Category: Evening Report

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Ball, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, The University of Queensland

You may have noticed an unexpected wellness trend gaining traction online. People are claiming a daily cup of hot water (with nothing else in it) can deliver everything from weight loss and clearer skin to relief from menstrual cramps and sore throats.

The practice is often presented as simple and natural.

But are these benefits real, or is drinking hot water just another viral wellness fad?

The short answer

Drinking hot (not boiling) water is generally safe, and many people say it makes them feel better. It’s less clear why.

Any benefits may come from simply drinking more water, following a regular health routine, or from the comfort and relaxation that warmth provides, rather than from the water being hot.

In other words, it’s likely the water itself, and the habit of doing something you believe is good for you, matter more than the temperature.

While warmth can be soothing for some symptoms, current research does not show that hot water offers special health benefits beyond those of staying well hydrated.

Hydration matters more than temperature

Water, whether hot or cold, is essential for life. Staying hydrated supports digestion, circulation, kidney function, blood pressure regulation and overall wellbeing.

Research out in 2025 even suggests not drinking enough water could make handling everyday stress significantly harder.

So far, there is little strong scientific evidence showing that hot water has unique health benefits over cool water or water at room temperature, beyond what hydration alone can deliver.

Myth #1: hot water helps with weight loss

There are no high-quality human trials showing drinking hot water by itself causes meaningful weight loss.

Research on water intake more broadly suggests drinking more fluids can help with weight control by increasing feelings of fullness before meals and reducing intake of sugary or high-calorie drinks. However, the evidence is not strong enough to favour hot water over other temperatures for weight loss.

One small study suggests drinking warm water may stimulate gut movements (peristalsis), which could help digestion, but this effect was modest and does not translate into fat loss.

Put simply, if drinking hot water helps you replace sugary drinks or drink more water overall, it may support weight goals indirectly. But the temperature itself is not what “burns fat”.

Myth #2: hot water cures a sore throat

Here we have the clearest evidence that temperature can matter.

Warm fluids can soothe sore throats and help relieve nasal congestion. The warmth, and in some cases the steam, helps loosen mucus and calm irritated tissues in the throat and airways.

This effect is not unique to plain hot water. Warm teas, herbal infusions and warm lemon drinks can provide similar relief because they deliver heat and fluid together. Warm drinks are commonly recommended for upper respiratory symptoms for this reason. This is not a cure for infections or shorten illness, but the symptom relief is real and physiologically plausible.

So hot water and other warm drinks can ease symptoms even though they do not treat the underlying cause.

Myth #3: hot water clears your skin

There is no direct scientific evidence drinking hot water improves skin clarity or “detoxifies” the skin.

Staying hydrated helps maintain skin elasticity and prevents dryness. But studies do not show drinking hot water is better than drinking water at other temperatures for skin health.

Claims about hot water “detoxifying” the skin are misleading. Detoxification is carried out by organs such as the liver and kidneys, not by flushing the body with hot water.

So drinking enough water supports skin health, but its temperature doesn’t appear to make a difference.

Myth #4: hot water reduces menstrual pain

External heat, from a hot water bottle, can help muscle cramps and menstrual pain by relaxing tissues and improving circulation.

But drinking hot water by itself doesn’t relieve menstrual pain. Staying well hydrated during menstruation however, may help reduce some discomfort related to fluid retention, even though the water’s temperature doesn’t seem to matter.

Certain teas (particularly green and thyme teas) may offer benefits by lowering prostaglandin levels (a hormone implicated in menstrual pain) and reduce oxidative stress (a factor leading to menstrual pain) in the uterus. Together, proper hydration and these teas may help ease menstrual discomfort, but hot water alone is not a cure.

So heat on the body works, but drinking hot water alone does not have strong evidence as a cramp remedy.

Why do hot water health claims persist?

Holding a warm drink can feel soothing, encourage you to drink more fluids and become part of a calming routine that feels good for your mental health.

These sensory and ritual effects are real, even if the actual physical benefits are small. Social media can make personal stories seem like proof, which helps these claims spread quickly.

But most health claims, including weight loss, clearer skin and reduced cramps, are not strongly supported by scientific evidence beyond the basic benefits of hydration itself. The temperature of your water matters less than getting enough of it.

So if hot water helps you drink more, feel more relaxed, or start your day with a ritual you enjoy, that’s fine. Just don’t assume the warmth itself is a secret cure.

Lauren Ball receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, Health and Wellbeing Queensland, Heart Foundation, Gallipoli Medical Research and Mater Health, Springfield City Group. She is a director of Dietitians Australia, a director of the Darling Downs and West Moreton Primary Health Network and an associate member of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.

Emily Burch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Will drinking hot water help me lose weight, clear my skin or treat cramps? – https://theconversation.com/will-drinking-hot-water-help-me-lose-weight-clear-my-skin-or-treat-cramps-274950

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/11/will-drinking-hot-water-help-me-lose-weight-clear-my-skin-or-treat-cramps-274950/

ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on February 11, 2026.

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Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/11/er-report-a-roundup-of-significant-articles-on-eveningreport-nz-for-february-11-2026/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodi McAlister, Senior Lecturer in Writing, Literature and Culture, Deakin University

Outside of classics like Pride and Prejudice, romance fiction has not historically been adapted often for the screen, despite its immense popularity.

The success of Bridgerton (2020–) led to countless articles about what romance novels should be adapted for the screen next when it first premiered.

Now more and more romance adaptations are starting to appear – but what makes the translation from page to screen really sing?

The history of romance novel adaptations

Romance adaptations have given us cultural juggernauts, such as Twilight (2008–12), Fifty Shades of Grey (2015–18) and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018–21).

But romance adaptations have historically been low-budget and escaped mainstream notice.

Authors like Nora Roberts and Debbie Macomber have proved fruitful grounds for made-for-TV adaptations by Hallmark and Lifetime. Passionflix entered the streaming market in 2017 with the sole purpose to adapt romance novels – including Lick (2024) by Australian author Kylie Scott.

Canadian streamer Crave has turned several romances into TV movies, such as Recipe for Romance (2025), an adaptation of Sweet on You by Filipino author Carla de Guzman. Amazon has also joined the game.

The proportion of books that have made it to the screen (and into cultural conversation) is still small. But the needle is moving. This year sees adaptations of Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis, Katherine Center’s The Bodyguard, Elle Kennedy’s Off Campus and Emily Henry’s People We Meet On Vacation.

This is to say nothing of the game-changing popularity of a romance adaptation by Crave released late in 2025: Heated Rivalry.

While it has always been popular, romance has become too prominent to ignore: BookTok and Bookstagram have made romance – and its enormous audience – more visible than ever before.

What makes a good romance adaptation?

Romance readers will embrace or reject an adaptation depending on whether the creators love and respect the genre or misunderstand and misrepresent it – or, worse, condescend to and exploit it.

Heated Rivalry shows what happens when a creator truly, in romance critic Olivia Waite’s words, “accept[s] romance’s invitations”.

Rival hockey players Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) commence a clandestine affair as rookies and gradually fall in love. The series has surpassed 600 million viewing minutes and shows no sign of slowing down.

It has been so successful that Netflix promised the new season of Bridgerton would take audiences to “the cottage”: a reference to that series’ third episode – and a term now synonymous with Heated Rivalry’s finale and happy ending.

The happy ending is crucial to the romance genre, but it is not the only thing Heated Rivalry gets right. While not all romance novel adaptations should be carbon copies of this series, anyone considering adapting romance for the screen in future would be well served to look at what it does right.

Romance novels are stories of a small, compact universe. At the centre is a couple (or polycule’s) attraction and journey towards a serious relationship. Sub-plots and supporting characters matter to the extent that they are part of this journey. In a romance, the leads are all romance fans care about.

This is something Bridgerton has struggled with. While it centres a new lead couple each season, it is also concerned with servicing the plotlines of past and future leads. This has led to a proliferation of subplots, which often distract from the romantic spine.

Heated Rivalry consistently centres Shane and Ilya. Taking place over ten years, during which period both men presumably live full lives, creator Jacob Tierney spotlights the sporadic, stolen moments they are together. The secondary romance between hockey player Scott Hunter (François Arnaud) and his secret smoothie barista boyfriend Kip (Robbie CK) is mostly siloed to its own self-contained episode, with its relevance to the main plot made crystal clear at the end of episode five.

The love plot must be central, and must be treated with the deepest sincerity and gravity. Romance is an inherently earnest genre. It is often funny, but it is never ironic.

Red, White & Royal Blue (2023), adapted from Casey McQuiston’s book, received mixed reviews for glossing over many of the book’s complexities. But one of its successes is treating the high-concept love plot between a British prince and the son of the United States president seriously. (Their happy ending is bound up with a broader political one: a successful US re-election representing a liberal wing; the potential promise of a more progressive monarchy.)

The love at the romance novel’s heart – and the attendant joy and hope of the happy ending – is serious business, and must be treated as such for an adaptation to succeed.

This aspect of romance is often positioned as a “guilty pleasure”, something to be embarrassed by or make fun of, but it is hard to overstate how vital it is to the success of the form.

The worst mistake an adaptation of a romance can make is being ashamed of where it came from. Romance readers are well aware when someone is sneering at them, or trying to take advantage of the lucrative market they represent while trying to “elevate” the genre by chipping away at its core tenets and pleasures.

Heated Rivalry is the only adaptation that has entirely and wholeheartedly embraced the invitations of the romance genre, foregrounding romance and leaning pronouncedly into sincerity. We hope many more adaptations will learn from it going forward.

Jodi McAlister is the current president of the International Association for the Study of Popular Romance.

Jayashree Kamble is past President of the International Association for the Study of Popular Romance

– ref. From Bridgerton to Heated Rivalry, what’s the secret to a good book-to-TV romance? – https://theconversation.com/from-bridgerton-to-heated-rivalry-whats-the-secret-to-a-good-book-to-tv-romance-273577

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/11/from-bridgerton-to-heated-rivalry-whats-the-secret-to-a-good-book-to-tv-romance-273577/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bill Swannie, Senior Lecturer, Thomas More Law School, Australian Catholic University

Around 544,000 people live in public housing in Australia. And there’s huge demand for more: 169,000 households are waiting for public housing, up almost 10% from a decade earlier.

But what happens when a state government decides to move public housing tenants? Do tenants have any legal rights to stay?

Several court cases – including a new High Court appeal for Melbourne tenants, and an unexpected win for three Canberra tenants – show how some people are challenging their relocation when laws aren’t properly followed.

How 3 tenants fought and won

Earlier this month, three public housing tenants in the Australian Capital Territory had a rare win, stopping them being relocated against their wishes. The women had each lived in their home for around 30 to 40 years.

The ACT Supreme Court found the territory’s social housing commissioner had denied the women procedural fairness and failed to consider their rights under the territory’s Human Rights Act. All public bodies in the ACT must properly consider human rights when making a decision.

Justice Verity McWilliam’s judgement quoted iconic Australian movie The Castle, as well as Roman philosopher Cicero:

It need hardly be said that any interference with one’s home must be lawful. That pithy one-liner in The Castle (1997), voiced in the fictional character of Darryl Kerrigan, still resonates: “It’s not a house, it’s a home. A man’s home is his castle […] You can’t just walk in and steal our homes.”

A precedent, with another case to come

Procedural fairness means a person has a right to be heard by a government decision-maker before a decision affecting their interests is made.

The ACT Supreme Court found the commissioner had not consulted with the tenants or taken their personal circumstances into account. This breached the tenants’ right to a home, as well as the rights of an Indigenous tenant to maintain community ties and cultural practices.

Crucially, it wasn’t just a temporary win: as ABC News reported, the three women are still in their Canberra homes today and will not be relocated.

The tenants’ solicitor Sangeeta Sharmin said the judgement set a precedent, “acknowledging that our clients’ houses are not mere assets, but homes”.

Looking ahead, another group of ACT social housing tenants are taking their class action to the Federal Court, responding to the ACT government’s unsuccessful push to move them from their homes. No date has been set for that hearing.

Melbourne tenants appealing to the High Court

A similar case has been playing out in Melbourne’s inner north.

Homes Victoria is seeking to relocate around 10,000 residents of 44 public housing blocks to redevelop the properties with new social and public housing.

But last Thursday, a Victorian court made orders preventing about 32 households from being evicted from three almost empty Melbourne public housing towers, pending an appeal to the High Court. The towers are due to be demolished and Homes Victoria has warned the delays will cost millions of dollars.

Inner Melbourne Community Legal tenancy lawyer Louisa Bassini told the ABC the court injunction was a win for tenants:

It means that they can stay in their homes, see this process through, and make sure that the courts have had a proper opportunity to consider […] whether their rights [under Victoria’s human rights charter] were properly considered.

Public housing rights across Australia

Private and public landlords are entitled to evict tenants when they intend to sell or demolish the premises. But public landlords have additional policies requiring them to help tenants locate alternative premises, either in public housing or in the private market, and to assist with moving costs.

In the case of redevelopment, tenants may be entitled to return to the redeveloped property. However, this depends on them meeting eligibility criteria, having no outstanding debts, and suitable properties being available.

In Victoria, for example, tenants are offered two properties before a notice to vacate is given. Following this, Homes Victoria may seek a possession order which evicts the tenant.

Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia have similar relocation guidelines to Victoria. However, they don’t have their own human rights laws.

In Tasmania, there are no published guidelines regulating relocation, despite research showing how difficult that relocation process can be.

Victoria, the ACT and Queensland have human rights laws in place that protect the right to non-interference with the home, and cultural rights. Public bodies, such as housing authorities, are obliged to properly consider these rights when making decisions.

Over coming months, we’ll see if the High Court agrees to hear the Melbourne tenants’ appeal, as well as the outcome of the ACT social housing tenants’ case in the Federal Court.

But the recent ACT Supreme Court decision offers some hope for public tenants. If state and territory governments want to relocate tenants, they must follow their own laws and policies properly – or risk costly legal challenges.

Bill Swannie does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. If you live in public housing, what rights do you have to stay in your home? – https://theconversation.com/if-you-live-in-public-housing-what-rights-do-you-have-to-stay-in-your-home-274958

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/11/if-you-live-in-public-housing-what-rights-do-you-have-to-stay-in-your-home-274958/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Monica Kelly, Lecturer in Applied Sport Science Practice, Deakin University

The Australian Olympic Committee has sent its second-largest Winter Olympics team of 53 athletes in ten sports to Italy for the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

Every athlete has a unique story of how they got to the pinnacle of their sport, but training methods can vary substantially.

This is especially relevant when it comes to the differences between athletes preparing for the summer and winter games.

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Read more:
Milan Cortina Winter Olympics: history, new events and Australian medal chances

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Heatwaves and snowstorms

Australians will tune into the winter games after blistering heatwaves affected much of the country during a sweltering summer.

Extreme heat and fire conditions impacted many major sporting competitions, including the Australian Open tennis tournament and the Santos Tour Down Under and Surf Coast Classic cycling events.

In contrast, many of the Australian winter athletes have been competing in World Cup events in the Northern Hemisphere winter in the United States, Canada, Austria and Switzerland in the months prior to the games.

The Australian Institute of Sport’s European Training Centre in northern Italy has been a base for many athletes before the games.

How athletes beat the heat

A common preparation strategy for Olympic athletes is to spend time overseas chasing specific competition conditions.

Australian athletes routinely complete training camps in hot conditions to acclimatise to the heat, while winter athletes follow ice and snow around the globe.

This is crucial because if there are challenging weather conditions at competitions, athletes need to have prepared for them beforehand.

For example, the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics delivered heatwave conditions with temperatures between 36 and 41°C.

It is the interaction of ambient temperature, humidity, wind speed and solar load (amount of cloud cover) that contributes to how hot an athlete feels and how the body copes during exercise in the heat.

For athletes, gradual exposure to heat is crucial. They exercise in hot environments or in artificially hot and humid climate chambers and regularly use saunas.

This can help them adapt to the environmental conditions they may face during competition.

Without this gradual exposure to hot conditions, athletes can be at a greater risk of exertional heat illness.

The most recent International Olympic Committee (IOC) consensus statement in 2023 recommended athletes use ice baths, ice towels and cold drinks to keep cool before, during and after exercising in the heat.

An expert consensus statement also recommends competitions should be postponed if possible to avoid hot temperatures to help ease stress on athletes.

Keeping cool, aiming high

The expected temperatures of Milan Cortina could be as cold as -7°C for multiple days at several competition venues.

This presents a completely different challenge to the athletes.

Winter athletes can be at higher risk of airway irritation and asthma when breathing cold air during prolonged, intense competitions.

The risk of frostbite will also be monitored, with the IOC recommending athletes cover their skin and avoid competition if wind chill falls below -27°C.

Winter Olympians must then train and prepare in the cold to be ready for the competition conditions.

For athletes in Australia, our winter ski resorts (Mt Hotham, Mt Buller, Falls Creek and Thredbo) are frequent training and competition grounds.

Training on the snow and ice provides athletes with the most specific preparation for their competition.

To ensure athlete safety, the IOC recommends athletes check the weather conditions to avoid hazardous wind chills, wear appropriate clothing and seek regular medical checks for early detection of exercise induced asthma.

Away from the snow and ice, purpose-built facilities such as the National Snowsports Training Centre in Jindabyne, NSW, allows skiers and snowboarders to develop freestyle skills, while the Geoff Henke Olympic Winter Training Centre in Brisbane has become a key training location for aerial and mogul skiers.

These facilities allow athletes to trial and master aerial manoeuvres before transferring them to snow.

Many will also travel overseas to access specific training facilities, before competing on the Olympic venues.

Building strength and power in the gym and sprinting at the athletics track is a common training focus for athletes in sliding events, as getting a fast start is crucial for a successful performance.

So, while many Australian winter athletes may miss out on time at the beach during summer, it’s for a good reason: they will have trained hard in the challenging environmental conditions they will likely face during competition.

Monica Kelly does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. How do Winter Olympians train compared to summer games athletes? – https://theconversation.com/how-do-winter-olympians-train-compared-to-summer-games-athletes-274523

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/11/how-do-winter-olympians-train-compared-to-summer-games-athletes-274523/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Walker-Munro, Associate Professor (Law), Southern Cross University

In Las Vegas last week, two people were admitted to hospital “deathly ill” after being exposed to “possible biological material, including refrigerators containing vials with unknown liquids” at a suburban home. Law enforcement quickly scrambled, taking down an illegal laboratory on the premises.

But this wasn’t a meth lab. Instead, it was allegedly filled with thousands of deadly pathogens.

The FBI has since opened an official investigation. It claims the Las Vegas lab is linked to another illegal lab in California that was shut down in 2023, which was investigated by US Congress. Congress found the California biolab had received millions of dollars from Chinese banks, and held more than 1,000 genetically modified mice as well as samples of diseases including HIV, malaria, COVID and even Ebola.

The US is now asking how many of these labs might exist. In Australia, we can’t really answer that question either.

Why are these labs emerging now?

New technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) are putting advanced biological techniques into the hands of everyday people.

Once, you needed a doctorate’s worth of knowledge and years of experience to build a biological weapon. Now, AI may be able to teach you everything you need to know.

A study published last year showed a publicly available AI model outperformed 94% of PhD-holding virologists (on one benchmark, at least). More specialised AI systems can help you design proteins or genetic sequences in your living room. Engineers at Google have even created an entire AI-driven “virtual laboratory” to devise and synthesise new chemical compounds.

What’s more, the genetic sequences of deadly viruses are freely available online. Open-source databases such as NextStrain and PathoPlexus offer researchers the ability to share their work in the hope of developing new vaccines or antibiotics.

But those same resources can be used by malicious actors to “shop” for pathogens, then pay synthetic biology companies to build DNA sequences to order.

Some scholars fear this situation means “no disease-causing organism can forever be eradicated”. In 2020, for example, Swiss scientists created samples of the virus behind the COVID pandemic using DNA sequences emailed from China weeks before any human infections were reported in Switzerland.

For would-be terrorists, backyard biolabs may be a “low-risk, high-reward” option.

As the threat of politically motivated violence in Australia increases, so does the chance a sovereign citizen or far-right group, or any other kind of extremist, may look to use biology in an attack.

If the Bondi shooters or Perth Invasion Day attack had used disease instead of guns or bombs, many more people could have died.

What does this mean for Australia?

There are key gaps in Australia’s regulatory framework for pathogens made in backyard labs, as I outlined in 2024:

First, our laws only operate in the physical world. They don’t cover the virtual world, and struggle to apply to emerging technologies.

Second, Australia’s “security-sensitive agents” scheme controls specific pathogens by name. This means any newly invented disease is not covered. One observer suggested this is like “someone taking a hand grenade, painting it a different color, and walking it through an airport with no problem”.

And third, our regulatory scheme operates across ten different government departments, universities and funding agencies. With that much complexity, something is bound to get missed.

Another big problem is a lack of transparency, where even authorised laboratories in Australia operate under a cloud of secrecy. There is no publicly available list of who is authorised to handle these diseases.

While attempts to map such labs do exist, one study published last year estimated the number of labs in Australia working on highly hazardous diseases is anywhere between 15 and 40.

Even worse, despite increases in lab regulation and safety guidelines, mistakes happen. Labs leak viruses, infect their workers, and keep poor records, with a recent study showing “worldwide documentation and reporting of accidents are generally poor”.

Another potential risk is underpaid researchers and students willing to sell knowledge on the black market.

What can be done?

Australia needs to revisit its approach to regulating technology in life and medical science research. At the moment you can buy synthetic DNA online without even a permit, which introduces big risks.

The developers of AI tools used in medical and life sciences research also need to build in guardrails to prevent misuse. We need to make sure the researchers and students doing work on pathogens are trustworthy, too.

Further, Australia could also take a leadership role in pushing for a unified framework for regulating global access to dangerous diseases.

The newly established Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC) also has a role to play. It can educate the medical profession and the general public about backyard biolabs and their threat to public health.

It can also coordinate the various government agencies who all have a hand in disease regulation. The centre could also drive more comprehensive public reporting of lab accidents and incidents. It will need to push adapting the “security-sensitive” agents scheme to modern research as well.

The public has a role to play, too: reporting suspected illegal labs, no matter what they are being used for. An anonymous tip-off from a member of the public was what led to last week’s raid on the Las Vegas lab.

Brendan Walker-Munro receives funding from the Social Cyber Institute, and has completed paid consultancies with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor. He is affiliated with the Australian National Security College, and the Social Cyber Institute.

– ref. An illegal bioweapons lab was found in a Las Vegas garage. It’s a warning for Australia – https://theconversation.com/an-illegal-bioweapons-lab-was-found-in-a-las-vegas-garage-its-a-warning-for-australia-275564

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/11/an-illegal-bioweapons-lab-was-found-in-a-las-vegas-garage-its-a-warning-for-australia-275564/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne

A South Australian Fox & Hedgehog state poll has the Liberals facing a possible wipe-out in the lower house, losing seats to Labor and One Nation. One Nation continues to surge in a federal YouGov poll, and Newspoll has respondent preferences for a Labor vs One Nation contest.

The South Australian state election will be held on March 21. A Fox & Hedgehog poll for The Advertiser, conducted January 31 to February 8 from a sample of 904, gave Labor a 61–39 lead over the Liberals by respondent preferences, unchanged from the December Fox & Hedgehog SA poll.

Primary votes were 40% Labor (down one), 20% One Nation (up seven), 19% Liberals (down two), 12% Greens (steady) and 9% for all Others (down four). A “three-party preferred” gave Labor 54%, One Nation 25% and the Liberals 21%, with Labor crushing One Nation by 63–37, two points higher than the Labor vs Liberal two-party estimate.

If this poll is accurate, there is some chance the Liberals will win zero of the 47 lower house seats. Labor would win a big majority, with the few conservative seats more likely to go to One Nation than the Liberals. At the previous SA election in 2022, the Liberals won 16 seats, with Labor winning the two-party vote by 54.6–45.4.

Labor Premier Peter Malinauskas was at 52–21 approve (51–19 in December) and new Liberal leader Ashton Hurn was at 20–13 approve (former leader Vincent Tarzia was at 25–17 disapprove). Malinauskas led Hurn as preferred premier by 54–22 (54–18 vs Tarzia).

One Nation recruited former right-wing federal Liberal SA senator Cory Bernardi as its lead candidate for the upper house. Half of the 22 upper house seats are up at this election by statewide proportional representation with preferences. With a quota of one-twelfth or 8.3%, Bernardi is certain of election on One Nation’s current polls. His ratings in this poll were 19–15 disapprove.

SA Labor was at 45–28 approve, the SA Liberals at 37–25 disapprove and One Nation at 36–30 approve. Federal politicians listed in this SA poll were Anthony Albanese (44–35 disapprove), Sussan Ley (32–17 disapprove), Pauline Hanson (44–34 approve), Angus Taylor (20–13 disapprove) and Andrew Hastie (17–15 disapprove).

Newspoll respondent preferences for Labor vs One Nation contest

Monday’s federal Newspoll gave Labor 33% of the primary vote, One Nation 27%, the Coalition 18%, the Greens 12% and all Others 10%. When voters from parties other than Labor and One Nation were asked to assign preferences between these parties, Labor had 50% of all preferences, One Nation 29% and 21% said they would follow how to vote card recommendations or didn’t know.

If we exclude these 21%, the overall Labor share of preferences is 63%, and Labor wins the two-party vote against One Nation by more than 58–42. This would be reduced somewhat if Coalition how to vote cards recommend preferences to One Nation ahead of Labor.

By party, Greens preferences favoured Labor over One Nation by an overwhelming 91–1, while Liberal preferences favoured One Nation at a far weaker rate (43–33). All Other preferences favoured Labor by 53–32.

YouGov poll: One Nation’s surge continues

A national YouGov poll for Sky News, conducted February 3–10 from a sample of 1,561, gave Labor 30% of the primary vote (down one since the January 20–27 YouGov poll), One Nation 28% (up three), the Coalition 19% (down one), the Greens 12% (steady), independents 5% (down one) and others 6% (steady).

Labor led One Nation by 55–45 using respondent preferences, a two-point gain for One Nation. Labor led the Coalition by 54–46, a one-point gain for the Coalition.

Albanese’s net approval was down two points to -18, with 56% dissatisfied and 38% satisfied. Ley’s net approval was down nine points to -40. Albanese led Ley as better PM by 47–25 (47–29 previously).

On best to lead the Liberals, Hastie had 15%, Ley 10% and Taylor 8% with 60% undecided. Among 2025 election Coalition voters, Hastie had 25%, Ley 12% and Taylor 11%.

Morgan poll: Labor down after interest rate hike

A national Morgan poll, conducted February 2–8 from a sample of 1,584, gave Labor a 53.5–46.5 lead over the Coalition by respondent preferences, a 2.5-point gain for the Coalition since the January 26 to February 1 Morgan poll.

Primary votes were 28.5% Labor (down two), 24.5% One Nation (down 0.5), 22.5% Coalition (up two), 13.5% Greens (up one) and 11% for all Others (down 0.5). By 2025 election flows, Labor led by 53–47, a 1.5-point gain for the Coalition. No Labor vs One Nation two-party estimate was reported.

Newspoll didn’t suggest Labor had been damaged by the February 3 interest rate hike, but both Morgan and YouGov suggest some damage.

Adrian Beaumont does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Liberals facing wipe-out in South Australian lower house: new poll – https://theconversation.com/liberals-facing-wipe-out-in-south-australian-lower-house-new-poll-275539

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/11/liberals-facing-wipe-out-in-south-australian-lower-house-new-poll-275539/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Neil Munro, PhD Candidate in Psychology, James Cook University

Depression and anxiety affect millions of people worldwide.

While treatments such as medication and psychotherapy (sometimes called talk therapy) can be very effective, they’re not always an option. Barriers include cost, stigma, long waiting lists for appointments, and potential drug side effects.

So what about exercise? Our new research, published today, confirms physical activity can be just as effective for some people as therapy or medication. This is especially true when it’s social and guided by a professional, such as a gym class or running club.

Let’s take a look at the evidence.

What we already knew

Physical activity has long been promoted as a treatment option for anxiety and depression, largely because it helps release “feel good” chemicals in the brain which help boost mood and reduce stress.

But the evidence can be confusing. Hundreds of studies with diverse results make it unclear how much exercise is beneficial, what type, and who it helps most.

Over the past two decades, researchers have conducted dozens of separate meta-analyses (studies that combine results from multiple trials) examining exercise for depression and anxiety. But these have still left gaps in understanding how effective exercise is for different age groups and whether the type of exercise matters.

Many studies have also included participants with confounding factors (influences that can distort research findings) such as other chronic diseases, for example, diabetes or arthritis. This means it can be hard to apply the findings more broadly.

What we did

Our research aimed to resolve this confusion by conducting a “meta-meta-analysis”. This means we systematically reviewed the results of all the existing meta-analyses – there were 81 – to determine what the evidence really shows.

Together, this meant data from nearly 80,000 participants across more than 1,000 original trials.

We examined multiple factors that might explain why their results varied. These included differences in:

• who they studied (for example, people with diagnosed depression or anxiety versus those just experiencing symptoms, different age groups, and women during pregnancy and after birth)

• what the exercise involved (for example, comparing aerobic fitness to resistance training and mind-body exercises, such as yoga; whether it was supervised by a professional; intensity and duration)

• whether the exercise was individual or in a group.

We also used advanced statistical techniques to accurately isolate and estimate the exact impact of exercise, separate from confounding factors (including other chronic diseases).

Our data looked at the impact of exercise alone on depression and anxiety. But sometimes people will also use antidepressants and/or therapy – so further research would be needed to explore the effect of these when combined.

What did the study find?

Exercise is effective at reducing both depression and anxiety. But there is some nuance.

We found exercising had a high impact on depression symptoms, and a medium impact on anxiety, compared to staying inactive.

The benefits were comparable to, and in some cases better than, more widely prescribed mental health treatments, including therapy and antidepressants.

Importantly, we discovered who exercise helped most. Two groups showed the most improvement: adults aged 18 to 30 and women who had recently given birth.

Many women experience barriers to exercising after giving birth, including lack of time, confidence or access to appropriate and affordable activities.

Our findings suggest making it more accessible could be an important strategy to address new mothers’ mental health in this vulnerable time.

How you exercise matters

We also found aerobic activities – such as walking, running, cycling or swimming – were best at reducing both depression and anxiety symptoms.

However, all forms of exercise reduced symptoms, including resistance training (such as lifting weights) and mind-body practices (such as yoga).

For depression, there were greater improvements when people exercised with others and were guided by a professional, such as a group fitness class.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t available data on group or supervised exercise for anxiety, so we would need more research to find out if the impact is similar.

Exercising once or twice a week had a similar effect on depression as exercising more frequently. And there didn’t seem to be a significant difference between exercising vigorously or at a low intensity – all were beneficial.

But for anxiety, the best improvements in anxiety symptoms were when exercise was done:

• consistently, for up to eight weeks, and

• at a lower intensity, such as walking or swimming laps at a gentle pace.

So, what does all this mean?

Our research shows exercise is a legitimate and evidence-based treatment option for depression and anxiety, particularly for people with diagnosed conditions.

However, simply telling patients to “exercise more” is unlikely to be effective.

The evidence shows structured, supervised exercise with a social component is best for improving depression and anxiety. The social aspect and the accountability may help keep people motivated.

Clinicians should keep this in mind, offering referrals to specific programs – such as aerobic fitness classes or supervised walking and running programs – rather than general advice.

The findings also suggest this kind of exercise can be particularly effective when targeted to depression in younger adults and women who’ve recently given birth.

The takeaway

For people who are hesitant about medication, or facing long waits for therapy, supervised group exercise may be an effective alternative. It’s evidence-based, and you can start any time.

But it’s still best to get advice from a professional. If you have anxiety or depression symptoms, you should talk to your GP or psychologist. They can advise where exercise fits in your treatment plan, potentially alongside therapy and/or medication.

Samantha Teague receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

James Dimmock, Klaire Somoray, and Neil Munro do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Exercise can be as effective as medication for depression and anxiety – new study – https://theconversation.com/exercise-can-be-as-effective-as-medication-for-depression-and-anxiety-new-study-272243

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/11/exercise-can-be-as-effective-as-medication-for-depression-and-anxiety-new-study-272243/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Purdie, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Sustainability, University of Otago

The government’s announcement this week that it would move ahead with plans for a new facility to import liquefied natural gas (LNG), potentially as early as next year, was framed as a way to shore up energy security.

But the decision instead marks another major step backwards for domestic efforts to decarbonise.

Notably, it comes as communities across the North Island – including Mount Maunganui – are recovering from just the kind of extreme weather events climate change is projected to intensify.

With the United States now withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, and New Zealand simultaneously weakening its own climate settings, it is easy to feel a sense of drift.

Despite 89% of people globally wanting stronger climate action, the erosion of the international rules-based order risks pulling more countries away from cooperative solutions.

But the energy transition now has real momentum. So how much difference does the US withdrawal from Paris – and New Zealand’s turn back towards fossil fuels – actually make?

A setback, not a stop

Before the US withdrew, 93% of global emissions came from countries with net-zero policies in place; that figure has now fallen to 83%. The drop would have been larger if not for pledges by 24 US states, along with many cities and corporations, to stick to Paris Agreement targets.

So, while the US exit might be a massive blow, it is far from the end of global climate action. Current Paris Agreement pledges and targets would see global emissions peak in the next few years, if countries follow through.

Many states – including the US, United Kingdom, China, Australia and Canada – are already recording declines. New Zealand’s emissions have flatlined since 2008 but it is still doing less than its fair share on a per-capita basis.

Globally, the race is now on between avoiding dangerous climate tipping points and fostering self-reinforcing momentum in clean energy, which is already at an all-time high.

This is important, as around 70% of the emissions cuts the world needs to make will likely come from the energy transition. Despite more than half of New Zealand’s emissions coming from agriculture, energy remains a strong focus of the government’s emissions reduction plan.

All the while, solutions to renewable intermittency – the problem of wind and solar not always generating power when it is needed – are expanding.

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Read more:
NZ’s rejection of emission targets fuels risk of international law breach

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In hydro-heavy systems like New Zealand’s, dry periods can be covered by pumped hydro, biomass, battery storage and overbuilding cheap wind and solar. Importing LNG to “firm” electricity instead undermines these options and puts the brakes on clean investment.

Worldwide, solar and wind capacity has doubled every three years for the past two decades, with each doubling of solar cutting prices by about 25%.

China installed half of all new solar last year and its emissions have now peaked. The European Union now generates more power from renewables than fossil fuels, and Pakistan has imported solar panels equivalent to 40% of its total demand.

Electric vehicles have reached price parity with internal combustion engines. Globally, 25% of new car sales were electric last year, rising to 96% in Norway and 59% in China, with 39 countries now above a 10% sales share. In China’s heavy truck fleet, around half of new sales are electric.

Fossil fuel use is already declining in the developed world: oil use in the OECD peaked in 2005, and coal in 2008. While consumption is still rising in poorer countries, many projections see global oil demand peaking in the next few years. And there is broad agreement coal use will begin to fall before 2030.

As fossil fuel use declines, shipping emissions will fall too. And using existing technology to stop methane leaks from oil and gas wells – which is profitable – would cut emissions by more than all global air travel.

Geopolitics is accelerating the energy transition

Geopolitical tensions are driving a push for energy independence, accelerating the growth of renewables. As Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney recently noted, as the international rules-based order and multilateralism fray, countries are realising they must build greater strategic autonomy, including in energy.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, disrupted gas supplies drove prices higher, leaving Europe paying about €650 billion more for fossil fuels than it otherwise would have – around 40% of the cost of building a 95% renewable power system for the continent.

In 2022–23, the EU built 37% more new renewable capacity than the year before, stepped up energy efficiency and electrification, and set out a strategy to cut reliance on Russian gas.

There is strong global momentum for emissions cuts, and renewable energy is now cheaper than fossil fuels while offering energy security. New Zealand should also be strengthening its own energy independence, while moving quickly away from importing fossil fuels.

As the US steps back from multilateral climate action, New Zealand must work with other countries to keep momentum growing: holding to existing treaties, and joining new agreements such as the “roadmap” away from fossil fuels put forward at COP30 in Brazil last year.

At the very least, New Zealand should shoulder its fair share of per-capita emissions reductions if it wants to leave a liveable world for future generations.

Jen Purdie has received government science (MBIE) funding in the past.

– ref. Importing gas locks NZ into fossil fuels for longer – just as clean energy surges – https://theconversation.com/importing-gas-locks-nz-into-fossil-fuels-for-longer-just-as-clean-energy-surges-275548

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/11/importing-gas-locks-nz-into-fossil-fuels-for-longer-just-as-clean-energy-surges-275548/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Byers, PhD Candidate & Research Assistant, Faculty of Engineering & IT, The University of Melbourne

As with all creative industries, generative artificial intelligence (AI) has been infiltrating video games.

Non-generative AI has been in the industry long before things like ChatGPT became household names. Video games would contain AI-driven gameplay systems such as matchmaking, non-player character (NPC) behaviour, or iconic fictional AI characters such as SHODAN and GLaDOS.

Now, generative AI is being used to produce game assets and speed up development. This is threatening creative jobs and fuelling worries about low-effort releases or “slop”.

If you buy a video game today, you may have no reliable way of knowing whether generative AI was used in any part of its development – from the art and voice work to the code and marketing.

Should developers disclose it? Since 2023, AI disclosure in video games has gone from non-existent to patchy. It’s arguably more to do with copyright concerns than being transparent with players.

A messy baseline

Steam, owned by US video game company Valve, is the largest digital storefront for PC games. It’s also the closest thing to a baseline for AI disclosure – simply because it was the first major platform to formalise a position.

Amid the rise of AI in 2023, Valve rejected AI-produced games on Steam, citing legal uncertainty and stating the company was “continuing to learn about AI”.

By January 2024, Valve formalised its disclosure rules, requiring developers to declare two categories of AI use: pre-generated content (made during development) and live-generated content (created while the game runs).

While industry leaders are optimistic about AI’s role in game development, disclosure remains contentious. Tim Sweeney, chief executive of Steam’s competitor Epic Games, mocked Steam’s AI disclosure in late 2025 as being akin to telling players what shampoo developers use.

In recent weeks, Valve has narrowed its disclosure rules, clarifying that developers who submit games to their platform only need to report AI if the output is directly experienced by players.

This changes what counts as relevant transparency, effectively giving a green light to AI coding and other behind-the-scenes processes.

Valve’s focus on player-facing AI does provide consumers with some transparency and the game submissions are checked before release. However, it’s not clear what happens if the makers of a game don’t disclose AI when they should have.

The disclosure system also keeps Steam ahead of a legal grey area regarding copyright and generative AI output. If needed, Valve could quickly pull titles affected by AI copyright claims. Some AI models can memorise copyrighted material and reproduce it when prompted, so this is not an entirely hypothetical scenario.

AI disclosure on Steam doesn’t have a consistent format – developers simply have a text field where they can write their disclosure in free form. Since it’s not treated as an official tag, consumers also can’t search or filter for AI content when browsing for games in the store.

At the time of writing, a search of SteamDB – a third-party catalogue of Steam’s database – lists more than 15,000 games and software with Steam’s AI disclosure label, with no total count available on Steam itself.

In response, user watchdogs have stepped in. The Steam curator group AI Check tracks games with AI-generated assets and flags whether developers disclose AI use – and how.

Players are largely in the dark

Outside Steam, disclosure is inconsistent if not absent. Indie storefront itch.io provides a searchable “AI Generated” tag, but no disclosure is required on game pages.

There’s currently no clear AI disclosure on mobile app stores or console storefronts (Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox), and they’ve been criticised for letting “AI slop” flood their stores.

Epic Games Store and another major distribution platform, GOG.com, also lack clear AI disclosures. GOG recently faced backlash for using AI-generated artwork in its own storefront promotion.

All this leaves players in the dark, while developers face backlash for AI use that many consider harmful for the industry.

Transparency is important

Many players care about AI use in games and when disclosure is missing. There are plenty of cases in which developers were “caught out” using generative AI and responded with ad hoc statements, asset changes, or even had Game of the Year awards rescinded.

But there are also cases in which suspicion has caused cancellations or wrongful accusations of games using AI art when it was actually drawn by a human artist.

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Read more:
Distrust in AI is on the rise – but along with healthy scepticism comes the risk of harm

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This is why transparency on AI use is important. Many Australians report low familiarity with AI, and research suggests having more information can shift people’s views, helping people make informed choices and avoid witch hunts.

Many people have ethical concerns about AI use, or are worried about environmental consequences due to how many resources the AI data centres chew up.

All this means AI disclosure is currently a consumer rights issue, but it’s governed entirely by the platforms where people purchase the games.

Players don’t need to know what shampoo a developer uses. But they do deserve a clear view of whether the art was AI-generated, whether writers or voice actors were replaced, and whether a game built on AI-generated code is likely to survive an update.

Steam’s disclosure system is a start, but it means little if the information can’t be found or filtered for. Every game storefront should make generative AI use clear at the point of purchase – because players deserve better.

Thomas Byers receives funding from The Research Training Program Scholarship, supported by the Australian Commonwealth Government and the University of Melbourne.

Bjorn Nansen receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

– ref. Are video game developers using AI? Players want to know, but the rules are patchy – https://theconversation.com/are-video-game-developers-using-ai-players-want-to-know-but-the-rules-are-patchy-274850

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/11/are-video-game-developers-using-ai-players-want-to-know-but-the-rules-are-patchy-274850/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kirsty Forsdike, Principal Research Fellow and Associate Professor, La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University

Research shows gender-based violence in sport is widespread: between a quarter and three-quarters of women within sport report experiencing some form of psychological, physical or sexual violence during their sporting lives.

These experiences happen across all levels of sport and affect not only athletes but also coaches, officials, volunteers and administrators.

And too often, when those affected try to speak up, systems fail them.

Our research team recently examined how reports of gender-based violence in sport are currently experienced and managed.

Based on what we found, we designed a new resource to help sporting organisations handle issues that arise and support victims.

What is gender-based violence in sport?

Gender-based violence can include sexist jokes, humiliation, exclusion from leadership roles, coercive coaching practices, sexual harassment and assault.

These behaviours are often normalised or minimised in sport but their impact is serious: women leave sport, their health is affected, teams dissolve, talent is lost and trust in sporting institutions is eroded.

What our research found

We examined how reports of gender-based violence in sport are currently managed.

We reviewed policies, interviewed women and gender-diverse people who had disclosed gender-based violence in sport, and also interviewed people working in national and state sport integrity and safeguarding roles.

We found policies related to violence in sport to be legalistic, inaccessible and almost entirely gender-blind.

Women and gender-diverse participants shared uncertainty about who to approach, what the process would entail and whether they would be believed.

Some felt re-traumatised by systems meant to support them. One woman told us:

[the sport] never followed any of their own written processes around safety and supporting us. They made promises and then actively went against them. They pretty much gaslit us the whole way.

The people we interviewed said they stayed engaged when listened to, believed and offered choices. When dismissed or blamed, many left – not just the organisation, but sport.

A clear message emerged from those working in integrity and safeguarding roles: many want to do the right thing but are often constrained by unclear policies, limited guidance and support and a lack of training.

They described feeling overwhelmed, unsure of what steps to take and concerned about their organisation’s reputation or getting it wrong.

One person working in integrity and safeguarding roles said:

I’ll be quite candid with you […] they’re protecting the business. They’re not protecting the member.

Another sad:

One time I got one [a report] and I had to run out the door here to throw up. It was just so terrible.

Where current systems fall short

In Australia, Sport Integrity Australia responds to breaches of integrity through the National Integrity Framework and its complaints handling system.

But our research shows when it comes to gender-based violence against adults, significant gaps remain.

While Sport Integrity Australia’s suite of policies include the “safeguarding of children and young people” there is no equivalent for adults.

Also, Sport Integrity Australia can only implement its policies with sports that signed up to its national framework, and only if the issue being reported occurred after the sport signed up.

This means in many cases, gender-based violence against an adult will fall outside of its policies.

In these cases, responsibility falls back to sporting organisations – many of which are under-resourced, unclear about their role or ill-prepared to respond.

For women and gender-diverse people, this often results in confusion, inadequate or inconsistent responses and an increased risk of ongoing harm.

In the absence of sufficient national policy, sport organisations must therefore be better prepared to respond to and address gender-based violence, from the grassroots to elite levels.

Why disclosures so often go wrong

Our research shows reports of gendered violence go wrong not because people don’t care but because systems are not designed with victim-survivors in mind.

Policies are frequently written to protect organisations rather than support those who experience harm.

Reporting pathways mimic legal and criminal justice pathways rather than trauma-informed practices.

Power imbalances – between athletes and coaches, volunteers and boards, players and administrators – are not acknowledged or addressed.

At the same time, those tasked with responding are often unsupported.

Integrity managers, volunteers and administrators told us they regularly absorb traumatic stories without adequate supervision or specialist support and without the ability to address the root causes of the issue. This increases the risk of burnout and turnover.

A practical roadmap for safer responses

In response we developed a practical, evidence-based toolkit designed to help sporting organisations at every level respond better when gender-based violence is reported.

This new guide translates research and best-practice principles from health, trauma and violence-prevention sectors into the sport context in ways that are easy to understand and implement.

It sets out five core principles for good responses:

• making reporting easy

• having clear and fair policies

• supporting choice and autonomy

• responding with care and respect

• committing to ongoing improvement.

It provides concrete tools such as scripts for responding to disclosures, checklists for organisational readiness and a clear roadmap outlining what a good response looks like from first disclosure through to follow-up and review.

Kirsty Forsdike receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the IOC Olympic Studies Centre. She is a board member of Sports Focus, a regional sports assembly for the Loddon Campaspe region of Victoria.

Aurélie Pankowiak currently receives funding from the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth), Early Career Research Fellowship and the National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse. Aurélie received funding form the IOC Olympic Studies Centre for this project.

Mary Woessner receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Movember and the National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse. While she did not directly receive funding from the IOC Olympic Studies Centre, she was added as an investigator after the project commenced.

Natalie Galea receives funding from the Ithe IOC Olympic Studies Centre. Natalie is an Australian Olympian.

Samantha Marshall does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Australian sport still has a gender-based violence problem. Our new guide might help tackle it – https://theconversation.com/australian-sport-still-has-a-gender-based-violence-problem-our-new-guide-might-help-tackle-it-273214

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/11/australian-sport-still-has-a-gender-based-violence-problem-our-new-guide-might-help-tackle-it-273214/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Jan, Professor of Information Technology and Director of Artificial Intelligence Research and Optimization (AIRO) Centre, Torrens University Australia

Romance scams are among the most emotionally damaging forms of cyber crime because they combine carefully manufactured intimacy with financial theft – the scammers go after your heart, and then your wallet.

Just last week, Australian police warned more than 5,000 people they may have been targeted in a large-scale romance scam linked to overseas syndicates. The scammers used common dating apps to find victims and start online relationships, then tricked their victims into buying a fake cryptocurrency.

Importantly, the romance scammers’ toolkit has changed in recent years. Artificial intelligence (AI) has lowered the cost of impersonation. Convincing profile photos can be generated in minutes, affectionate conversations can be auto-generated, and “proof” of identity can now be faked through voice and video.

In the lead-up to Valentine’s Day, dating apps get busier. So how can we stay safe from romance scammers?

Anatomy of a romance scam

Romance scams rely on a small number of psychological levers, applied repeatedly. Finding their victims online through various platforms, romance scammers accelerate intimacy, often expressing strong feelings unusually early. Then, they isolate their target.

Often, the entire romance scam quite literally follows a script and plays out like this.

First, the “dating” profile of the scammer appears highly credible. Scammers use attractive photos – increasingly AI-generated or stolen – paired with plausible personal details and consistent messaging.

Second, the scammer pushes to move the conversation off the app. WhatsApp, Telegram or text messages are pitched as more convenient or more private. This shift is key. Once the victim has been persuaded to move the communications off the dating app, they lose access to built-in safety features that could help to protect them. If they’re using their real email address or phone number, this also potentially exposes more of their personal details to the scammer.

Third, comes the financial request. The scammer may cite a believable excuse – travel problems, banking issues, family emergencies. But it’s not always an urgent plea for help. Many scams now evolve into investment fraud, where victims are steered into fake profit-making opportunities, often involving cryptocurrency.

Victims may be encouraged to invest “together” or are shown screenshots of supposed past profits. Because the scam is framed as a shared future rather than a request for cash, it can go unrecognised.

It’s harder to tell who’s a real person

AI strengthens these tactics by making the scams much easier to scale up. Automated tools allow scammers to maintain frequent, emotionally warm conversations across multiple victims with minimal effort.

For years, video calls functioned as an informal identity check. If you could see someone talk and respond in real time, you would feel confident you were talking to a real person.

Now, generative AI-powered deepfakes – artificial video or audio designed to imitate a person – are increasingly accessible for scammers to use.

A simple face-swapping or voice-cloning tool can be persuasive over a short call. The scammer only needs enough plausibility to move a conversation past doubt. When the victim is already emotionally invested, they ignore red flags more easily.

How can you stay safe online?

While AI makes romance scams more convincing, effective defences do exist.

You can still date online safely – as long as you stay vigilant and follow some easy steps to verify the people you engage with.

Slowing the relationship down remains one of the strongest ways of protecting yourself. If you spend more time talking to the person, there’s a chance some inconsistencies will surface. Besides, scammers get tired quickly.

Keep conversations on the dating platform for longer. Don’t cave into early pressure to move off-platform, and treat this as a potential red flag.

Make sure you identify the person across different platforms. Use reverse-image searches which can expose stolen or synthetic photos. A genuine person usually has a broader, consistent digital footprint beyond a single curated profile.

Treat investment advice or requests for money as a bright-red flag. This is the most important advice. If someone you have never met in person begins steering you toward cryptocurrency, trading platforms or guaranteed returns, disengage.

Never send intimate images to someone you haven’t met and verified. Financial scams can also quickly pivot to blackmail.

If you have already transferred money, acting quickly matters. Contact your bank immediately and report the incident to Scamwatch or ReportCyber. Early reporting can reduce losses and help authorities disrupt larger networks.

Remember that romance scammers are highly skilled at appearing trustworthy, so “trusting your gut” or relying on your feelings won’t necessarily help you.

As generative AI tools proliferate, verifying what’s real online is getting harder. So take things slowly, check details in different places, and – by far the most important step – avoid anything that turns a romance into a money request, no matter how infatuated you might be.

Tony Jan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. A new wave of romance scams is washing across the internet – here’s how to stay safe – https://theconversation.com/a-new-wave-of-romance-scams-is-washing-across-the-internet-heres-how-to-stay-safe-274121

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/11/a-new-wave-of-romance-scams-is-washing-across-the-internet-heres-how-to-stay-safe-274121/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Margaret Murray, Senior Lecturer, Nutrition, Swinburne University of Technology

School is back and, with it, the daily task of packing a lunchbox.

If your child is coming home with uneaten sandwiches, you’re not alone. They’re easy to make and transport, but sometimes the last thing kids (or adults) want to eat.

The food kids eat at school typically provides at least one-third of their daily energy intake. So a nutritious lunchbox is an important way to support their overall health, as well as their focus and performance at school.

While sandwiches may be an obvious lunchbox choice, there are loads of other options.

What can you pack instead?

If you don’t want to stray too far from the sandwich, but want to change things up, try out sandwich sushi, or a sandwich roll. It uses similar ingredients to a sandwich but in the shape of a sushi roll.

To make sandwich sushi, cut the crusts off, flatten the bread using a rolling pin or your hand. Spread the bread with a dip or other ingredient such as avocado or tuna, fill with ingredients such as sliced cucumber or carrot, then roll and cut it like sushi.

You may also be inspired to try making some sushi rolls. These take a little more preparation, including cooking the sushi rice in advance, but are a great sandwich alternative.

If you want to stick with bread, a roll, wrap or pita pocket may be enough change to keep the lunchbox feeling fresh. You could try out recipes like this chicken and avocado wrap or ham and salad pita pocket.

A frittata is another good option for replacing the sandwich as the main lunchbox meal. Frittatas need to be prepared in advance but can be easily adapted based on ingredients you’ve got in the fridge or cupboard such as cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, baby spinach, roasted pumpkin or frozen corn.

Likewise, a savoury muffin (like these cheesy corn muffins) takes a bit or preparation but can be bulk cooked and portioned in advance to make mornings quick and easy. There are lots of different recipes for savoury muffins, so find one that suits your tastes. This recipe uses zucchini, carrot, peas and corn.

Dinner leftovers can also make great lunchbox meals. Stir fry with noodles, or a hearty salad like this Mexican-style one with beans, can be packed into containers to make a nutritious lunch.

Other salad options include pasta salad or this balsamic bean salad.

To make a salad that’s going to be filling for lunch, try to include some wholegrain carbohydrates (such as brown rice, wholemeal pasta, barley, lentils or quionoa) and a source of protein (such as egg, cheese, tofu, kidney beans or chicken).

Having an insulated lunch box or thermos can help to keep foods hot or cold until lunch time.

What else should a lunchbox include?

A lunchbox is more than just the main meal: a balanced lunchbox should include a main meal, a fruit or vegetable snack, another snack and a drink.

Snack options might include plain popcorn, hard boiled eggs, yoghurt, cheese sticks, crackers and fresh fruit and vegetables (which can be cut into pieces for easier munching).

For a balanced lunchbox, try to include at least one item from each of these food groups:

1. fruit (such as banana, grapes, apple, berries, pear, stone fruit, melon)

2. vegetables (carrots, celery, pumpkin, spinach, tomatoes, cucumber)

3. grain and cereal foods (rice, wholegrain crackers, noodles, bread, wraps)

4. meat or meat alternatives (eggs, nuts, chicken, tuna, lentils, tofu)

5. milk, yoghurt or cheese (or non-dairy alternatives like soy milk)

6. water.

Including foods from each of these groups will help to ensure the right balance of carbohydrates, fats, protein, vitamins and minerals.

Using a lunchbox with multiple compartments can help with packing a small portion of each different food. For example, rice crackers in one compartment, cheese cubes in another, and some cherry tomatoes and mini cucumbers in a third.

Offering variety and keeping portions small can also help to manage fussy eating.

Making it easier for parents

Parents juggle food preferences, logistics, societal expectations, time, nutrition and other pressures.

As a society, we need to better support families to create healthy and sustainable lunchboxes. Research suggests suggests this could include:

• giving students a longer time to eat lunch at school
• teaching students about the value of food
• supporting healthy canteen policies
• restricting marketing to children
• improving the clarity of food labelling.

Some experts also argue we should move to a school-provided lunch program.

These changes can’t be implemented by schools or parents alone but require action across multiple industries and government departments.

In the meantime, it’s important to acknowledge the challenges and value the effort associated with putting together the daily lunchbox.

Margaret Murray does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. My kids (and I) hate sandwiches, what can I pack for lunch instead? – https://theconversation.com/my-kids-and-i-hate-sandwiches-what-can-i-pack-for-lunch-instead-275207

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/11/my-kids-and-i-hate-sandwiches-what-can-i-pack-for-lunch-instead-275207/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karinna Saxby, Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne

Transgender and gender-diverse (“trans”) people have worse mental health compared to the general population. As a result, they’re more likely to use mental health services, such as psychologists and counsellors, and treatments such as antidepressants and anxiety medication.

While there are many contributing factors, including stigma, we know gender dysphoria can play a major role. Gender dysphoria refers to the distress or discomfort some trans people feel about their gender, body, or how others perceive their gender.

Gender-affirming medical care – which may involve hormone therapy or surgery – helps align trans people’s bodies with their gender identity. And evidence shows it can drastically improve trans people’s mental health.

But until now, we haven’t had research that tracks whether this means they actually use mental health services and scripts less.

Our two new studies – one on hormone therapy and one on surgeries – looked at what happens before and after people access gender-affirming medical care.

For the first time, we’ve shown that gender-affirming care dramatically reduces how much people access mental health care – saving Medicare millions.

First, what is gender-affirming medical care?

Trans people may seek out different types and degrees of gender-affirming care.

This can include:

• procedures such as a mastectomy or breast surgery, to masculinise or feminise the appearance of the chest (sometimes known as “top surgery”)

• genital reconstructive surgery (sometimes called “bottom surgery”)

• hormonal treatments, including testosterone and estrogen-based medications.

Not every trans person wants gender-affirming care, but most do.
National survey data suggests around 72% want to access it at some point in their lives.

One 2021 study surveyed 928 trans people, including trans men, trans women and non-binary people. It found 89% of those assigned female at birth had or wanted to have chest surgery, and 82% of those assigned male at birth had or wanted to have genital reconfiguration surgery.

Research consistently finds gender-affirming procedures have very low regret rates (less than 1%) compared to other surgeries, such as knee reconstruction (10%) and cancer procedures (24%).

How do people currently pay for it?

Gender-affirming surgeries aren’t consistently subsidised under Medicare, meaning people who pay for this medical care themselves can incur between $20,000 and $100,000 out-of-pocket.

But the government is considering adding these surgeries to Medicare. This would mean a rebate for certain procedures, although the patient would cover the gap, which could still be many thousands of dollars.

Hormone therapy is listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, meaning patients pay a small co-payment to fill their scripts. Costs vary significantly depending on individuals’ dosages and goals, but the government spends between $79–$278 per person each year.

However, some jurisdictions have recently blocked access to this kind of medical care. Last year, the Northern Territory and Queensland banned hormone therapy for trans people aged under 18, including testosterone, estrogen and puberty blockers.

What we looked at

We know gender-affirming care improves trans people’s quality of life and reduces psychological distress, dysphoria and suicidal thoughts.

So we wanted to see if this would translate to a drop in trans people using mental health care.

We used de-identified Medicare records over a decade (2012–2024) to track how using mental health services and scripts changed for:

• 20,358 trans people (15 years and older) who started estrogen-based hormone therapy
• 11,883 trans people (15 years and older) who started testosterone-based hormone therapy
• 2,872 trans adults who had chest surgery
• 826 trans adults who had genital reconfiguration surgery.

We also adjusted the data for “confounding factors” – differences which could distort results – such as age and socioeconomic background.

What we found

Our data showed that before starting hormone therapy or undergoing surgery, trans people used between 1.6 and 3.6 mental health services (such as psychologist visits or GP mental health plans) each year.

In comparison, the average Australian uses one service every two years. So trans people who sought these types of services used them 3.2–7 times more than average.

But five years after starting hormone therapy, trans people in our data used between 0.3 and 2.6 fewer health services.

If we translate this into reduced psychologist visits using the standard $100 rebate, it means each year, the government spent $30–260 less per person after they started hormones.

In our study on surgery, we were able to look at exact Medicare costs for services and scripts.

When someone had chest surgery, we found the government spent $1,769 less on their mental health care (on average) over the following five years.

For genital surgery, the average mental health care saving per person was $3,416 over the following five years.

What this means

If gender-affirming surgeries are added to Medicare, the average proposed rebates would be $1,328 for chest surgery and $1,195 for genital reconfiguration surgery.

Our findings suggest these one-off costs would be be eclipsed by the reduced government spending on mental health care within 4–5 years.

It’s difficult to know how many Australians are actually trans, as we don’t yet have census data on this.

And we don’t know exactly how many people would access surgeries if they were added to Medicare. But the research mentioned above from 2021 suggests between eight and nine in every ten trans people want or have already had top or bottom surgery.

So we applied those rates to estimate demand for surgery in the sample we observed who were currently on hormone therapy, given people usually take hormones before surgery. Still, this is a conservative estimate.

Our calculations show, if the government paid $1,328 each for 89% of 11,883 trans people to receive top surgery, the total cost would be $14 million. Once we subtract the mental health savings over five years for this group ($18.7 million) this means Medicare would spend $4.6 million less over five years.

The cost for 82% of 20,358 trans people to get bottom surgery (with a $1,195 rebate per person) would be $19.9 million. Once we subtract the mental health savings over five years for this group ($57 million) Medicare would save about $37 million over five years.

This would lead to a total of almost $42 million in savings within five years.

However given the significant unmet need for gender-affirming care this number is likely to be much higher.

Hormone therapy is similarly cost effective. In some cases it offsets the money spent in mental health care and in others it leads to savings.

When trans people have access to gender-affirming medical care, it reduces their distress and vastly improves their quality of life. Now, our findings show there are economic benefits too.

Karinna Saxby has previously received funding from the Department of Health and Aged Care and currently receives funding from the University of Melbourne McKenzie Fellowship. Karinna is a co-founder and committee member of LGBTQ Economists and Allies in the Asia Pacific (LEAP).

Brendan Nolan has received research funding from NHMRC, University of Melbourne, Endocrine Society of Australia, Royal Australasian College of Physicians Foundation and Viertel Charitable Foundation. He is currently a member of the Endocrine Society (US), Endocrine Society of Australia, World Professional Association for Transgender Health and Australian Professional Association for Trans Health.

Clue Coman receives Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship funding through the University of New South Wales.

Dennis Petrie receives funding from Australian Research Council (ARC), National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, VicHealth, Medical Research Future Fund and the National Disability Insurance Agency.

– ref. Funding surgery and hormones for trans people can save Medicare millions: new research – https://theconversation.com/funding-surgery-and-hormones-for-trans-people-can-save-medicare-millions-new-research-274125

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/11/funding-surgery-and-hormones-for-trans-people-can-save-medicare-millions-new-research-274125/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Hartigan, Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney

Just when we thought it was safe to return to the supermarket aisle, it seems inflation has come back to bite us again. Worse, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) predicts it will linger for longer than previously expected, adding to cost-of-living concerns.

So, what is inflation, and what causes it? Do we have to worry about inflation? And if so, what are the options for getting it back under control?

What is inflation and how is it measured?

Inflation is a sustained rise in the general level of prices for goods and services purchased by households.

In Australia, inflation is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is calculated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and published every month.

The CPI consists of a basket of goods and services consumed by the typical household. Each month, the Bureau of Statistics calculates the price changes of items in the CPI basket from the previous month, and combines them to work out the inflation rate for the entire basket.

For example, if milk increased during the month by 2% and haircuts by 5%, then the overall inflation rate would include those two price rises based on the item’s weight in the CPI basket.

Each item’s weight in the CPI basket reflects the proportion of a household’s total spending on that item. For example, housing (21%) is the largest category, followed by food and non-alcoholic beverages (17%), recreation and culture (13%, including holiday travel) and transport (11%, including petrol). Communications (2%) is the smallest category.

What causes inflation?

Inflation results mainly from the interplay between demand and supply of goods and services in the economy. Other influences include the level of the Australian dollar, and household and business beliefs about the future path of inflation.

If demand outpaces supply, this excess demand puts upward pressure on prices. This is known as “demand-pull” inflation and is the cause of Australia’s current inflation problem. Inflationary pressures ease when the opposite occurs, which is why inflation falls during recessions.

In contrast, “cost-push” inflation happens when it becomes harder or more expensive to produce goods and services, so supply falls relative to demand. This happened during and after the COVID pandemic, when shipping and other bottlenecks delayed the arrival of goods, causing inflation to spike.

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Why worry about inflation?

Inflation is a concern because it erodes living standards. If your wages don’t keep up with inflation, your purchasing power will be diminished. It’s worse for people on low or fixed incomes such as pensioners.

This causes people to devote time and resources to coping with rising prices rather than developing new products or services that create real value.

Inflation also penalises savers by reducing the value of their savings, while benefiting borrowers who repay debts with money worth less than when they borrowed it.

If left unchecked, inflation can be very costly to get back under control, as Turkey’s experience with inflation above 30% shows.

If inflation causes problems, why not aim for zero inflation? While it would be nice for prices to stay constant, achieving zero inflation is not ideal either.

For starters, the CPI as a measure of inflation is imprecise. It has some biases, meaning a small positive number is probably close to zero anyway. Some modest inflation is needed and is a sign of a growing economy.

What is the best way to manage inflation?

The RBA is responsible for dealing with inflation. It does so by raising or lowering the official cash rate, which changes the interest rates we all pay. That flows through to borrowing costs across the economy for households and businesses, and thus influences demand.

But interest rates are a blunt instrument for managing inflation because they affect the whole economy and not just the source of inflation. And interest rates can’t deal with cost-push inflation either.

As a result, some commentators question the effectiveness of using interest rates as a tool for tackling inflation in Australia.

Instead, some are suggesting alternative options, such as:

• changing the rate of the Goods and Services Tax (GST)
• changing the rate of compulsory superannuation contributions.

Both suggestions might be effective in controlling total demand through changing the spending decisions of households. They would have little impact on businesses.

However, since both options would require changes to legislation, the process would require political agreement and could take years to pass. In contrast, changes in interest rates start flowing through to the economy in a matter of days.

More importantly, these alternative options only affect demand and consequently inflation via household spending or the “cash-flow” channel.

In comparison, interest rates affect demand through two other channels, which research by the RBA suggests are more important. These include the wealth channel (mainly house prices) and the exchange rate. Both channels would be lost under the alternative options.

Is there anything the government can do?

Unfortunately, there is no easy fix for Australia’s current inflation problem. The federal government does have a role to play though. In the short term, it could implement policies such as tax hikes or curbing government spending, which seem to be on the agenda for the federal budget in May.

Longer-term, the key to fixing Australia’s inflation problem is by boosting productivity, which has stalled in recent years.

Here the government could implement policies to bolster the supply-side of the economy via deregulation, invest in education and infrastructure, and encourage business growth to boost production capacity.

This would lift the economy’s “speed limit” so it can grow faster without stoking inflation. But this will take time.

Luke Hartigan receives funding from Australian Research Council (DP230100959). He previously worked as a Research Economist at the RBA.

– ref. What exactly is inflation, and are interest rates the only option for dealing with it? – https://theconversation.com/what-exactly-is-inflation-and-are-interest-rates-the-only-option-for-dealing-with-it-275084

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/11/what-exactly-is-inflation-and-are-interest-rates-the-only-option-for-dealing-with-it-275084/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Harper, Lecturer, School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney

The number of “serious incidents” in Australian early childhood services – including long daycare – is increasing. According to a new Productivity Commission report, there were 160 such incidents per 100 services in 2024-25. This is up from 148 and 139 in the previous two years.

A serious incident is one that seriously compromises the health, safety or wellbeing of a child. This includes serious injury or illness requiring medical attention, any event where emergency services attended, a child going missing or being locked in or out of the premises. It can also include abuse or the death of a child.

The figures come amid continuing concern about safety in early childhood services around Australia. Last week, regulators reported a family daycare had been shut down after knives and poison were kept within reach of kids in Sydney; while in South Australia, the regulator warned of supervision “blind spots”.

Why are we seeing this increase? What does it mean for families and educators?

How do we get these figures?

Under the Education and Care Services National Regulations, services must report all serious incidents to the relevant state or territory regulatory authority.

So these Productivity Commission figures come via the national agency for childcare safety and quality (the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority).

In its most recent report in December 2025, the national agency reported an increase across almost every kind of serious incident. The most commonly reported incident type was “injury, illness, or trauma”, which accounted for 77.7% of serious incident reports.

Why aren’t we seeing a drop?

The latest figures predate the slew of recent child safety reforms across the sector. So it may take time for us to see a change in annual data reporting.

We also have numerous state and national inquiries still underway. And further reforms are yet to be implemented. This includes mandatory child safety and child protection training for all staff, volunteers, and students.

In fact, the increase is not a surprise. Data released by the national agency has shown a persistent increase in serious incident reports, which are currently up 62% from 2016-17 (the earliest available report on these figures). There have also been particularly marked increases over the last five years.

What is less clear is what is causing this increase and how to fix it.

Are people becoming more aware?

The latest rise may indicate the sector is becoming more transparent, as opposed to more dangerous.

With the recent increase in public scrutiny and subsequent policy changes around child safety – including shorter time frames for mandatory reporting and restrictions on the use of digital devices – services, educators, and even families may be more likely to report serious incidents when they occur.

If this is so, a stronger reporting culture would be a welcome outcome.

Or are services under stress?

On the other hand, Australian and international research shows safety risks increase when educators and services are operating under strain.

Our research shows staff in the early childhood sector face heavy workloads and unpaid hours. There are also longstanding concerns about increasing regulatory demands, high staff turnover and educator burnout.

What about management?

Research indicates management (or who is running a service) is a key factor when it comes to quality.

Although the national agency’s reports do not let us compare serious incident rates of for-profit versus not-for-profit services, for-profits tend to provide lower quality services for children, and have been less likely to improve their rating under the national quality framework.

On top of this, publicly available data from the third quarter of 2025 (the most recent we have), shows private for-profit services are more likely to be “working towards the national quality standard” on children’s health and safety than other early childhood provider types.

This is why the steady increase in large for-profit providers in Australia is a significant concern.

So is childcare safe or not?

Despite the awful revelations about abuse in the sector, the OECD notes that early childhood services are generally safer than un-regulated care. This includes care by relatives, babysitters or privately employed nannies. This is because services such as long daycare are regulated by a national quality framework and standards.

The difficulty is there is such variation in quality across the sector. Current regulatory systems also have significant gaps. For example, many services wait more than four years between assessment visits. In some states, time between visits can extend to ten years.

A 2025 independent report found several NSW services were on a secret government list as “very high risk” but were publicly rated as “meeting” national quality standards.

As of November 2025, families can now access new content on the Starting Blocks website to check the compliance history of their service. This includes when a service was last visited by a regulatory authority, and any formal breach notifications over the last two years.

Will the recent and upcoming reforms be enough?

The current debate about safety and quality are still largely reactive and risks-based. For example, shutting down unsafe providers and training educators to spot potential abuse.

We need more focus on the broader factors – such as educator working conditions, workforce quality and management capability – which research shows will lift quality and boost safety overall.

If services have well-trained staff and supportive working conditions, they are more likely to provide both safety and quality for children.

Erin Harper does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Serious incidents in childcare centres are still rising. Why? – https://theconversation.com/serious-incidents-in-childcare-centres-are-still-rising-why-275434

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/11/serious-incidents-in-childcare-centres-are-still-rising-why-275434/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology, University of Cambridge

Menopause is a key period in a woman’s life. This transition is often accompanied by wide-ranging physical and psychological symptoms — some of which can be debilitating and affect daily life. Menopause has also been linked to cognitive problems — such as memory, attention and language deficits.

To mitigate the effects of menopause — including hot flashes, depressive symptoms and sleep problems — many women turn to hormone replacement therapy (HRT). In England, an estimated 15% of women are prescribed HRT for menopause symptoms. In Europe, this number is even higher – varying between 18% in Spain to 55% in France.

But there’s limited understanding of the effects of menopause and subsequent HRT use on the brain, cognition and mental health. To address this, we analysed data from nearly 125,000 women from the UK Biobank (a large database containing genetic and health data from about 500,000 people).

We placed participants into three groups: pre-menopausal, post-menopausal and post-menopausal with HRT. The average age of menopause was around 49 years old. Women who used HRT typically began treatment around the same age.

In short, we found that menopause was associated with poorer sleep, increased mental health problems and even changes within the brain itself.

Post-menopausal women were more likely than pre-menopausal women to report symptoms of anxiety and depression. They were also more likely to seek help from a GP or psychiatrist and to be prescribed antidepressants.

Sleep disturbances were more common after menopause, as well. Post-menopausal women reported higher rates of insomnia, shorter sleep duration and increased fatigue.

Brain imaging analyses also revealed significant reductions in grey matter volume following menopause. Grey matter is an important component of the central nervous system which is composed mainly of brain cells. These reductions were most pronounced in regions critical for learning and memory (namely the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex) and areas key in emotional regulation and attention (termed the anterior cingulate cortex).

Notably, the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex are among the earliest affected in Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia.

The changes we observed in our study could suggest that menopause-related brain changes may contribute to increased vulnerability to Alzheimer’s disease later in life. This could help explain why there’s a higher prevalence of dementia observed in women.

We also investigated whether taking HRT post-menopause had any effect on health outcomes. Notably, HRT did not improve the reduction in brain grey matter.

In addition, we found that women using HRT showed higher levels of anxiety and depression compared to post-menopausal women who had never used HRT. However, further analyses indicated that these differences were already present. This suggested that pre-existing mental health problems may have influenced the decision to begin using HRT rather than these symptoms being caused by the medication itself.

One potential benefit of HRT use was noted in cognitive performance – particularly for psychomotor speed. Psychomotor slowing is a hallmark feature of ageing.

Post-menopausal women who had never used HRT showed slower reaction times compared with both pre-menopausal women and post-menopausal women who had used HRT. This indicates that HRT helps to slow the menopause-related declines in psychomotor speed.

HRT and menopause

There’s still much we don’t know about HRT – and more evidence on its benefits and risks are still needed.

Some studies report that those taking HRT have an increased dementia risk, while others suggest a decreased risk of dementia.

More research is also needed to understand the effects of HRT and how the different routes and dosages affect menopause symptoms. But according to one UK Biobank study of 538 women, the effects don’t appear to differ – regardless of factors such as the formulation, route of administration and duration of use.

Importantly, however, it’s difficult to establish whether women are actually receiving an effective dose. One in four women using the highest licensed dose of HRT still had low levels of estradiol (oestrogen) – around 200 picomoles per litre. Older women and HRT patch users were more likely to have lower levels.

Optimal plasma levels to relieve menopause symptoms are between 220-550 picomoles per litre. This means that for 25% of the women in the study, HRT would not have had optimal benefit for menopause symptoms.

Considering that most women go through the menopause, it’s important to resolve the question of whether HRT is beneficial – including preventing brain grey matter volume reductions and reducing the risk of dementia. It will also be important to know what the best dose and route of administration are.

There is evidence to suggest healthy lifestyle habits may mitigate these menopause-related changes in brain health.

Our work and that of other research groups shows that a number of lifestyle habits can improve brain health, cognition and wellbeing, thereby reducing the risk of cognitive decline associated with ageing and dementia. This includes regular exercise, engaging in cognitively challenging activities (such as learning a new language or playing chess), having a nutritious and balanced diet, getting the right amount of good-quality sleep and having strong social connections.

Research also shows regular physical activity can increase the size of the hippocampus, which may help mitigate some of the menopause-related reductions observed in this region.

Sleep is also critically important as it supports the consolidation of memories and helps clear toxic waste byproducts from the brain – processes that are essential for memory, brain health and immune function.

Having a healthy lifestyle may offer an accessible and effective strategy to promote brain health, cognitive reserve and resilience to stress during and after the menopause transition.

Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian receives funding from the Wellcome Trust and the Lundbeck Foundation. Her research work is conducted within the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) Mental Health and Neurodegeneration Themes. She receives Royalties from Cambridge University Press for Brain Boost: Healthy Habits for a Happier Life.

Christelle Langley receives funding from the Wellcome Trust. Her research work is conducted within the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) Mental Health and Neurodegeneration Themes. She receives royalties from Cambridge University Press for Brain Boost: Healthy Habits for a Happier Life.

– ref. Menopause: our study revealed how it affects the brain, cognition and mental health – https://theconversation.com/menopause-our-study-revealed-how-it-affects-the-brain-cognition-and-mental-health-275329

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/11/menopause-our-study-revealed-how-it-affects-the-brain-cognition-and-mental-health-275329/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca J Evans, Lecturer and Researcher in Music Psychology, Auckland University of Technology

Looking back over 2025, one of the most powerful events for New Zealanders was the reclaiming of the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest haka at Eden Park.

The crowd was diverse. Some were deeply committed, while others were simply excited to dance. Either way, footage from the day clearly signals a growing engagement with te reo Māori (the Māori language) within mainstream Aotearoa New Zealand.

The mass haka was championed by Hinewehi Mohi, who famously sang the national anthem in te reo and led the Waiata Anthems project) – and was supported by New Zealand’s most-streamed band Six60, whose song Pepeha is often sung in school assemblies.

The event also reflected a broader trend identified in the 2023 census, wherein the number of people who speak te reo Māori grew 15% since 2018. This trend is changing the music landscape of Aotearoa.

Sounds that reshape the nation

Music offers us a window into societal thoughts about politics, identity and power. Sounds, lyrics and genres can reflect public tensions, hopes and debates that might not always surface in more formal settings.

In recent years, a number of Aotearoa’s musical artists have used language to build on and reshape our national identity. At the forefront of this cultural shift are two well-loved acts: genre-bending singer-songwriter Marlon Williams and heavy metal export Alien Weaponry.

Both have been reconnecting with te reo in a big way, with documentaries charting their journeys (see Ngā Ao E Rua – Two Worlds and Kua Tupu Te Ara).

But there are many other exceptional artists also playing their part. And since Spotify Wrapped didn’t quite do our local acts justice, we thought we’d provide our personal pick of five musicians doing remarkable mahi (work).

Mokotron

Hailing from Ngati Hine “down North”, Mokotron is the musical project of long-time Tāmaki Makaurau-based producer and University of Auckland academic Tiopira McDowell.

His Taite Music Prize-winning album Waerea (2024) brings reo Māori and taonga pūoro (Māori musical instruments) into what he describes as “dark, problematic, trauma-driven Māori electro bass”.

The track Ko Wai Koe?, which grew out of McDowell’s involvement in Treaty settlement negotiations, is built around the repeated questioning of authority and the legitimacy of colonial power.

The visuals for the track combine hulking Māori carvings with colonial-themed Space Invaders imagery, reflecting what McDowell describes as his approach to “ancient futurism”. It goes off live too – such as at Glastonbury and in this Boiler Room set with TeKuraHuia.

Theia/Te Kaahu

Theia, and her folk leaning alter-ego Te Kaahu, are the stage names of Em-Haley Walker, from the iwi (tribes) Waikato-Tainui and Ngaati Tiipaa.

Theia is a fierce proponent of Māori language revitalisation – and was number five on politician and iwi leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer’s end-of-year Spotify Wrapped.

Signed back in 2016 to Warner Music, Theia’s breakout pop track Roam (2016) feels worlds away from her sharp, confrontational 2025 single BALDH3AD!, which addresses colonial violence and culminates in the refrain “Ka whawahi to, tonu mātou, ake ake” (“we will fight on forever and ever”, referencing Ngāti Maniapoto leader Rewi Maniapoto).

Theia’s strong visual aesthetic is highlighted through the Edwardian-esque visuals of her new album Girl, In A Savage World (2025) – a subversive approach that takes colonial era garb and artfully reclaims it, akin to Dam Native’s 1997 track Behold My Kool Style.

GreatSouth

GreatSouth (from the iwi of Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa and Te Rarawa), formerly Fable, is a grounded and humble emerging indie-rock artist blending sharp musicality with strong urban foundations.

Driven by today’s social and political climate, he speaks openly about Māori inequities both in his music and on social media.

This tāne (man) crafts his guitar music with taonga puoro, weaving te reo where it feels natural, and “sharing his slice of Māori being” one indie-rock waiata at a time.

Geneva AM

Geneva AM (from the iwi of Ngāti Ruapani mai Waikaremoana, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa, Aitutaki, and from Palmerston) is multi-talented.

She is a producer, former indie-electronica band SoccerPractice vocalist, former radio DJ and visual artist. In 2025, she released her debut album Pikipiki – a joyful bilingual project about rising up and moving forward.

Original tracks sit alongside reimagined Aotearoa favourites such as Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi and Pūrea Nei, and blend a ton of unexpected genres including classical, drum and bass, and emo rock.

The track Toitū Te Tiriti champions the 1840 treaty, with strings so emotive they could stir the hearts of anyone – even if they didn’t attend the nation’s largest march in support of the treaty.

Mokomokai

Mokomokai – a playful hip-hop collective featuring Dirty (aka Manu Walters), Dusty and Ghos – is a great microcosm of the changing way te reo Māori sits within music.

On their 2023 album Whakarehu, the track Kupe (featuring Melodownz) name-checks legendary Polynesian explorer Kupe and well-loved singer-songwriter Che Fu – situating the act within an expanding New Zealand hip-hop genealogy.

At the back-end of Melodownz’ verse, his pepeha (tribal saying used to introduce oneself) slots in comfortably. He speaks to his journey as an artist embracing his Māori identity (as shown in the Waiata Anthems documentary series, in which everything is linked back to Hinewehi Mohi).

Tātou tātou e (all of us, all of us)

There are many more extraordinary musicians championing te reo, including MĀ, Anna Coddington, Rei with his Māori language degree, and L.A.B. (who recorded their first song Maumahara Noa Ahau in te reo).

As a nation, we’re getting there, and we can count on our musicians to lead the way. Let’s not forget, tōku reo tōku ohooho (“our language is our awakening”).

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. 5 New Zealand music acts keeping te reo Māori alive and rocking – https://theconversation.com/5-new-zealand-music-acts-keeping-te-reo-maori-alive-and-rocking-271189

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/11/5-new-zealand-music-acts-keeping-te-reo-maori-alive-and-rocking-271189/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kris Gledhill, Professor of Law, Auckland University of Technology

The New Zealand Court of Appeal is this week hearing a case that is unusual in a number of respects.

The person bringing it is Brenton Harrison Tarrant, the 35-year-old Australian man convicted and sentenced for the murder of 51 people in Christchurch in March 2019.

Tarrant – who earlier pleaded guilty to those murders, along with attempting to murder 40 others and committing the acts as terrorism – is seeking to reopen his conviction and sentence.

At first glance, this might seem baffling: how can a person who earlier admitted to serious crimes – and who was sentenced years ago – be trying to appeal? The answer lies in some important rules that illustrate how New Zealand’s legal system works.

Tarrant was sentenced five years ago. How can he appeal now?

Legal systems have to balance competing principles. One principle is that decisions by criminal courts should be final, so that those affected can move on.

At the same time, it is important the decision is the right one, since an incorrect finding by a criminal court is problematic.

As a result, those convicted have a right to appeal, but the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 gives them 20 days to file their application. Additionally, the Appeal Court can extend that time limit if there are good reasons to override the need for finality.

So, the hearing now before the court is actually an application for an extension of time. Tarrant’s notice of appeal against conviction and sentence was filed in November 2022: it should have been filed in September 2020, as he was sentenced in August 2020. So the application is to extend time by over two years.

If the Court of Appeal is not persuaded there are good reasons to extend the time limit, the judges will refuse the application to extend time. There is one final avenue then, which is an application to the Supreme Court.

But he pleaded guilty. How can he appeal that?

A second part of the application Tarrant has made is to set aside his guilty pleas. This can happen for various reasons. The central argument he has raised is that he was acting irrationally when he pleaded guilty because of mental health issues caused by prison conditions.

An admission of guilt, which in this case led to the severest sentence available in our legal system – life without parole – has to be an informed decision. The legal system has processes for when people are not fit to stand trial.

If it is a temporary problem, trials can be adjourned until the person is well enough. If it is a more long-term problem, there can be a modified trial that looks at whether the person did the acts charged without looking at whether they had a criminal state of mind.

That is why the evidence before the Court of Appeal includes him, his trial lawyers and experts. This will allow an assessment of the reliability of the pleas that were entered.

This is the real issue for the Court of Appeal. If the guilty pleas can’t be relied on, that might be a good reason to extend time. However, that is not automatic. The legal test is whether there has been a miscarriage of justice.

This allows the Court of Appeal to consider whether the evidence available showed guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in any event. An admission of guilt and a finding of guilt by a court weighing the evidence lead to the same verdict.

Why don’t we know the names of his lawyers?

Another unusual feature of this case is that we don’t know the names of Tarrant’s lawyers. This is because, in a judgment in November 2024, the Court of Appeal allowed them to be anonymous. This rested on evidence of concerns for their safety.

The Supreme Court declined to hear a further appeal against this ruling. This is why the appeal is being heard in a closed court but with a delayed video link.

This reveals that some people misunderstand the role of defence lawyers. The legal system only works if lawyers are willing to represent unpopular people and present their case in a professional manner.

This does not mean the lawyer believes in or otherwise supports the person they are representing. Rather, they are doing a job that is necessary for the legal system to work properly.

But wasn’t the evidence clear?

Most people charged by the police plead guilty or are found guilty; and most appeals are unsuccessful. But in a minority of situations, police and prosecutors or trial courts don’t get it right.

There have been past instances where people have made confessions to things they did not actually do or did not do with a criminal state of mind.

No-one benefits from an incorrect guilty verdict. That is why we have appeals, including appeals out of time, and a Criminal Cases Review Commission.

Particularly for such a uniquely horrible event, and when the sentence imposed is the most severe one our system can impose, it is important to be sure it was correct. That is what is being assessed. It is also why the Court of Appeal has appointed a lawyer to be on stand-by in case the lawyers for the defence are sacked.

Something similar happened at the sentencing hearing: the trial judge appointed a lawyer to make arguments at the sentencing hearing because Tarrant seemingly accepted the sentence of life without parole and told his lawyers not to argue against it.

The resilience of the victims and their families is again on display. For them in particular, but also for New Zealand more generally, we should remember that court judgments are also important historical records.

Judges give reasoned findings into significant events. The three judges of the Court of Appeal are playing this important role, with the assistance of all the lawyers involved.

Kris Gledhill is currently working on a criminal sentencing project funded by the Borrin Foundation, and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Criminal Bar Association, which represents prosecution and defence lawyers. The views expressed here are his own.

– ref. Christchurch terror appeal: why now, and what is really being decided? – https://theconversation.com/christchurch-terror-appeal-why-now-and-what-is-really-being-decided-275541

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/11/christchurch-terror-appeal-why-now-and-what-is-really-being-decided-275541/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Hall, Associate professor of Political Science, Rochester Institute of Technology

When it comes to national politics, Americans are fiercely divided across a range of issues, including gun control, election security and vaccines. It’s not new for Republicans and Democrats to be at odds over issues, but things have reached a point where even the idea of compromising appears to be anathema, making it more difficult to solve thorny problems.

But things are much less heated at the local level. A survey of more than 1,400 local officials by the Carnegie Corporation and CivicPulse found that local governments are “largely insulated from the harshest effects of polarization.” Communities with fewer than 50,000 residents proved especially resilient to partisan dysfunction.

Why this difference? As a political scientist, I believe that lessons from the local level not only open a window onto how polarization works but also the dynamics and tools that can help reduce it.

Problems are more concrete

Local governments deal with concrete issues – sometimes literally, when it comes to paving roads and fixing potholes. In general, cities and counties handle day-to-day functions, such as garbage pickup, running schools and enforcing zoning rules. Addressing tangible needs keeps local leaders’ attention fixed on specific problems that call out for specific solutions, not lengthy ideological debates.

By contrast, a lot of national political conflict in the U.S. involves symbolic issues, such as debates about identity and values on topics such as race, abortion and transgender rights. These battles are often divisive, even more so than purely ideological disagreements, because they can activate tribal differences and prove more resistant to compromise.

Such arguments at the national level, or on social media, can lead to wildly inaccurate stereotypes about people with opposing views. Today’s partisans often perceive their opponents as far more extreme than they actually are, or they may stereotype them – imagining that all Republicans are wealthy, evangelical culture warriors, for instance, or conversely being convinced that all Democrats are radical urban activists. In terms of ideology, the median members of both parties, in fact, look similar.

These kinds of misperceptions can fuel hostility.

Local officials, however, live among the human beings they represent, whose complexity defies caricature. Living and interacting in the same communities leads to greater recognition of shared interests and values, according to the Carnegie/CivicPulse survey.

Meaningful interaction with others, including partisans of the opposing party, reduces prejudice about them. Local government provides a natural space where identities overlap.

People are complicated

In national U.S. politics today, large groups of individuals are divided not only by party but a variety of other factors, including race, religion, geography and social networks. When these differences align with ideology, political disagreement can feel like an existential threat.

Such differences are not always as pronounced at the local level. A neighbor who disagrees about property taxes could be the coach of your child’s soccer team. Your fellow school board member might share your concerns about curriculum but vote differently in presidential elections.

These cross-cutting connections remind us that political opponents are not a monolithic enemy but complex individuals. When people discover they have commonalities outside of politics with others holding opposing views, polarization can decrease significantly.

Finally, most local elections are technically nonpartisan. Keeping party labels off ballots allows voters to judge candidates as individuals and not merely as Republicans or Democrats.

National implications

None of this means local politics are utopian.

Like water, polarization tends to run downhill, from the national level to local contests, particularly in major cities where candidates for mayor and other office are more likely to run as partisans. Local governments also see culture war debates, notably in the area of public school instruction.

Nevertheless, the relative partisan calm of local governance suggests that polarization is not inevitable. It emerges from specific conditions that can be altered.

Polarization might be reduced by creating more opportunities for cross-partisan collaboration around concrete problems. Philanthropists and even states might invest in local journalism that covers pragmatic governance rather than partisan conflict. More cities and counties could adopt changes in election law that would de-emphasize party labels where they add little information for voters.

Aside from structural changes, individual Americans can strive to recognize that their neighbors are not the cardboard cutouts they might imagine when thinking about “the other side.” Instead, Americans can recognize that even political opponents are navigating similar landscapes of community, personal challenges and time constraints, with often similar desires to see their roads paved and their children well educated.

The conditions shaping our interactions matter enormously. If conditions change, perhaps less partisan rancor will be the result.

Lauren Hall is a Distinguished Fellow for the Study of Liberalism and a Free Society with the Institute for Humane Studies. She was previously a Pluralism Fellow with the Mercatus Center.

– ref. Local governments provide proof that polarization is not inevitable – https://theconversation.com/local-governments-provide-proof-that-polarization-is-not-inevitable-273986

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/11/local-governments-provide-proof-that-polarization-is-not-inevitable-273986/