “Similar to males, women’s testosterone levels decline gradually over their lifetime.

“By the time a woman is at a menopausal age, it has often halved.”

Men who needed a boost of the hormone had the choice of four funded products, whereas women had no funded options.

Pharmac has twice declined to fund AndroFeme 1, first in 2024, saying the eligibility criteria (“postmenopausal women with HSDD”) was not appropriate and posed significant barriers to equitable access for women – particularly for women who, for cultural reasons, did not wish to undergo aspects of an HSDD diagnosis.

It also considered there was an “uncertain health benefit” in using AndroFeme 1 over the unapproved, or off-label use of Testogel, saying that if equivalent doses were administered, there should not be a significant difference in their effect.

At that stage, the discussion document showed there were 2300 people dispensed Testogel between February and November, and approximately 46 percent of those identified as female.

In 2025, the decision was reassessed, and the result was “no formal recommendation” which meant the previous decision stood – but this time Pharmac noted there was a need to fund a product with an appropriate dose for women, to minimise potential harm.

Endochrinologist Dr Anna Fenton from Oxford Women’s Health explained there was no research on how testosterone was metabolised by the female body.

Endochrinologist Dr Anna Fenton from Oxford Women’s Health. Supplied / Oxford Women’s Health

“Women are being prescribed this without the appropriate baseline testing without, often, follow-up blood testing to make sure the level is appropriate.”

And it could be difficult for women to work out the correct dose of Testogel when it came out of the pump bottle, she said.

“It’s very hard to titrate the dose of a blob of gel, which is what you get from the pump dispenser, into something that is a quarter or a fifth of that dose, which is possibly what’s appropriate for women.”

Fenton said more than half of the women she treated who had been prescribed Testogel were showing testosterone levels that were too high.

“I had a woman the other day who had 12 times the upper end of the female range, so it was well into the male range.”

Side effects included greasy skin, acne or extra body hair growth, but at the extreme end, it could lead to changes in voice or enlargement of the genitals – and those effects were permanent, Fenton said.

New Zealand had “the bare minimum” available when it came to hormone replacements, which included things like oestrogen patches, trailing behind the likes of Australia, the UK, US, and Canada.

She, along with fellow endocrinologists Dr Megan Ogilvie, Dr Sylvia Rosevear, Dr Susannah O’Sullivan and Dr Sasha Nair, have made a joint submission to Pharmac ahead of its meeting, endorsed by the Australasian Menopause Society, urging it to prioritise “evidence-based, female-specific therapies” and fund AndroFeme 1.

“We urge Pharmac to refrain from normalising the use of male-formulated testosterone products in women.”

The company behind Testogel, Pharmaco, has made no claims of its safety for women.

It supplied RNZ with a statement, saying: “Testogel is a prescription medicine specifically formulated and approved to be used by men with low testosterone levels. The relevant data sheets and Consumer Medicine Information clearly state that the medicine should not be used by women.”

Pharmac director for advice and assessment David Hughes confirmed AndroFeme’s application was on the agenda for the Pharmacology and Therapeutics Advisory Committee (PTAC) meeting on Thursday.

“PTAC gives Pharmac clinical advice to help us make decisions about how to use our funding,” he said in a statement. “The committee reviews the evidence behind funding applications and looks at how strong and reliable that evidence is.”

He said a recently-received a submission would be discussed at the meeting.

Pharmac would aim to publish the provisional recommendation online within 30 days of the meeting, although that could be subject to change.

Female testosterone deficiency ‘more than just a low libido’ – health advocate

Scullin said one in three women between the ages of 40 and 64 experienced the effects of reduced sexual desire.

“It’s more than just a low libido, we see that it affects women’s mental health, it affects their social functioning, their relationships, their confidence and their overall wellbeing.

“There’s this view sometimes that a woman’s sexual function is not essential,” she said. “But when a man comes forward with needing assistance, there’s one of four funded options accessible to him.”

She said while some GPs and specialists were comfortable prescribing Testogel to women despite the lack of safety data, a number were not, “so it’s not just that we’re asking for a female-formulated option, but in many cases we’re actually asking for an option for women”.

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

LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/02/12/health-experts-call-on-pharmac-to-fund-female-specific-testosterone/

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Inquest into death of Nicholas Kahotea, soldier who fell from helicopter during training

Source: Radio New Zealand

Lance Corporal Nicholas Kahotea, of the 1st NZSAS Regiment, who died in a training accident in South Auckland on 8 May. Defence Force / Supplied

An inquest into the death of a special forces trooper during a training exercise in south Auckland hopes to find out what went wrong.

Lance Corporal Nicholas Kahotea fell to his death in May of 2019 while training to dismount from a Blackhawk helicopter onto the edge of a building.

Kahotea was leading his SAS regiment through what should have been a routine training exercise.

The men were excited to perform their first bump landing, a helicopter manoeuvre meant to get soldiers onto the roof of a building as quickly as possible.

It was part of a joint exercise with the United States military, using its top-of-the-line Blackhawk helicopters to train for counter-terrorism operations.

One of Kahotea’s fellow soldiers, whose identity is suppressed and can only be referred to as call sign 63, said the team was enthusiastic.

“I’m not sure whose decision it was but we were told the next [exercise]’s going to be a bump landing. And we were pretty excited about it,” he said.

“When we got told we were going to do a bump landing at nighttime it didn’t matter to us, we do training at night all the time. We were excited to get another skill under our belt.”

A bump landing involves setting just one wheel on the edge of a building and hovering steady while the troops step off.

Call sign 63 was first off the helicopter.

“I could see the dispatcher giving me the signal to go … I looked down and confirmed it was safe for me to drop,” he continued.

“I simply managed to step onto the roof, no worries.

“As the first man off the helicopter my job is to ensure the area at the front is clear and protect the people still on the helicopter. The threat to me and my team is out to my front. In this training exercise my main threat was the stairs off the roof, so that’s where I was looking.”

Two more soldiers dropped from the helicopter, and the exercise continued as call sign 63 moved to the stairs.

“When I got to the stairs I felt a tap on my shoulder, this indicated to me we were ready to proceed,” he said.

“I can’t recall if the next thing I heard was over the radio or if it was one of the guys behind me. It was saying man down, man down. No duff. One of your men is down on the other side of the building. No duff means it’s a serious situation.”

CCTV footage of the exercise shows the helicopter sway, as the gap between it and the roof inches wider.

That gap was the distance between life and death.

Kahotea fell several metres, sustaining catastrophic injuries. He later died in hospital.

This week, almost seven years later, a coronial inquest will recount the tragic event in detail and make recommendations to avoid similar accidents in the future.

Kahotea’s partner, Dr Sophie Walker, criticised the Defence Force’s approach to the exercise.

“A bump insertion is not a static or benign manoeuvre,” she said.

“This is a dynamic and inherently unstable balance. From a physics perspective, the Black Hawk’s mass means very small changes in altitude create very large force transfers that promote tail movement.”

She hoped the inquest would lead to answers and accountability.

“Our hope is that the findings of this inquest will ensure no other family will encounter the consequences of systemic risk assessment failure,” she said through tears.

“Loss is not something that just happened in May of 2019 … It is something that I wake up to every day. It is having to accept over and over that this is my life.”

Defence Force lawyer Sally McKechnie admitted it did not fully appreciate the risks of the manoeuvre at the time.

She said the NZDF had thoroughly investigated its processes since Kahotea’s death and had made improvements.

The inquest will continue through to Friday.

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

LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/02/12/inquest-into-death-of-nicholas-kahotea-soldier-who-fell-from-helicopter-during-training/

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Golf: Hope that Asia-Pacific tournament will inspire girls to take on the world

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand golfer Eunseo Choi at the 2025 Augusta National Women’s Amateur. DAVID CANNON / AFP

Golf New Zealand believes this week’s Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific championship has the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy for the game here.

Eighty-four players from 25 countries will take part in the tournament at Royal Wellington with a career-changing opportunity for the winner.

Current world number one Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand won the inaugural tournament in 2018 with the champion receiving invitations to play a number of key tournaments around the world, including three majors.

New Zealand has 10 players taking part, while many others, not quite at that level, will be on course to see the best amateur players in the region.

The growth of boys golf in New Zealand is on a high and while the interest in the girls game is also on the increase, Golf New Zealand would like to see more.

There are more than 2000 under-19 female players registered in New Zealand, an increase of 450 in the past year.

Golf New Zealand’s talent development manager, Liz McKinnon, said hosting the Asia-Pacific women’s tournament here for the first time provided a great opportunity to showcase the women’s game and to help young players in New Zealand.

“There is the obvious impact for our players that are participating, but also for our girls that aren’t at that level yet about the awareness of the event being here. The exposure and the opportunity to watch the event and see the best players from the Asia-Pacific region.”

Wellington golfer Elise Barber. Supplied / WAAP

Many eyes will be on 13-year-old Wellington player Elise Barber who got a late call-up to the event.

She joins a strong New Zealand contingent that includes top-ranked Kiwi Eunseo Choi, who finished 13th at the 2025 championship, and Vivian Lu, who will make her sixth WAAP appearance.

Elise is a Royal Wellington member and WAAP (Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific) Academy graduate and will be the youngest player in the field.

The Queen Margaret College year 9 student, who plays off a +2.3 handicap, had a strong 2025 season including winning her age division at the Australian Junior Championships. She also helped Wellington secure third at the New Zealand Women’s Interprovincial Tournament.

Glenda Swan, who managed Wellington’s interprovincial team and has watched Elise’s development, believes she could be the next big star.

“She has a really well rounded game for her age and what separates her from others her age is her consistency and composure … she is now thinking her way around the course.”

Swan has also been involved in organising the 353 volunteers needed to help the tournament run smoothly.

While the Royal and Ancient Golf Club (R&A) has control of the running of the tournament and the financing of of the players, Royal Wellington club members and the volunteers are those on the ground helping the players and the hoped-for 10,000 spectators enjoy their experience.

Swan said volunteers (aged from 11 to 87) had come from all over the country to help from traffic management to kitchen helpers, scorers and caddies.

Royal Wellington hosted the men’s equivalent tournament in 2017.

New Zealand has 10 players taking part – Eunseo Choi, Vivian Lu, Emma Zheng, Darae Chung, Caitlin Maurice, Juwon Kim, Chloe So, Cherry Lee, Teresa Wang and Elise Barber.

Jeneath Wong of Malaysia will defend her title, while there is a strong contingent from Singapore, China and Australia.

Royal Wellington Golf club house. Marty Melville / PHOTOSPORT

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

LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/02/12/golf-hope-that-asia-pacific-tournament-will-inspire-girls-to-take-on-the-world/

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HGC Announces Appointment of Cliff Tam as Chief Commercial Officer of International Business

Source: Media Outreach

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 11 February 2026 – HGC Global Communications(“HGC” or “the Group”) a fully-fledged network operator with extensive global coverage and ICT solution provider, has appointed Cliff Tam as Chief Commercial Officer – International Business, effective immediately. This strategic appointment reinforces HGC’s commitment to accelerating the growth of its international business (“IB”), deepening global network solutions, and advancing the Group’s position as a trusted enabler of international connectivity and digital infrastructure worldwide.

Cliff Tam is appointed as Chief Commercial Officer – International business of HGC

In his new role, Cliff will spearhead the Group’s international commercial strategy, leading the IB organisation to sharpen its global focus, deepen niche market penetration. He will champion the shared network philosophy in Southeast Asia (“SEA”) region to drive next-generation ready digital infrastructure development and capture new opportunities arising from AI adoption and global digital transformation. Leveraging HGC’s regional network cluster, Cliff will support companies in achieving seamless cross-border integration from Hong Kong as a key telecommunications hub across Chinese Mainland, and other international markets. Meanwhile, Ravindran Mahalingam, Senior Vice President – International Business & Digital Infrastructure, will support Cliff in identifying in-country projects across SEA and driving scalable and sustainable businesses for the Group.

With over 30 years of industry experience, Cliff brings a strategic global perspective that align with evolving needs of today’s interconnected digital economy and rapidly changing global environment. He has been repeatedly recognised by Capacity Power 100 as one of the most influential leaders in the telecommunications industry, underscoring his impact on shaping international carrier and digital ecosystem trends.

Andrew Kwok, Chief Executive Officer of HGC, said “Cliff’s appointment marks a significant step forward in HGC’s global development. As we establish a next-generation regional telecommunications network, encompassing international connectivity, local networks, and strategic network hubs, also incorporating AI development to future-proof our infrastructure. By leveraging HGC’s global network cluster, we will strengthen an interconnected telecom ecosystem that further reinforce Hong Kong’s status as one of the leading international telecommunications hub and support the continued evolution of the global digital economy.”

Cliff Tam, Chief Commercial Officer – International Business of HGC, said, “I am honoured to assume this role and remain focused on driving long‑term value for HGC’s international business. By deepening collaboration with our regional and global partners, we will advance the shared network philosophy to support companies respond to fast changing market dynamics driven by AI and emerging technologies. With HGC’s extensive international connectivity and embracement to AI adoption, we will empower OTTs, hyerscalers and enterprises to expand across borders, evolve in global markets, and accelerate their digital transformation. I look forward to leading our team in shaping new possibilities and strengthening HGC’s position as a trusted international partner in the rapidly evolving global digital landscape.”

Hashtag: #HGC

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/02/11/hgc-announces-appointment-of-cliff-tam-as-chief-commercial-officer-of-international-business/

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The Inaugural “AI in Education Forum Series & Showcase” Successfully Held

Source: Media Outreach

Accelerating AI Integration into Educational Settings to Enhance Learning and Teaching Effectiveness

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 11 February 2026 – In alignment with the national “15th Five-Year Plan” recommendations to fully implement the “AI+” initiative, empowering high-quality development of education through comprehensive digitalisation, and in response to the Education Bureau’s “AI for Empowering Learning and Teaching Funding Programme”, the Education Bureau, HKPC Academy of the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) and Hong Kong Education City (EdCity) jointly organised the inaugural “AI in Education Forum Series & Showcase” on 5 to 6 February 2026. This education showcase was one of the key themes under the “AI with HKPC” Smart Solutions Showcase Series organized by HKPC. The three-day event attracted over 5,000 representatives from the Government, industry, academia, and research. Among them, nearly 3,000 attendees participated in education-themed events, including principals and teachers from more than 250 primary and secondary schools, coming together to explore innovative applications of AI in education. The series of events was a resounding success.

The opening ceremony took place on the afternoon of 5 February and was officiated by Dr SZE Chun Fai, Jeff, JP, Under Secretary for Education, Dr Lawrence CHEUNG Chi-chong, Chief Technology Officer of HKPC; and Mr Armstrong LEE Hon Cheung, Chairman of EdCity, who delivered welcoming speech. The exhibition was rich in content, featuring over 60 booths showcasing a wide range of EdTech Solutions. It also included more than 20 seminars, workshops and demonstration lessons, where experts and industry leaders analysed education trends and teaching strategies. On-site services encompassed EdTech pitching sessions and one-on-one consultations, with professionals from HKPC Academy assisting schools according to their school-based development needs in selecting the most suitable e-learning and AI education solutions, while addressing challenges encountered in implementing digital education.

Dr Lawrence CHEUNG Chi-chong, Chief Technology Officer of HKPC, said: “HKPC fully supports the HKSAR Government in promoting digital education and helping schools seize the opportunities of the AI era. To align with the Education Bureau’s latest ‘AI for Empowering Learning and Teaching Funding Programme’ and support teachers’ professional training, HKPC Academy has established the EdTech Hub to drive the development of digital education. The Hub provides schools with AI tools and student training. We will continue to support the education sector in advancing the application of technology in teaching and learning, injecting more innovative elements into Hong Kong education and strengthening the innovation and technology talent hub.”

Principal Panel: AI Teaching Practices and Strategies

In response to the HKSAR Government’s policy direction to promote digital education, the event is committed to advancing the application of AI in schools and enhancing teaching and learning experiences. The Principal Panel invited multiple highly experienced principals to share the challenges, opportunities, and practical experiences encountered in applying AI to support teaching. In the sharing session titled “Achieve More with Less: AI Integration Strategies for Hong Kong Schools”, six principals with extensive experience in AI education detailed how to effectively leverage AI technologies to optimise teaching processes, enhance learning efficiency, and deliver genuine effectiveness-enhancing opportunities for schools.

Showcasing Innovative EdTech Achievements

The exhibition highlighted 22 projects supported under the Quality Education Fund (QEF) e-Learning Ancillary Facilities Programme (eLAFP), 9 of which have been successfully launched. Developed by universities, school sponsoring bodies and EdTech organisations, these projects leverage advanced technologies including AI, big data, virtual reality and augmented reality to support students across different subjects and grades, driving innovation in teaching models.

Among the featured projects is the “Metaverse English Learning World” developed by the Chinese Young Men’s Christian Association of Hong Kong (YMCA). Designed for upper primary to junior secondary students, it enables learners to interact with AI chatbots via the English speaking and listening platform “My AI Buddy” in an immersive virtual environment, enabling students to enhance their oral proficiency in a natural and engaging way. Another project is the “Lambda Math” Secondary Mathematics Learning Platform, developed by The Chinese University of Hong Kong. It delivers personalised content-based on individual student progress and includes an extensive library of over 4,500 questions, 250 interactive programs and 430 instructional videos. This assists teachers in optimising instruction through data analysis and achieves deeper learning outcomes for students.

Dr CHAN Kai Leung, Lecturer in the Department of Mathematics at The Chinese University of Hong Kong remarked, “We are grateful to the HKPC Academy for organising this exhibition, which provided us with the opportunity to engage with numerous principals and mathematics teachers and gain deeper insights into the actual needs of schools. Following the event, inquiries, trial applications and subscription numbers for the ‘Lambda Math’ Secondary Mathematics Learning Platform increased significantly.”

Another representative from a QEF eLAFP-supported project, Mr WONG Wai-kit, the Officer-in-charge (Education) of Yan Chai Hospital stated, “As one of the projects supported by QEF eLAFP, the ‘LATTE’ platform integrates English reading paper analysis with AI and big data technology to provide diverse reading materials. It effectively caters to different learning needs and helps teachers conduct assessment and follow-up using AI. We are pleased that the platform has received positive feedback from many principals and teachers. We thank the organisers for their support and for working together to advance smart teaching.”

Accelerating AI Integration into Teaching

The event also introduced the “AI for Empowering Learning and Teaching Funding Programme” launched earlier by the Education Bureau. HKPC Academy explained the programme on-site and assisted schools in planning the use of funding to integrate AI into daily teaching, thereby enhancing the comprehensiveness and effectiveness of learning and teaching. In addition, HKPC Academy has specially designed a series of AI education-focused training courses for local primary and secondary schools as well as special educational needs (SEN) schools. The courses cover AI literacy development, language learning enhancement, handwritten mathematics assessment, no-code game creation, and professional SEN teaching support. These initiatives help schools effectively plan and implement AI integration, promoting the development of inclusive education.

Hashtag: #HKPC

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/02/11/the-inaugural-ai-in-education-forum-series-showcase-successfully-held/

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Second AD-Linkage x Alibaba AI Bootcamp Concludes Successfully; AD-Linkage Becomes First Institution to Offer CEF-Subsidized Hybrid Learning Programs

Source: Media Outreach

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 11 February 2026 – AD-Linkage, in collaboration with Alibaba AITIC, has successfully concluded its second AI-themed bootcamp at Alibaba’s headquarters in Shenzhen. Held over two consecutive days from February 7 to 8, 2026, the program attracted 20 participants from various industries in Hong Kong, focusing on “AI-Driven Automated Marketing and AI Agent Implementation” and enabling attendees to experience the real-world application potential of AI agents in business scenarios.

The bootcamp was closely aligned with the latest developments in AI, centering on how AI Agents and AI RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) can be applied to content marketing and workflow automation. The curriculum unpacked the three-layer architecture of “Tools – Intelligence – Automation,” helping learners understand the practical path from using a single AI tool to building enterprise-level intelligent automation systems.

In the hands-on sessions, participants used Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book) marketing as the core scenario. They practiced leveraging Kimi and DeepSeek for viral topic discovery and trend analysis, designed structured prompts to generate on-brand copy and short video scripts, and completed visual assets with tools such as Jimeng AI and Canva. Over the two-day program, participants also learned how to use N8N to build automated Xiaohongshu workflows, including scheduling the scraping of trending content, storing data in Lark Base, triggering AI for secondary content creation and sensitive word detection, and using browser automation tools for multi-account scheduled posting—ultimately constructing a fully operational system for “Content Factory + Scheduling + Data Feedback.”

Driving a New Mode of Flexible Learning: Pioneering CEF-Subsidized Hybrid Courses

AD-Linkage also announced that it has become the first training institution in Hong Kong to offer courses that are both accredited by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ) and subsidized by the Continuing Education Fund (CEF) under a hybrid learning model. The programs are designed in a hybrid format, with part of the classes delivered via live online teaching and the remainder conducted through in-person classroom sessions. Learners attend at scheduled times either through an online classroom or by joining on-site, combining interactive online learning with face-to-face instruction to provide more flexible study options for working professionals.

Through structured live online sessions combined with in-person workshops, learners are guided by instructors to master theoretical frameworks and then participate in case discussions and practical exercises in the classroom, turning what they have learned into actionable solutions for real work scenarios. As these programs are listed as CEF-recognized courses, eligible learners can apply for government subsidies to lower their financial barrier to further study and continuously enhance their AI and digital transformation skills. Education providers interested in adopting a hybrid online–offline teaching model are welcome to contact AD-Linkage’s curriculum design consultancy team and visit: https://bit.ly/3ZxJNq3 for more information.

Management on Future Vision and AI Training Strategy

“By launching HKCAAVQ-accredited and CEF-subsidized hybrid learning programs, we aim to respond to the time and cost constraints faced by working professionals in Hong Kong, enabling more practitioners to master core AI and digital transformation capabilities in a more flexible way,” said Horace, Founder and Course Director of AD-Linkage. “At the same time, we hope to set a practical example for combining online and offline hybrid teaching in Hong Kong, and to help drive the wider adoption of such models across the local education and training sector.”

He added, “The AITIC bootcamp held at Alibaba’s Shenzhen headquarters focused on turning technologies such as AI Agents, AI RAG and automated workflows into practical skills that can be immediately applied to real business scenarios. Participants were not just learning theory; they were building fully functional automated marketing systems with their own hands, truly converting AI into a productivity tool for their organizations.”

About AD-Linkage and Upcoming Programs

AD-Linkage is a professional training institution dedicated to serving working professionals and corporate clients in Hong Kong. Its programs cover practical areas including digital marketing, AI applications and new media marketing. With a core philosophy of “practice-oriented and industry-aligned,” AD-Linkage designs courses that combine online theoretical learning with offline case studies and hands-on workshops via a hybrid teaching model, accommodating the busy schedules of working adults while ensuring that learning outcomes can be directly applied at work.

AD-Linkage is also actively expanding local and international partnerships, including collaborating with organizations such as Alibaba AITIC to host AI-themed bootcamps and corporate exchange activities. The institution continues to introduce the latest AI technologies and commercial application cases into Hong Kong, helping more professionals and SMEs seize opportunities in digitalization and intelligent transformation.

The next program co-organized by AD-Linkage and Alibaba AITIC will focus on “Building AI Assistants,” guiding learners from the application level to the stage of creating their own AI assistants. Participants will learn how to design, deploy and optimize AI assistants tailored to their specific business scenarios. For enquiries and registration, please visit: https://cef.ad-linkage.com/

Hashtag: #AD-Linkage

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/02/11/second-ad-linkage-x-alibaba-ai-bootcamp-concludes-successfully-ad-linkage-becomes-first-institution-to-offer-cef-subsidized-hybrid-learning-programs/

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APAS Made Debut at Industry Flagship Event Asia Photonics Expo 2026 in Singapore Showcases Automotive Photonics Innovations

Source: Media Outreach

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 11 February 2026 – Centre of Advanced Power and Autonomous Systems (APAS), under the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC), made its first-ever appearance at the Asia Photonics Expo (APE 2026)—Asia’s leading platform for photonics technology innovation—held in Singapore from 4 to 6 February. During the exhibition, APAS showcased its advanced automotive photonics R&D achievements to photonics experts and enterprises in the field from across Asia and around the world. Featured innovations included an Automotive-grade MEMS Drive OIS Actuator and an Augmented Reality Head-up Display for Commercial Vehicles.

Meanwhile, APAS organised the “Go Global to Southeast Asia: Singapore Photonics and Emerging Industries Delegation“, leading representatives from Hong Kong and Chinese Mainland enterprises to participate in APE 2026 as well as a series of site visits and exchange activities. This initiative aimed to present Hong Kong’s comprehensive R&D and industrial strengths in photonics and emerging sectors to the international community. It also sought to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in understanding market dynamics and technological trends in Singapore’s photonics and emerging industries, facilitate cross-regional business networking, and support enterprises in expanding into Southeast Asian and global markets.

Mr Yonghai DU, Chief Innovation Officer of HKPC and General Manager of APAS, said, “The ’15th Five-Year Plan’ Recommendations emphasise fostering emerging industries and accelerating the development of industrial clusters in strategic emerging fields such as new energy and new materials. Over the years, HKPC has been committed to helping enterprises turn R&D outcomes into competitive market application solutions. APAS focuses on R&D in various technological fields, including green transportation, smart mobility, intelligent systems and emerging applications. By collaborating with industry, academia and research institutions, APAS transforms R&D outcomes into commercially viable products and solutions, thereby enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness in the fields of new energy vehicles and intelligent driving”.

“Photonics plays an irreplaceable role in data acquisition, transmission and processing, and is therefore critical to the field of intelligent driving. This is APAS’s first participation in the APE, together with the organisation of a delegation to Southeast Asia, aims to lay a more solid foundation for the long-term development of automotive photonics technologies, while supporting businesses in expanding into photonics and emerging industries markets in Southeast Asia”.

First Debut in APE 2026 to Deepen International Photonics Industry Connections
Photonics technologies are widely applied across various sectors, including communications, information technology, healthcare, industrial manufacturing and energy. Held in Singapore, APE 2026 is one of the most influential events in the photonics industry in Asia. It brought together research institutions, technology companies and industry leaders from around the world to showcase cutting-edge technologies and innovative application scenarios across the entire photonics value chain. As a leading R&D institution in new energy and intelligent driving, APAS made its debut at APE 2026, leveraging its R&D strengths to contribute to technological collaboration and application innovation within the photonics industry. It not only helps Hong Kong and Chinese Mainland enterprises build bridges to the global photonics industry and expand market opportunities, but also supports Hong Kong’s active integration into the international photonics ecosystem, further promoting cross-regional technology exchange and industrial collaboration.

As a member of the HKSAR Government’s “Task Force on Supporting Mainland Enterprises in Going Global”, HKPC also shared its comprehensive “GoGlobal” services with exhibition participants during the event. These services include smart manufacturing, technology research and assessment, international standards and testing, professional services, training and study missions, as well as funding schemes—highlighting Hong Kong’s unique advantages in supporting enterprises’ global expansion. Ms Teresa POON, Deputy Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Singapore, visited the APAS booth to learn about the latest automotive photonics technologies and R&D achievements in Hong Kong, and to exchange views on the city’s strengths in the photonics industry.

In addition, Dr Rick MO, Head of Business Development and Commercialisation and Head of Emerging Applications of APAS, was invited to deliver a keynote speech on the impact of 2D material semiconductor innovations on the future development of smart mobility and high-end manufacturing. The APAS team has been deeply involved in the field of third-generation semiconductors for many years. Its development of silicon carbide-based systems and controllers have significantly improved the energy efficiency and driving range of new energy vehicles. Looking ahead, the team will explore the replacement of traditional chip electronic signals with optical signals, further advancing the application and development of related technologies.

Advancing Automotive Photonics R&D to Support Smart Mobility and Smart City Development
During APE 2026, APAS set up a dedicated exhibition zone to showcase its latest automotive photonics solutions in support of smart mobility and smart city development. The exhibits included:

  • Automotive-grade MEMS Drive OIS Actuator: The technology is designed to stabilise imager sensor shifts in Full HD dash cameras. It effectively reduces image shake caused by road vibrations or cornering, significantly enhancing image stability and clarity. When combined with object detection and recognition capabilities, the dash camera prototype can continuously deliver clear images and reliable driving records, even in busy urban areas, on winding roads or in tunnels, and in adverse weather conditions. This helps to improve overall road safety.
  • Augmented Reality Head-up Display for Commercial Vehicles: By combining virtual images with the real-world view, key driving information such as navigation routes, vehicle speed and safety alerts, is projected directly onto the windshield. This allows drivers to access critical information without having to divert their gaze, thereby enhancing driving focus and safety. The solution can also be optimised for the practical operating scenarios of commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks.

Promoting International R&D Exchange and Exploring Southeast Asian Market Opportunities
In addition to participating in APE 2026, the “Go Global to Southeast Asia: Singapore Photonics and Emerging Industries Delegation” arranged visits for enterprise representatives to several world-class universities and research institutions in Singapore, including Nanyang Technological University, the National University of Singapore, Singapore University of Technology and Design, and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research. These visits provided in-depth insights into the latest R&D and technology commercialisation cases in areas such as quantum photonics, smart sensing, semiconductors and emerging applications, enabling participants to better grasp market trends and collaboration opportunities in photonics and emerging industries.

Through this series of visits and exchanges, HKPC and APAS played a bridging role in showcasing Hong Kong’s R&D capabilities and industrial strengths in photonics and smart mobility to the global community, supporting SMEs in capturing opportunities in the Southeast Asian market, and promoting the long-term development of the photonics and smart mobility industries.

Hashtag: #HKPC #APAS

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/02/11/apas-made-debut-at-industry-flagship-event-asia-photonics-expo-2026-in-singapore-showcases-automotive-photonics-innovations/

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Dead possum found in Roxburgh reservoir triggers boil water notice for area

Source: Radio New Zealand

RNZ / Nate McKinnon

A dead possum in the Roxburgh reservoir has triggered a boil water notice for the area.

The Central Otago District Council (CODC) said the possum was found during an unrelated inspection on Wednesday, and it’s not known how long it’s been in the water.

It has since issued a boil water notice for Roxburgh and the Lake Roxburgh Village, which would remain in place until the network had been flushed.

CODC said three times a week sampling hadn’t indicated degraded water quality, and a full investigation was underway to find out how the possum got inside the reservoir.

It said the reservoir which would remain isolated until it had been fully disinfected and any possum entry points addressed.

CODC’s Julie Muir said the notice could be lifted as early as Thursday.

Two water tankers would be available at Roxburgh School and Lake Roxburgh Village Hall on Wednesday evening.

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

LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/02/11/dead-possum-found-in-roxburgh-reservoir-triggers-boil-water-notice-for-area/

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medisana Strengthens Home Healthcare Access in Malaysia and Brunei Through Strategic Partnership with DKSH

Source: Media Outreach

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach Newswire – 11 February 2026 – medisana, a trusted global brand in home health and wellness solutions, has announced a strategic partnership with DKSH Business Unit Healthcare to expand distribution and commercial execution for its medical device portfolio across Malaysia and Brunei. This collaboration marks a significant step in medisana’s commitment to making reliable home healthcare monitoring solutions more accessible to individuals, families, and communities across the region.

Under this partnership, DKSH will support medisana with comprehensive market expansion services, encompassing sales, merchandising, distribution, and logistics across all retail and institutional pharmacy channels. With DKSH’s extensive pharmacy network and deep healthcare expertise, the collaboration will accelerate medisana’s growth in key medical device categories, including blood pressure monitors, thermometers, inhalers, TENS machines, pulse oximeters, blood glucose meters, and blood glucose strips.

Michael Gao Feng, Managing Director at medisana, stated:
“Our mission has always been to empower people to better manage their health at home. Partnering with DKSH enables us to strengthen our presence in Malaysia and Brunei while ensuring that our trusted home healthcare solutions are accessible through more pharmacy touchpoints. DKSH’s strong distribution capabilities and understanding of the healthcare landscape make them an ideal partner for our continued expansion in Asia.”

Sandeep Tewari, Vice President, Healthcare and Head, Country Leadership, Malaysia at DKSH, added:
“We are proud to welcome medisana to DKSH’s healthcare portfolio. By combining medisana’s trusted medical device solutions with DKSH’s extensive commercial reach and execution excellence, we aim to expand access to high-quality home healthcare monitoring devices and drive sustainable growth across Malaysia and Brunei, ultimately enriching people’s lives by providing healthcare for all.”

The partnership underscores medisana’s continued commitment to innovation, accessibility, and improving quality of life through user‑friendly healthcare technologies. As demand for home health monitoring continues to rise, medisana will leverage this collaboration to deepen its footprint across Southeast Asia and provide greater support to healthcare professionals and consumers alike.

http://medisana.asia/my-en
https://www.facebook.com/medisana.my
https://www.instagram.com/medisana.my

Hashtag: #medisana #healthwellness

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/02/11/medisana-strengthens-home-healthcare-access-in-malaysia-and-brunei-through-strategic-partnership-with-dksh/

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New satellite imagery shows recent storms triggered more than 11,000 slips on East Cape

Source: Radio New Zealand

A new satellite map has revealed the scale of devastation across the East Cape following a January storm. Supplied / Dragonfly Data Science

Recent severe storms have triggered more than 11,000 slips on the East Cape, according to satellite imagery.

Heavy rainfall caused widespread damage and flooding in parts of the North Island in January, with Te Araroa and Hicks Bay some of the hardest hit areas on the east coast.

The communities remain isolated from one another, with multiple landslides blocking State Highway 35, which remains shut to the public between Pōtaka and Te Araroa.

The Transport Agency said the ground was still moving, and further slips have been reported over the weekend near a large landslide at Punaruku – estimated to be 250,000 cubic metres.

Dragonfly Data Science said its before-and-after satellite imagery of the East Cape revealed the scale of the devastation, with comparisons providing a large-scale snapshot of where the land had moved.

It identified more than 11,000 landslips and silt damage covering 900 hectares.

The Wellington-based company said the recent storm caused significant, but concentrated destruction along the coastal northern end of the East Cape.

Dragonfly’s director Finlay Thompson said the map clearly illustrated what happened.

“It provides a birds-eye view of the area following an intense and highly localised storm event such as this, and offers an effective way of assessing how widespread and severe the damage is.”

The company developed a similar map following Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023, and Thompson believed such tools were crucial for understanding the “true scale” of such disasters.

He said these types of storms highlighted the gap between disaster response and long-term climate preparedness, and said better tools were needed to plan ahead.

“While this map isn’t a predictive tool on its own, it is an important first step. By linking storm impacts with rainfall and terrain data over multiple events, we could begin to build models that help predict where slips and flooding are most likely to occur in future.

“People’s livelihoods are at stake. While response and recovery efforts are critical and effective, the reality is that communities are living through significant disruption and loss in the meantime – and that’s something we can’t afford to treat as normal.”

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

LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/02/11/new-satellite-imagery-shows-recent-storms-triggered-more-than-11000-slips-on-east-cape/

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Republic of Singapore Yacht Club Celebrates 200 Years of Heritage with Bicentennial Charity Gala, Raising Over S$320,000 for The President’s Challenge

Source: Media Outreach

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 11 February 2026 — The Republic of Singapore Yacht Club (RSYC) marked its 200th anniversary (#RSYC200) with a Bicentennial Charity Gala Dinner on Saturday, 7 February 2026, at the club’s Nautica Ballroom.

Ceremonial cake-cutting by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Education and MP for West Coast–Jurong West GRC Mr Desmond Lee, RSYC Commodore Balakrishnan B, RSYC Vice Commodore James Yeo, and RSYC committee members

The milestone event was graced by President of the Republic of Singapore, Tharman Shanmugaratnam and attended by over 130 guests, including club members, sponsors and distinguished guests, raising funds in support for the wider community.

Bicentennial Milestone Ceremony

Founded in 1826, RSYC commemorated 200 years of rich heritage through an evening reflecting tradition and a longstanding commitment to service, tracing its journey alongside Singapore’s seafaring story as it evolved into a distinctly Singaporean and multicultural institution.

The programme opened with a Bicentennial tribute video, followed by welcome remarks by the Commodore of RSYC Mr Balakrishnan B. In honour of the club’s enduring legacy of service, fellowship and contribution to the wider community, President Tharman officiated the unveiling of the RSYC Bicentennial Plaque and the ceremonial cake-cutting, joined by Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for Education and MP for West Coast–Jurong West GRC, RSYC Commodore Mr Balakrishnan B and other members of the RSYC Committee.

The gala also marked the opening event of RSYC’s year-long bicentennial programme, designed to drive member engagement through a series of sporting and social activities held throughout 2026 (refer to Appendix for full list of #RSYC200 events in 2026), and brought together significant figures who have shaped the club across generations.

This included Mr Edward Wong, Managing Director of AWP Pte Ltd and architect of the RSYC’s current clubhouse following the club’s relocation to its present premises in 1999, as well as Mr Francis Lee, RSYC’s first Singaporean Commodore (appointed in 1985) who played a pivotal role in redefining RSYC as a national club with an international membership, while championing initiatives that strengthened sea sports development, professional training and the preservation of the club’s history.

Charity Auction in Support of President’s Challenge

The highlight of the evening was a charity auction, featuring a curated selection of rare and exclusive items, including a one-of-a-kind RSYC Bicentennial Commemorative Pure Gold Coin, limited-edition Bicentennial Pure Silver Coins, and a rare 60-year-old Martell Cognac — one of only 12 in the world — presented in a Baccarat crystal decanter.

RSYC raised a grand total of S$326,692 through the gala dinner and auction, and all proceeds were directed towards The President’s Challenge 2026 – A national movement launched in 2000 by RSYC’s former Patron, the late President S R Nathan, to rally Singaporeans in building a more caring and cohesive society, and to support communities in need.

Later in the evening, a cheque presentation was held in the presence of President Tharman, Mr Desmond Lee, RSYC Commodore Balakrishnan B, and members of the RSYC Committee, followed by a post-dinner heritage exhibition showcasing key milestones from the club’s long and distinguished history.

As a token of appreciation, all attendees were presented with a specially produced RSYC Bicentennial commemorative gold-plated coin, to mark the historic occasion.

“As we mark 200 years of the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club, this bicentennial milestone reflects our enduring maritime heritage and the values that have shaped the club over many generations. We are honoured to commemorate this historic occasion through a meaningful initiative in support of The President’s Challenge, reaffirming RSYC’s long-standing commitment to contributing positively to Singapore’s community,” said Commodore Balakrishnan B, Republic of Singapore Yacht Club.

Looking ahead, the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club will continue to build on its heritage as a premier institution, honour its seafaring legacy, and chart its next chapter for centuries more to come, through milestone occasions and activities that contribute meaningfully to national causes and Singapore’s future.

The Bicentennial Charity Gala was made possible with the support of Platinum Sponsors: Royal Salute Scotch Whiskey, Martell; Gold Sponsors: Asiatic Fire System Pte Ltd, and Marina Technology and Construction, Nippon Paint and OCBC; as well as Silver Sponsors: AWP Architects, Cloudable Solutions Pte Ltd. and Sindcon. Neo Garden served as the Official Caterer, with Adidas as the Official Merchandiser.

Appendix

#RSYC200 2026 Events

  • 27 March 2026: Back to School Social Night

A nostalgic, adult-themed social evening featuring games, food, and opportunities for members to reconnect

  • 13 June 2026: RSYC Recycled Boat Race

A sustainability-focused team event where participants build and race boats using recycled materials at the RSYC marina

  • 18, 19 & 25 July 2026: RSYC Regatta 2026

RSYC’s annual sailing regatta featuring keelboats competing in passage and short-course races across Singapore’s southern waters

  • 22 & 23 August 2026: RSYC Commodore’s Day 2026

Annual Open House and celebration welcoming members and the public, featuring water sports, carnival activities, food offerings, and the introduction of new Committee Members

  • 19 & 20 September 2026 (Silver Fleet) and 26 & 27 September 2026 (Gold Fleet): Optimist Knockout Championship 2026

A youth sailing championship organised by RSYC under the auspices of the Singapore Sailing Federation

  • 9 October 2026: RSYC Beerfest 2026

An evening festival featuring international beers, food, music, and interactive games

  • 18 October 2026: RSYC Fishing Tournament 2026

RSYC’s annual fishing competition bringing together fishing enthusiasts from across Singapore

  • 14 November 2026: RSYC Charity Cruise 2026

A community-focused charity initiative bringing volunteers and sponsors together in support of a meaningful cause

  • 4 & 5 December 2026: Christmas & Boat Light-Up 2026

A festive weekend featuring carnival activities, a holiday market, and the Christmas Boat Light-Up Parade

  • 31 December 2026: New Year’s Eve Countdown Party

A year-end celebration to welcome the New Year with music, festivities, and fellow members and guests

https://rsyc.org.sg/
https://sg.linkedin.com/company/republic-of-singapore-yacht-club
https://www.facebook.com/rsyc.sg/
https://www.instagram.com/rsycsg/

Hashtag: #RSYC200 #RepublicofSingaporeYachtClub

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/02/11/republic-of-singapore-yacht-club-celebrates-200-years-of-heritage-with-bicentennial-charity-gala-raising-over-s320000-for-the-presidents-challenge/

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Lease agreement for Kawerau site a major step forward for integrated biomass manufacturing facility

Source: Foresta Group Holdings

Message: Plans to build New Zealand’s first integrated biomass manufacturing facility to produce pine-based chemicals and low emissions fossil-free fuel to replace coal, have moved a step closer with the signing of a lease at a site at Kawerau.
ASX-listed Foresta Group Holdings Limited (“FORESTA”) has executed a formal lease with the local Māori land trust Putauaki Trust following satisfaction of the conditions precedent under the previously announced Agreement to Lease for a 9.6 ha site at Kawerau.
The lease will officially commence on 1 March 2026 for an initial term of 30 years with an option to extend the lease for another 20 years.
“This is another important milestone for the company that brings us significantly closer to breaking ground on this project which represents the first step in our vision to establish sustainable, pine chemicals and low-emissions fuel production across New Zealand,” said Foresta Executive Chairman Henry Cheng.
FORESTA’s state-of-the-art integrated biomass manufacturing facility is expected to directly employ more than 70 people as well contributing to employment in the region for businesses supporting the manufacturing facility. FORESTA intends to begin earthworks over the next summer period.
FORESTA’s directors, Executive Chairman Henry Cheng and Executive Director Dr Maurizio Fabiani, were present for an official signing ceremony on 9 February 2026 to formally execute the lease together with Putauaki Trust Chairman Tiaki Hunia and CEO John O’Brien.
The signing ceremony was hosted in the Beehive by The Hon. Shane Jones MP – Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Resources and Associate Minister for Energy.
FORESTA is set to revolutionise the energy landscape in New Zealand by manufacturing torrefied wood pellets – an eco-friendly replacement for coal, producing 90% fewer emissions. The innovative manufacturing process also generates renewable pine chemicals, which can substitute petrochemicals derived from fossil fuels in a variety of everyday products, from car tyres to cosmetics. All wood feedstock will be sourced from renewable Forest Stewardship Council-certified forests.
“By processing and adding value to local wood resources, we aim to drive economic growth in the region and contribute to New Zealand’s climate emissions targets by providing a renewable energy source that can be used in existing coal boilers,” said Henry Cheng.
“We are proud that our project has received recognition by the New Zealand Government as a project of regional and national importance, allowing us to fast-track resource consents and approvals.”
FORESTA’s scalable manufacturing process allows for the establishment of additional facilities close to forests across New Zealand, which have the potential to eliminate the need for coal to be burned domestically and have surplus production available for export to Asia.

MIL OSI

LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/02/11/lease-agreement-for-kawerau-site-a-major-step-forward-for-integrated-biomass-manufacturing-facility/

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Moa Point: Regional mayors have their say on what happens next and who will pay

Source: Radio New Zealand

Wellington Mayor Andrew Little. RNZ / Mark Papalii

Some mayors in the Wellington region have weighed in on the Moa Point sewage plant failure and who should pay for it.

The facility started pumping raw sewage into the ocean off the south coast after it completely failed early Wednesday morning last week.

On the following Thursday evening, the raw sewage was diverted from being dumped near the coast to a 1.8km outfall pipe.

Wellington Water had warned it may need to use the short outfall pipe if it were to rain in the city.

Mayor Andrew Little said the Moa Point plant was a Wellington City Council asset, and it would deal with who pays once the plan to get the plant back online was in place.

In the meantime, the council would foot the bill.

“If there’s been a breach of obligations, a breach of duties, then that – to me – has to be sorted out between the parties. In the meantime, the critical thing is to get the [plant] recovered, fixed and back operating. The Wellington City Council will no doubt underwrite that cost.

“We want to know what went wrong, where the responsibility lies and if we can recover any costs, then obviously we want to do that.”

Porirua Mayor Anita Baker said councils were waiting to see what an independent inquiry into the meltdown revealed – and who should pay – to repair the plant.

Porirua Mayor Anita Baker. SUPPLIED

Baker supported Wellington Water and said the failure could have happened to almost any plant in the region. She said the problems at Moa Point reflected nearly 50 years of councils declining to invest in water infrastructure.

Upper Hutt Mayor Peri Zee supported calls for an independent inquiry into the facility’s failings.

“We absolutely need to see accountability and in principle costs apportioned by who is at fault.”

South Wairarapa Mayor Fran Wilde said there was no reason her district should help pay to repair Moa Point. Wilde said her council had stopped Wellington Water from running its assets, and the two would part ways in June.

She said capital works had already been delivered more swiftly and at lower cost without Wellington Water.

A Hutt City Council spokesperson said they fully supported an independent review.

“It’s early days, and at this point we haven’t been provided with any information regarding the potential repair costs or if that cost would be shared across the wider Wellington region.”

The spokesperson said the council would not speculate on what might happen until the facts were on the table.

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

LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/02/11/moa-point-regional-mayors-have-their-say-on-what-happens-next-and-who-will-pay/