A dangerous driver is headed to court after he drove on the wrong side of State Highway 1 at excessive speeds before crashing in Auckland overnight.
At around 3.15am, Police received multiple reports of a northbound vehicle travelling the wrong way on the Northern Motorway near Northcote.
Senior Sergeant Carl Fowlie, Waitematā North Area Response Manager, says motorway cameras observed the vehicle driving at high speeds near Oteha Valley Road, Albany.
“Police units were deployed to the area, but with the vehicle reaching speeds upwards of 160kmh, officers did not pursue.
“Units followed the vehicle at a safe distance from the correct side of the motorway,” Senior Sergeant Fowlie says.
The vehicle continued travelling north in the southbound lane on SH1, before it struck a barrier near the Puhoi on-ramp and crashed down a bank.
“Police promptly arrived on the scene and located the driver uninjured, and he was taken into custody.”
Senior Sergeant Fowlie says this incident could have ended in tragedy.
“It is extremely lucky no one was injured or killed as a result of the driver’s dangerous actions.”
A 53-year-old man has been summonsed to appear in North Shore District Court on 13 May for recklessly operating a motor vehicle.
The Financial Markets Authority has granted a class exemption for ‘green’ bonds.Wikipedia
Bond issuers will now have less paperwork to deal with when taking a so-called ‘green offer’ to market.
The Financial Markets Authority has granted a class exemption allowing bond issuers to make offers of green, social, sustainability or sustainability-linked (GSSS) bonds to forgo the full disclosure requirements.
“The exemption levels the playing field, if you like,” said Liam Mason, FMA executive director of governance, policy and strategy.
“If I have bonds listed at the moment and I want to do a second offer, they’re both vanilla bonds, then I can just do it with a simple term sheet. It’s called a cleansing notice and it’s straight to market.”
The exemption allowed the same with green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds, he said.
“If I’ve already got bonds listed and I want to offer a green bond, or I want to offer a sustainability-linked bond, I just have to set out in a simple term sheet what the sustainability projects are, how it’s going to be measured, and then it allows me to get into market quickly, which is really important in the debt markets.”
Mason said the change stemmed from talks with the finance sector as well as the FMA’s own research, which suggested burdensome disclosure requirements could be holding issuers back from offering more GSSS products.
“What we’re hearing from investors is that they want to be able to invest consistently with their values, whether it’s products that have an environmental link, whether it’s social or sustainability-linked projects that the issuer commits to as part of their offering, there’s real demand for this.
“This [change] makes it easier for these products to be offered to public investors.”
There is a slight decrease in national fuel stock across petrol, diesel and jet fuel since the last update, but “supply remains within normal levels”.
That’s according to the latest fuel stocks update, which says the change remains within expectations and shows normal patterns.
Data released on Wednesday afternoon by the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment showed that as of 11.59pm on Sunday evening, there were 58.7 days of petrol available, 52.2 days of diesel and 46.2 days of jet fuel.
The data combines the stocks that are in-country, on the water within New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone (meaning ships with fuel unloading, ships at berth yet to unload, and ships moving between ports), or on the water outside the EEZ (up to three weeks away).
There were 29.3 days of petrol, 21.6-day supply of diesel, and 22.1 days’ jet fuel in-country.
There were six ships on the water within New Zealand’s EEZ, containing 4.3 days’ petrol, 8.4 days’ diesel, and 11.4 days’ jet fuel.
A further 10 ships were on the water outside the EEZ, carrying 25.1 days’ petrol, 22.2 days’ diesel, and 12.6 days’ jet fuel.
Data released on Monday showed there was 59.3 days’ cover of petrol, 54.5 days’ cover of diesel, and 50.4 days’ cover of jet fuel.
The US and Israel’s ongoing war on Iran has caused a global fuel crisis which is now in its fifth week as Iran continues to block most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz which is used to transit about one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas.
It has hugely disrupted key supply chains and pushed Brent crude oil over $115 a barrel, pushing up prices at the pump.
In New Zealand on Wednesday morning, the Gaspy website showed the price of unleaded 98 was $3.75 a litre, diesel was $3.51, unleaded 95 was $3.63 and unleaded 91 was $3.43.
The government has a National Fuel Plan in place outlining measures that would be taken if supplies start running dry.
It has four phases and New Zealand is currently in phase one.
Phase 2 would see homes, businesses and the public sector encouraged to conserve fuel.
The higher phases are still under consultation.
Phase 3 would see fuel prioritised for life-preserving services and phase 4 would see stricter intervention in fuel distribution.
Moving up or down levels is decided by a ministerial oversight group based on fuel stocks, restrictions and supply chain data.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
The Australian parliament is set to pass legislation today to ban life insurers from using genetic test results to discriminate against people applying for life insurance.
Once the law comes into effect in about six months, it will apply to all new life insurance contracts. These include for death cover, income protection, disability and trauma/critical illness cover.
So what does the new legislation mean for people taking out life insurance later this year? How about travel insurance or health insurance?
Here’s what we know, don’t know and need to clarify.
What’s changing with life insurance?
The new law will prohibit life insurers from using “protected genetic information” in underwriting.
Protected genetic information includes all health information that predicts or infers someone’s risk of future disease based on the results of genetic testing. In other words, life insurers cannot deny you cover or charge you higher premiums if you took a genetic test that predicted a higher risk of cancer, for example.
The definition does not include someone’s actual diagnosis (even if that was via a genetic test). The same goes for someone’s family history of disease, which can still be used by life insurers when underwriting. So if you or your sibling have been diagnosed with cancer, that could still be legally taken into account.
Underwriting is the process some insurers undertake when assessing the risk you bring as an insured person. They ask many questions when you apply for cover to gather information for underwriting.
Life insurance is usually risk-rated (except with some group insurance through superannuation). This means people with different risk profiles can receive different terms – including different premium costs, having things excluded from their cover, or having insurance rejected altogether.
Life insurers can ask about the medical history of an applicant or their first-degree relatives (parents, siblings or children). This isn’t restricted to conditions that still have symptoms. Any medical history at any stage is relevant.
You must answer in “good faith” when you apply for cover. This includes a requirement to “not make a misrepresentation” about matters relevant to your life insurance application.
If you conceal health information from a life insurer, or deliberately mislead them about your health history, this is “fraudulent nondisclosure”. This can lead to policies being voided, meaning they have no effect at all, and all premiums paid over time are forfeited.
How about travel insurance?
Travel insurance is also risk-rated, and travel insurers can ask for health information in deciding whether to offer cover, its cost and/or exclusions.
Travel insurance will not be subject to the new laws, which are restricted to life insurance. This means travel insurers are legally allowed to consider genetic test results to assess your future risk of disease as part of their underwriting.
When you apply for cover, travel insurers will mainly ask about your personal medical history (including pre-existing conditions and procedures you’ve had). Your family history may become relevant in certain circumstances (such as where you have a hereditary medical condition).
Is health insurance the same?
Health insurance in Australia is community-rated, meaning it pools risk across groups of people, rather than underwriting individuals.
So health insurers cannot deny cover or charge a higher premium based on personal or family history of disease, or other health risk factors.
But they can vary premiums based on where you live, and depending on the level of your cover (gold, silver or bronze).
Health insurers can take risk into account by applying waiting periods. This doesn’t affect the cost of premiums, but if you have an existing medical condition, a health insurer can offer you a policy but not cover any treatment for that condition until you have been insured for no more than 12 months. For psychiatric, rehabilitative or palliative care, the period is no more than two months, even for pre-existing conditions.
For health insurance, a pre-existing condition is defined as:
an ailment, illness or condition; and in the opinion of a medical practitioner appointed by the insurer […], the signs or symptoms of that ailment, illness or condition existed at any time in the period of 6 months ending on the day on which the person became insured under the policy.
This means you must disclose any condition for which signs or symptoms existed in the six months before your application. This doesn’t include childhood conditions that no longer have signs or symptoms.
However, it is the medical adviser appointed by the health insurer who ultimately decides this, not you or your doctor. The best advice is to answer questions honestly, and provide letters of evidence from your doctor if any potential uncertainty arises.
One aspect that does need clarification, though, is genetic testing. If you’ve had a genetic test to diagnose a condition with signs or symptoms, you must disclose this to a health insurer and they can apply a waiting period.
However, if the genetic test indicates a risk of future disease – such as the BRCA1 gene variant which increases the risk of breast, ovarian and prostate cancer – the situation is murkier.
While medically, a person with a BRCA1 variant does not have any signs or symptoms of cancer, health insurers could categorise this as a pre-existing condition and apply a 12-month waiting period for preventive care. This might include a preventive mastectomy, for example. Regulatory clarification on this issue would be helpful.
If you have a dispute about premiums or cover, and your insurer has not adequately addressed them, you can complain to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority about life or travel insurance, and to the Commonwealth Ombudsman about health insurance.
The Department of Conservation (DOC) has partnered with mana whenua to eradicate introduced koi carp from stormwater retention ponds on private land in Paraparaumu.
DOC Freshwater Technical Advisor Phoenix Hale says koi carp are “an absolute menace” to freshwater plants and animals, outcompeting them for food, preying upon native invertebrates, and churning up sediment.
“Although we only know of a few remaining koi carp populations in the lower and eastern North Island, they breed like crazy and could easily spread further. They’re like the possums of freshwater.”
DOC, partners, and the landowners planned the eradication project following landowners’ reports of koi carp in the stormwater retention ponds several years ago.
“We attempted to remove koi carp by draining the ponds last year, but excessive rainfall refilled them before we could get to the fish,” Phoenix says.
“Our plan then changed to using rotenone, a plant extract that’s toxic to fish, which is the most effective koi carp control tool we’ve got.”
The koi carp eradication using rotenone took place in March 2026, following a massive translocation effort where DOC moved more than 21,000 native fish from the stormwater ponds to safe waterways nearby.
The eradication team is monitoring the ponds closely to make sure all the koi carp were removed. To confirm the eradication was successful, the site must be carp-free for three years.
Northland Regional Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council supported DOC and mana whenua with the eradication operation. Northland Regional Council staff travelled to Kapiti to lend a hand and learn more about how to run a rotenone operation.
DOC led an eradication of a Dannevirke koi carp population last year, and all signs point to it being successful, though final results are still a couple of years away.
Phoenix says there is another suspected koi carp population is in Lake Waitawa, also in the Kapiti area.
“Waitawa is a large lake and a popular spot for recreation, so an eradication operation would be complex. Any work on koi carp at this site would be done in close collaboration with the landowners, Fish & Game, and mana whenua.”
DOC is asking for the public’s help to eradicate koi carp from the lower North Island. If you see a koi carp – they’re large orange fish with a ‘moustache’ – do your bit for naturing and call 0800 ASK DOC (0800 275 362) to report it.
Auckland university students are asking for free public transport and financial support as the fuel crisis continues.
The Auckland University of Technology and the University of Auckland students associations, have launched a joint petition, saying fuel prices are impacting university students disproportionately.
AUT student association president James Portegys said they were calling on the government to give them free public transport as long as the fuel crisis lasts and to include them in the government $50 support package.
Full-time tertiary students in Auckland receive a 40 percent discount on their bus and train fares but Portegys said students were finding it too much with the increases in the price of food and petrol.
Some students were having to travel across town in Auckland just to get to campus, he said.
“So students, particularly AUT, they live at least half an hour from any of our campuses usually. We don’t have much accommodation within the city due to cost and just due to students choosing to live further out cause it’s cheaper.”
There were also a number of nursing students who had to travel some distance for their placements, he said.
At the moment, the university was following the government’s four-step plan and monitoring the situation, but “it’s businesses as usual”, he said.
Research based on an Auckland University survey of nearly 350 students which was published on Tuesday indicated there were high levels of food insecurity amongst students with about 45 percent of those surveyed saying they were lacking reliable access to affordable and healthy food.
Food insecurity was significantly more common among students living away from home, compared with those living at home with parents or family, the survey showed.
Portegys said the experience at AUT backed that up.
“Since 2020 year-on-year we’ve seen an increase in our foodbanks, so we were in the 150 sort of packages a week in 2020 and we’re well into the 1800s last year in 2025.”
Portegys said like other students he was finding that food was much more expensive, it was difficult to get around and you had to plan on how to get from one campus to another with some students skipping lectures due to the cost of fuel.
The rising costs meant that it was becoming increasingly difficult for students to move away from home, he said.
He said he wanted the government to give students access to the $50 support package.
“We’d love to see free public transport given to students throughout this fuel crisis to get us to and from campus and help us out just that little bit.”
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US President Donald Trump has been obsessed with seizing Iran’s Kharg Island for more than 35 years — way before he became a politician. In 1990, he wrote in an American newspaper that the United States should seize Kharg.
Trump thinks that by seizing Kharg, he would get hold of Iranian oil, which he has admitted he wants badly. Either he is deliberately misleading the world or he is not well informed.
Kharg is nothing more than a loading terminal. It is a small island, only about 90 sq km in size, some 28 km from the Iranian mainland.
It’s main advantage is that it is surrounded by very deep waters which allows what are known as Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) to come alongside and load huge quantities of crude oil. A VLCC can easily load up to 2 million barrels of crude.
At today’s price of US$116 per barrel, the value of the cargo would exceed $232 million.
Kharg itself is not an oilfield. It does not produce crude. Every drop of oil which is stored in its many storage tanks are piped there from the mainland through underwater pipes.
All the Iranian oil fields are on the mainland. Now that the Iranians have known well in advance that Trump might seize the island, do you know what they will do? They will turn off the spigot.
No more oil flow No more oil will flow from the mainland to the island. What oil there is stored in the tanks on the island would have been loaded onto vessels which would have departed Kharg.
I am willing to put a wager that if the Americans seize the island, they will not find any oil. Maybe there will be some residue left in the tanks but the amounts would be so miniscule that in law it would be known as de minimis.
Trump can seize the island and I am sure the Iranians will allow him to do so. But what will happen after that?
The marines and the paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division will be slaughtered by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). I pity the American mothers and wives who will be receiving the bodies of their sons and husbands.
Iranian missiles and drones will descend on the American troops like fire and brimstone. There is absolutely no way the Americans can hold the island. The Iranians know this and have dared the Americans to come because they know that it is an invitation to hell for the enemy.
The trouble with the Americans is hubris. They think the rest of the world can easily be walked over by their unbeatable marines and other elite troops.
Napoleon too thought that his Old Guards or Imperial Guards were invincible until they came up against the British Grenadier, Coldstream and Scots Guards at Waterloo. And for the first time ever in the Napoleonic Wars, the agonising cry from the French generals of “En arriere!“ meaning “backward” or “retreat” was heard in the ranks of this legendary unit.
Best trained, fanatical When the Americans face the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, whether at Kharg or Hormuz, they will be coming up against some of the best trained and fanatical soldiers in the world, who are equipped to the hilt with modern weaponry.
All their generals are veterans of the bloody 8 year Iran-Iraq war. If there are soldiers who know what war is, it is the IRGC.
And to me it is the height of absurdity for the Americans to think that they can accomplish their missions with only about 17,000 ground troops.
I think the scale of the slaughter is going to be gut-wrenching and awful. It will be the modern day equivalent of the battle of Cannae where Hannibal destroyed the entire Roman army, killing 80,000 enemy soldiers in a single day and taking another 10,000 as prisoners.
In 1980, America was humiliated when their military helicopters floundered in the failed Operation Eagle Claw rescue mission to extract the embassy hostages. Nearly half a century later, I fear America will again be humiliated in Iran.
Lim Tean is a Singaporean lawyer, politician and commentator. He is the founder of the political party People’s Voice and a co-founder of the political alliance People’s Alliance for Reform.
Process Vegetables New Zealand chair David Hadfield said there has been a significant drop in the demand for frozen vegetables.Unsplash/ Yoav Aziz
At a time when both Wattie’s and McCain have announced factory closures, supermarket retailer Woolworths says sales of frozen vegetables have been declining.
Process Vegetables New Zealand chairman David Hadfield said there has been a significant drop in the demand for frozen vegetables, noting that diets and demographics are changing in Aotearoa.
“With Uber Eats etc, there’s not a lot of vegetables in the package that you get to eat. You know there will be a piece of meat, potentially some rice, or you might have potato and a sprinkling of vegetables on top – not the amount that you would have if you cooked the meal at home.”
Hadfield added that they were pushing through programmes in schools to teach year seven and eight children how to cook vegetables, but despite this “consumption seems to be dropping”.
According to Woolworths, 62 cents of every dollar spent in stores went to suppliers, describing their business as “low-margin, high-volume”.
“We keep about 2.3 cents and the remainder goes to paying wages and other operational costs, and investing in our store network,” a spokesperson said.
According to Stats NZ, the cost of fruit and vegetables combined [https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/selected-price-indexes-february-2026/
increased by 9.4 percent between February 2026 and the same time last year].
Meanwhile,Ministry of Health figures for the 2024-2025 year showed just 6.8 percent of adults on average were eating the recommended portions of vegetables.
President of United Fresh New Zealand Incorporated and 5+ A Day, Jerry Prendergast, said he had not seen a drop in demand for fresh vegetables, but he echoed Hadfield’s comments about having to compete with more processed fast food options.
Prendergast said he felt for families under pressure and there was a place for the likes of Uber Eats, but said fresh produce from supermarkets or other retailers remained a cheaper and healthier alternative to takeaways.
“There’s some exceptionally good value out there. Right now you’re into the change of seasons with your autumn crops, so we’re seeing more of the celery, silver beets, spinach being available [and] cabbages and cauliflower and even broccoli at this time of year.
“So, utilising what’s in season is the ideal for consumers to reduce their cost of living.”
Those obligations, however, aren’t yet in force. So what explains the delay? And what can Australians do to protect themselves from scams in the meantime?
[embedded content]
Top tactics used by scammers
The National Anti-Scam Centre reported five major types of scam:
Investment: victims are tricked into investing in fake opportunities. This was the top tactic used by scammers, responsible for more than A$837 million in losses last year.
Payment redirection: scammers pose as a supplier or business owner and advise changes of bank account to redirect an invoice payment.
Romance: victims fall for fake profiles and get emotionally manipulated to send money.
Phishing: scammers try to collect sensitive information by impersonating legitimate organisations via calls, texts or email. 5.Remote Access: victims are tricked by scammers to allow access to their smart devices online.
The common aspect among all these different types of scams is the human factor – the scammers were successful because a human interaction was involved. It’s not only the sophistication of the scam tactics but also the human psychology that gets exploited. Scammers rely on victims’ emotion, trust, greed, urgency and fear to manipulate them into doing something they should not.
New anti-scam measures
The Scams Prevention Framework passed Australian parliament in February 2025 and reiterated its emphasis on banks, telcos and digital platforms including social media companies such as Meta (owner of Instagram and Facebook).
The framework aims to address scams by requiring regulated businesses to take reasonable steps to:
prevent scams from reaching the victims
detect scams as they are happening or already happened, and
disrupt suspected activities to avoid potential losses.
Reasonable steps need to be treated with context and the type of organisations and scams.
For example, banks can incorporate advanced technologies to detect high-risk payments. Social media companies such as Meta can use algorithms to detect and disrupt fake investment opportunities. And telcos can prevent scam calls or texts reaching their customers.
Businesses must also have a transparent internal dispute resolution process to address their customer complaints. When this is unable to resolve a complaint, victims can go to an external dispute resolution body, such as the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.
Although this framework has already passed federal parliament, it is not yet active.
That’s because the federal government is still in the process of finalising the mandatory industry codes of conduct that will outline the obligations for each sector.
These sector codes are being developed in consultation with the industry and consumers.
The finer details of the internal and external dispute resolution processes are also expected to be included in further legislation.
The subtle difference between hacking and scamming also makes it really difficult to define the scope of the framework – and could lead to further delays in enforcement down the track.
According to the scam prevention framework, cybercrime such as gaining personal information via a data breach or hacking is not considered a scam.
But in reality, scamming and hacking both fall under the umbrella of cybercrime or technology-based crime. Hackers can collect mobile numbers from a data breach. They can then launch sophisticated scam campaigns via text messages or calls.
Take the following hypothetical example of an investment scam.
A group of hackers access the server of bank X and obtain the personal information of one of the bank’s former customers. They then use this information for a successful investment scam, leading to the victim losing thousands of dollars from their new account with bank Y.
Who has the obligation to protect the victim? Is it bank X or bank Y?
Such complexities can lead to significant delays in making the scam prevention framework an active law.
Know your scams
It is impossible to fully stop scammers as they are continuously evolving their tactics. Advances in artificial intelligence are making it even easier for scammers to deceive people.
While the scam prevention framework will likely help when it’s eventually operational, it’s also important we all improve our skills to better identify scams.
One way to do this is by taking “scam quizzes” which test your ability to detect scams.
Governments – both state and federal – could also establish initiatives to develop scam resilience tests to help people learn more and improve their scam-spotting skills, similar to driving theory tests.
Scientists can’t be everywhere all at once, as much as they’d like to. Many of the problems citizen science helps solve are concerned with spreading the net wider – or getting more helping hands on the task.
Biosecurity managers can’t make it to every regional town in their state. But if members of the public report suspicious species, such as through the popular iNaturalist app, they can take action.
Astronomers need more eyes to sift through vast databases of stellar explosions. Climate scientists can learn from our history, but deciphering the records takes time.
Below we introduce five citizen science projects where large numbers of people have contributed impactful results, or yielded new knowledge. Some of them even have new project stages you may be able to participate in.
Science lives far beyond the lab, and it’s not just done by scientists.
In this series, we spotlight the world of citizen science – its benefits, discoveries and how you can participate.
Atlas of Living Australia’s Biosecurity Alerts Service
Andrew Turley, Team Leader – Applications and Biosecurity – Atlas of Living Australia, CSIRO
Australia is one of the world’s most biodiverse continents, but we’re constantly at risk from introduced and invasive species. Even with current border controls, some pests, weeds, and diseases inevitably slip through.
The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) is the nation’s largest open source biodiversity data source. In partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, a Biosecurity Alerts Service was set up to connect this trove of data – much of it collected through citizen science – with biosecurity managers across Australia.
The service delivers weekly email notifications to biosecurity managers about new reports of introduced and invasive species of concern in their area. In 2020, this led to the first report of globally invasive Asian shore crab (Hemigrapsus sanguineus). In 2024, an iNaturalist user recorded the first report of the invasive freshwater gold clam (Corbicula fluminea). Early detection allowed biosecurity managers to monitor and mitigate these species’ spread to other areas.
In 2025, an iNaturalist citizen scientist recorded Siam weed north of Brisbane. This record was more than 1,000km from the nearest known infestation, near Townsville. The resulting alert allowed Biosecurity Queensland to eradicate the new infestation. Likewise, reports of the tree cholla cactus, red imported fire ants, honey fungus and many other species have triggered local responses.
This work ultimately helps protect our environment and agricultural systems from the impacts of these introduced and invasive species.
The Biosecurity Alerts Service is ongoing, and every week we send alerts to biosecurity managers across the country. If you use one of the ALA-linked apps – such as iNaturalist, eBird or FrogID, among many others – and choose to share your data publicly, the data you collect will be automatically checked as part of the service.
If you’re lucky, you may even be contacted by a biosecurity officer for more information or to collect a sample to help confirm the species. To get involved, just be curious, visit the outdoors with a biodiversity app, and make sure to record anything that looks odd or out of place.
Linden Ashcroft, Senior Lecturer, Climate Science and Science Communication, University of Melbourne
There are millions of valuable weather observations scattered across the world that only exist on paper. It would take thousands of lifetimes for scientists to transcribe these precious records on their own.
But with the help of citizen scientists, we’ve been able to rescue these vital observations from being lost to time. The data they provide have improved the coverage and accuracy of global data models used to understand how our climate is changing.
Climate History Australia was modelled on similar projects from the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Scanned images of historical weather data from the National Archives were split into chunks, allowing people to help us rescue these observations in a manageable way at home.
Across two projects in 2020 and 2021, more than 1,700 citizen scientists transcribed at least 67,400 weather observations recorded in the 19th century. The journals contained meticulous weather data including descriptions of the clouds, type of rainfall, and other activities of the day. The project attracted amazing volunteers, including students, historians, and people who wanted to contribute to climate science.
Thanks to the recovered data, we have now filled gaps in weather observations in Adelaide and Perth, allowing us to build near-continuous records of the weather of these two cities back to 1830 and 1843 respectively. We now know more about extreme weather events in Australia, which is so important because changes in the extremes are what will affect us the most as the world warms.
The rescued data have also fed into global weather and climate datasets, improving our understanding of weather and climate change in the entire Southern Hemisphere. While there are no active Climate History Australia data rescue projects, similar activities are happening in Ireland, Africa and Italy.
Weather observations such as these journal pages from the 1840s have helped reveal the past climate of South Australia.National Archives of Australia
Kilonova Seekers
Duncan Galloway, Associate Professor in Astrophysics, Monash University
Since 2023, the Kilonova Seekers citizen astronomy project has been sharing the excitement of transient astronomy, engaging citizen scientists in the discovery of some of the most exciting and energetic events in the universe.
Transient astronomy refers broadly to the study of cosmic objects that vary with time. Many types of normal stars, particularly those that have an orbiting companion, vary in brightness.
But of particular interest are short-lived explosive events that produce gamma-ray bursts, such as the supernova explosions of massive stars, or rare collisions between pairs of neutron stars.
Kilonova Seekers provides observations from the Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) telescope network to members of the public. GOTO collaboration members Lisa Kelsey from the University of Cambridge and Tom Killestein from the University of Warwick built an image comparison platform on the popular Zooniverse website.
To contribute, participants were invited to play “spot the difference” by comparing new images to old and looking for changes. This work helps astronomers to distinguish genuine new objects in the sky from imaging artefacts and other spurious signals.
The project has attracted thousands of volunteer observers and yielded more than 200 discoveries to date. A major discovery was published last year – an extremely bright star explosion, GOTO0650, captured as it took place. Once flagged, astronomers were able to look at it more closely with Earth-based and space observatories. The object was so bright, amateur astronomers could capture high-quality images, too.
Kilonova Seekers has just gone through a hardware and software upgrade and relaunched in February this year – so you too can have a hand in trying to discover new objects in space.
Mozzie Monitors
Craig Williams, Professor and Dean of Programs (STEM), Adelaide University
Mosquitoes are the world’s deadliest animal. It’s crucial for health departments and local governments to keep up mosquito surveillance to protect public health. But it takes a lot of resources to do so, leading to gaps in the system.
Launched by the University of South Australia in 2018, the Mozzie Monitors program comprised two main activities citizen scientists could help with. The first was setting low-tech mosquito traps at home and taking photos of the collections so experts could identify them remotely. The second was submitting mosquito images to the project page on the iNaturalist platform. It has been an amazing collaborative effort nationwide, with thousands of records submitted.
Originally, the program aimed to expand mosquito surveillance in Australia, detect exotic mosquitoes entering the country, and educate the public about mosquitoes and the diseases they carry.
It has since evolved to assisting remote communities in exotic mosquito surveillance, tracking mosquito-borne viruses, and running an education program in South Australian and Northern Territory schools. Hundreds of students aged 5–17 have participated in learning activities and even trapped some mosquitoes.
We designed and built Mozzie Monitors as we went along. It’s led to new mosquito trapping methods citizen scientists can use, has taught the participants a lot about mosquitoes, helped to establish a mosquito database with new species records, and even led to the discovery of mosquitoes not previously known to be in Australia.
The project continues to grow and evolve. In the Northern Territory, the small town of Tennant Creek has experienced repeated invasions of exotic dengue mosquitoes. Currently, readers in the Northern Territory anywhere between Katherine and Alice Springs, can become involved in Mozzie Monitors Tennant Creek. While Tennant Creek is the focus, we would dearly love to have participants across the region.
Citizen scientists on iNaturalist can report observations of exotic mosquitoes, such as Aedes aegypti which carries dengue.grace-murray/iNaturalist, CC BY-NC
WomSAT: Wombat Survey and Analysis Tool
Julie Old, Associate Professor in Biology, Zoology and Animal Science, Western Sydney University
Hayley Stannard, Associate Professor in Animal Anatomy and Physiology, Charles Sturt University
Wombats are ecological engineers – they dig burrows to sleep in during the day and protect them from predators, but these burrows also provide shelter for other animals. Turning over the soil when they dig their burrows also helps plants grow, moving nutrients and water through the soil.
Due to their importance to ecosystems, there is a need to understand more about wombats and where they live, so that we can manage threats and aid their conservation. Sadly, wombats are at risk from several threats – these include collisions with vehicles, a devastating disease called sarcoptic mange, and habitat loss.
Started in 2015, WomSAT is a citizen science program that allows the public, researchers and wildlife carers to record evidence of wombats across Australia. It collects real-time data on wombat sightings – dead or alive, the location of their burrows, and whether they appear to be affected by mange. Wildlife carers also use WomSAT to track the treatment of sarcoptic mange.
WomSAT is an ongoing project. Anyone can become a “wombat warrior” by logging sightings of wombats on WomSAT to help identify roadkill hotspots and track the occurrence of sarcoptic mange. You can also follow #WombatWednesday on social media.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 – particularly the 2.3.4.4b lineage – has transformed the global disease landscape over recent years.
What was once largely a poultry disease causing occasional severe illness in humans is now a multi-species threat, affecting wild birds, mammals and increasingly, entire ecosystems.
Despite more than five years without incursion, H5N1 2.3.4.4b is edging closer to New Zealand, raising questions about how long our isolation will hold.
Importantly, spillover events – when a virus jumps between species – have become more common, with large outbreaks reported among poultry and dairy cattle in North America.
Human infections remain rare and are mostly linked to close contact with infected animals. But every spillover event gives the virus another chance to evolve, even without sustained human-to-human transmission.
Why hasn’t it reached Oceania yet?
The current H5N1 strain is unprecedented in both scale and scope.
Its host range now spans hundreds of bird species and an increasing number of mammals, including foxes, mink, cattle and marine mammals. This expansion reflects increased exposure and the virus’s ability to adapt to new hosts.
Yet Oceania has so far remained free of H5N1 2.3.4.4b. This is largely due to geography and bird migration patterns. Many migratory birds that carry H5N1 move along northern hemisphere flyways and do not typically reach New Zealand.
However, New Zealand hosts large numbers of migratory birds via the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, including shorebirds that can carry avian influenza viruses, although they are considered a lower-risk reservoir.
This map shows locations where confirmed or suspected cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in Antarctica and subantarctic islands have been reported to the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, CC BY-NC-ND
There is also the possibility of a “growing our own” problem. Low pathogenic influenza viruses circulate naturally in wild birds in New Zealand. Under the right conditions, particularly in poultry, these can evolve into highly pathogenic forms.
This risk is not hypothetical. A recent poultry outbreak in New Zealand caused by an H7N6 subtype likely arose from local low pathogenic viruses in wild birds.
While distinct from H5N1 incursion, the consequences could be similarly devastating. Although this outbreak was contained to a single farm, it underscores how quickly events could escalate if early transmission is not controlled, stretching resources and prolonging response efforts.
New Zealand’s wildlife is particularly vulnerable to H5N1. Many native species are already under pressure from habitat loss, climate change and introduced predators.
The arrival of a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus would add a new and potentially severe threat, particularly for small or isolated populations.
Taonga species, including seabirds, shorebirds and endemic waterfowl, may be especially at risk. New Zealand wildlife has had little to no exposure to these viruses, and therefore limited opportunity to develop any resilience.
Species that breed in dense colonies, such as tītī, albatross and penguins, could be particularly vulnerable to rapid spread and mass mortality events.
The risks are not confined to birds. The impact of H5N1 2.3.4.4b on marine mammals has been severe. This is well illustrated by the plight of elephant seals.
Transmission between marine mammals may be important, highlighting risks to other vulnerable populations.
Southern elephant seals and pakake, the New Zealand sea lion, share similar habitats, including beaches in New Zealand’s South Island. An outbreak of H5N1 in breeding colonies in the sub-Antarctic and populations in Otago and Rakiura could set back recent conservation efforts.
Why vigilance is NZ’s best protection
Vaccination has been explored internationally, particularly in poultry, as a way to reduce disease burden and transmission.
However, vaccination is not currently a practical or effective option for free-ranging wildlife populations. As such, prevention and early detection remain the primary tools available.
Wildlife surveillance has increased in recent years, including targeted sampling of wild birds and environmental monitoring at high-risk sites. To date, there is no evidence of H5N1 2.3.4.4b in New Zealand.
However, surveillance systems are limited in their ability to detect rare or early incursions. Ongoing vigilance, including public reporting of sick or dead wildlife, will be critical for early detection and response.
Ultimately, New Zealand’s strongest defence remains time and preparedness
The country’s geographic isolation has bought it a window to strengthen surveillance, improve coordination across wildlife and agricultural sectors and build public awareness. But that window will not remain open indefinitely.
The global trajectory of H5N1 suggests that incursion is a matter of when, not if.
Ensuring rapid detection, strong biosecurity measures and the capacity to scale interventions will be critical to limiting impacts on Aotearoa’s wildlife, primary industries and ecosystems.
Christopher Walsh, the founder of the financial advice website Moneyhub, is halfway through an extensive business and pleasure trip through Europe, Africa, the US, and various stopovers in between, including Qatar.
When I first spoke to him for this story, he was in Sierra Leone. By the time I got around to asking some follow-up questions, he was in Liberia.
The Middle East conflict and the resulting fuel price surge have upended his trip, just as they have for other New Zealanders overseas. His return flight is – or was – through Qatar, under bombardment of Iranian drones and missiles. The result is a closed airspace and limited flights through what is normally a busy travel corridor for New Zealanders.
Christopher Walsh, the founder of personal finance website, Moneyhub, at a restaurant in Liberia during a recent trip.
supplied
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Sam Neill has seen iconic New Zealand film Hunt for the Wilderpeople twice. The first time was its premiere at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, and the second was last night at a 10th anniversary screening in Auckland.
“You had no idea what was going to happen there [at Sundance], whether the American audience are going to respond to it at all, but they were amazing,” Neill told RNZ at the Auckland cinema screening on Tuesday night.
The film tells the story of young urban misfit Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison), who sparks a national manhunt when he and foster ‘uncle’ Hector (Neill) escape into the bush.
New Lynn Reading Cinema was packed with fans for the special event, some young enough to be seeing the Taika Waititi-directed film for the first time.
A rollcall of stars showed up to mark the occasion including Waititi and actors Neill, Rachel House, Rima Te Wiata, Rhys Darby, Oscar Kightley, Troy Kingi, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Cohen Holloway, Mike Minogue and Hamish Parkinson.
Noticeably absent was the film’s young star, Julian Dennison, currently overseas filming How to Train Your Dragon 2.
Rhys Darby said the movie struck a cord with international audiences because it captured the Kiwi spirit in a way few had.
“I think this is the most New Zealand film ever made in some ways because of the comedy, because of the plethora of characters… how we kind of interact with each other,” Darby said.
“It’s so New Zealand and I think that really resonated with everyone overseas because it was like, ‘wow, these people are different, but they’re funny’.”
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
The cost-of-living crisis, exacerbated now by rising fuel prices, is impacting university students disproportionately.
That’s the message from the University of Auckland and AUT students associations, who have together launched a petition calling for the government to deliver a student relief package, as the Iran conflict continures.
Auckland University of Technology Students Association president James Portegys spoke to Tu Natanahira on Midday Report.
More to come…
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Rajinder was found guilty of murder following a High Court jury trial last year.RNZ
The man who murdered Gurjit Singh at his Dunedin home will spend at least 17 years behind bars.
The 35-year-old, known only as Rajinder, was jailed for life with a 17-and-a-half year non-parole period, when he appeared in the High Court on Wednesday morning.
Justice Dunningham told Rajinder he callously killed a man who trusted him.
She also ordered him to pay more than $8000 in reparation payments.
During the trial, the Crown said Rajinder left DNA evidence at the scene and lied to police, while Rajinder’s defence lawyer called the evidence flawed and said his client had no motive for murdering his former employee.
A complicated love triangle was aired during the trial involving Singh, his widow Kamaljeet Kaur and Rajinder.
Prosecutor Richard Smith said Kaur rejected Rajinder’s marriage proposal through a broker in 2022 before marrying Singh the following year, and Singh had also rejected Rajinder’s plan to marry his sister.
But Defence lawyer Anne Stevens KC called the argument a Crown “fantasy”, saying Rajinder was not upset to find out she had married Singh and it was instead Kaur’s family who approached his family twice to pursue a marriage.
Smith said the day before the murder Rajinder had bought a “murder kit” including gloves, a knife and neck gaiter, but Stevens said it did not make sense for her client to buy the items using his own bank account, suggesting they were brought for his work as a fibre-optic cable technician.
In summing up, Justice Dunningham said there was no dispute that Singh was violently attacked but the jury needed to decide whether Rajinder was responsible.
Evidence of her involvement was suppressed during the trial until she pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice at the High Court.
She admitted hiding her husband’s shoes in a bathroom bin after police visited her workplace and told her Rajinder was being charged. Tiny fragments of glass consistent with a shattered window from the murder scene were found on the shoes.
Gurpreet Kaur will be sentenced in July.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Allbirds footwear company was founded by former All Whites and Phoenix footballer Tim Brown but is now based in the US.Supplied
New Zealand-founded but US-listed footwear company Allbirds is set to be bought by American Exchange Group, a brand management company known for acquiring under-performing consumer labels.
Its US valuation once peaked at US$4.2 billion, but the company was recently threatened with delisting from the Nasdaq after years of falling sales and widespread store closures.
Allbirds’ board has accepted a US$39 million offer from the group, though shareholders still need to approve the deal. The deal is worth around $NZ69m.
The sale would see the Allbirds brand, its intellectual property, and parts of its operations transferred to the buyer – and the listed company wound down.
Allbirds, known for its merino wool sneakers, was founded in 2015 by former All White Tim Brown and Joey Zwillinger, and listed on the Nasdaq in 2021.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
From today, disabled people with flexible funding will gain more choice and control over their supports, with purchasing rules removed and guidance available to help people manage their budgets.
Minister for Disability Issues Louise Upston says restoring flexibility is possible because of action taken since 2024 to stabilise the disability support system so it can sustain supports into the future.
“We’re not claiming the job is done. These are only first steps, but we have tackled long-standing and critical problems, to provide stability, predictability, and consistency of supports. This has laid the groundwork for further long-term, positive change for disabled people, their whānau and carers.
“The 2024 Independent Review confirmed long‑standing issues in the disability support system. The system struggled to track or forecast costs, and oversight was limited.
“The review also found unclear criteria and processes for people to access flexible funding created an ‘inequitable and unfair’ postcode lottery for disabled people around the country and contributed to increasing costs.
“This Government took action to stabilise the disability support system.
“We began by listening. Through extensive consultation with disabled people, whānau, carers, providers, and advocates, we heard people want a fairer, clearer, more consistent system that recognises their needs, gives them choices and supports good lives.
“Disabled people nationwide now experience one consistent approach to assess their needs and ensure supports are allocated fairly and consistently – no matter where they live. Support for families’ and carers’ needs can also now be part of the assessment.
“DSS has also built stronger budgeting and financial controls and simplified pricing and contracting for residential providers. Together these improvements help ensure funding is being used effectively to support disabled people, families, whānau and carers. Since 2024, the Government has invested $2.1 billion of additional funding into the disability support system.
“The 2024 purchasing rules were a difficult but necessary decision to limit unsustainable cost increases over several years – and I acknowledge the past couple of years have been challenging for many disabled people, their families and carers.
“All of this work and investment has built a more stable and sustainable disability support system. Today, we can now responsibly remove the purchasing rules, keep people’s flexible funding budgets at current levels and provide clear guidance to help people manage their funding.
“This gives disabled people, whānau and carers more choice, certainty and control to use their flexible funding in ways that work for them and their disability support needs – including respite options for carers,” Louise Upston says.
Editors’ Notes
From 1 April 2026:
The purchasing rules, including the March 2024 changes, will be removed.
Flexible funding budgets will stay at each person’s current allocation level.
Flexible funding must still be spent in line with people’s funding plans, but people will have more choice about what works for them.
People still need to keep their spending within their allocated budgets.
Flexible funding still cannot be used for prohibited items such as drugs, alcohol, tobacco, gambling and illegal activities.
. A small number of purchases will need pre-approval. For example, international travel equipment, complementary therapies or one-off purchases over a set limit.
There will be extra guidance to plan and manage budgets for people with Individualised funding and some hosted Enabling Good Lives personal budgets. The guidance people get depends on their situation. Hosts will be in touch with each person from 1 April onwards about this.
There is information on the DSS website: Flexible funding changes | Disability Support Services
