MIL-OSI Export

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

As the escalating US-Israel war on Iran drives a global fuel supply crisis, New Zealand is eyeing two major – and very different – projects aimed at bolstering its long-term energy security.

While one risks deepening the country’s reliance on the very fossil fuel systems now in turmoil, the other offers a more sustainable alternative.

In February, the government announced plans to develop a liquid natural gas (LNG) import terminal, likely in Taranaki, under its fast-track process.

This would replace New Zealand’s dwindling natural gas supplies, act as a backstop for dry-year electricity shortages and help stabilise power prices.

But it has now been reported that ministers may now be reconsidering the project, as surging global gas prices due to the Middle East conflict undermine its economic case.

Meanwhile, the government last week referred another major energy project to its fast-track consenting panel: a pumped hydro scheme at Central Otago’s Lake Onslow.

Once a government-led initiative, the project is now being steered by a private consortium chaired by former Meridian Energy chief executive and Transpower chairperson Keith Turner.

It would store excess water in a high storage lake when it is plentiful and release it to generate electricity when the hydro lakes are dry, acting as a “battery” to shore up intermittent renewable electricity.

As New Zealand seeks to establish a resilient energy system for the decades ahead, while meeting its climate change commitments, the contrast between these two schemes is hard to ignore.

The follies of fossil fuels

The latest oil shock is forcing countries to confront the fragility of global fuel supply chains – and the risks of relying on them.

Building renewable energy is increasingly being viewed as a path to energy independence. After Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine disrupted gas supplies, Europe accelerated its shift away from imported gas, and the current rising global fuel costs are rapidly increasing the uptake of electric vehicles.

At the same time, the urgency of cutting fossil fuel use has become existentially important, as rising global temperatures drive more frequent storms, floods, wildfires and sea-level rise.

Only 4% of New Zealand’s emissions come from its largely renewable electricity system, while 34% come from transport and industrial heat. Electrifying these sectors would cut both emissions and reliance on imported fuels, helping align with the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

But electrification will increase demand for renewable electricity. And because wind and solar are variable, the system still needs backup when renewable generation is too low.

Two projects, two paths

Under the government’s terminal proposal, LNG would be imported to shore up dwindling gas supplies, with domestic production having declined over the past decade.

But the proposal cuts against both climate and cost goals. Although gas is meant to produce lower emissions than coal, transporting it around the world can result in higher total greenhouse gas emissions than coal, while leaving New Zealand exposed to volatile international markets.

That concern was echoed in a government-commissioned report by Frontier Economics, which found LNG imports for dry-year risk made “no economic sense”.

LNG is a costly way to generate electricity: around NZ$200–$250 per megawatt-hour (MWh) of power produced, without the cost of the terminal. By comparison, the fully loaded cost of domestic gas-fired power is roughly $125/MWh.

The terminal itself is expected to cost more than $1 billion, with those costs likely passed on to consumers through a levy. Subsidising the terminal risks undermining the commercial viability of cheaper renewable options.

In addition to this, opening an expensive LNG “portal” could incentivise new gas-reliant industries, locking in demand for this imported fossil fuel for decades.

By contrast, pumped hydro is a renewable alternative for shoring up intermittent electricity supply.

In a very dry winter, New Zealand can be short of around 5 terawatt-hours (TWh) of water for electricity generation – or about 12% of total annual demand.

The proposed Lake Onslow project is also not without its drawbacks. One is that it would raise the existing lake by around 20 to 50 metres.

This would have impacts on wetlands and native fish species, and environmental groups have noted the trade-off between local environmental effects and the wider climate benefits.

Bridging the gap

The Onslow scheme will take at least four years to build. But in the meantime, New Zealand has other firming options available to help bridge the gap.

Geothermal generation could be maximised, the Huntly power station can run on wood pellets, and coal and diesel generation could be retained as temporary backup during dry or high demand periods.

The main hydro lakes could also be given slightly more range, and electrified coal boilers could be retained for occasional use.

Demand response – where electricity use is reduced or shifted at peak times – is already being used in New Zealand. But this could be expanded, with large industries cutting output or households reducing demand, such as turning off hot water heating during the brief evening peaks.

Access to vehicle-to-grid battery systems could also be accelerated with government support.

If the crises facing our climate and fuel supplies point to a single message, it’s that energy resilience lies in reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels.

New Zealand has an opportunity to do so by incentivising electrification, facilitating temporary electricity firming, halting plans for the LNG terminal and pushing ahead with the Lake Onslow proposal.

– ref. LNG vs pumped hydro: will NZ choose to import risk or build cleaner resilience? – https://theconversation.com/lng-vs-pumped-hydro-will-nz-choose-to-import-risk-or-build-cleaner-resilience-279552

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/31/lng-vs-pumped-hydro-will-nz-choose-to-import-risk-or-build-cleaner-resilience-279552/

ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on March 31, 2026.

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Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/31/er-report-a-roundup-of-significant-articles-on-eveningreport-nz-for-march-31-2026/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thalia Anthony, Professor of Law, University of Technology Sydney

There are unprecedented numbers of First Nations people in prisons. In Australia, 37% of adults and 60% of young people aged 10-17 behind bars are First Nations, despite making up 3.4% and 6.2% of the Australian population respectively.

But what happens to people when they return to the community? There were 19,898 people released from Australian prisons between October and December 2025. More than half of them will return to prison, most within two years.

In 2025, 60% of people in prison had been previously imprisoned. For First Nations people, the figure is 78%.

These statistics demonstrate that prisons are not living up to their ideals of rehabilitation and reintegration, especially in relation to First Nations people. In fact, prisons are highly criminogenic – that is, making prisoners very likely to be reimprisoned.

Under the Closing The Gap targets, each state and territory must have appropriate support and rehabilitation programs in place to help former detainees once they are back in the community and reduce reoffending.

But a recent audit programs in New South Wales found they had “little to no impact” on First Nations reoffending rates. It identified that the few initiatives on offer amounted to “business as usual” and didn’t address systemic and structural issues in prisons that undermined these programs.

But the evidence shows there are programs making a meaningful difference. Here’s what we should do instead.

Driving a widening gap

Despite each jurisdiction’s commitments under Closing The Gap, the situation is getting worse.

Target 10 and Target 11 seek to reduce the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults held in incarceration by at least 15% and children by 30% by 2031.

Yet, governments’ “tough on crime” policies, investment in law enforcement and prisons, and relative lack of funding for housing, mental health and alcohol and other drug services as well as cultural programs, have widened the gap.

Read more: ‘Tough on crime’ policies are causing Indigenous people to die in custody

According to the most recent review in 2022 Target 10 was assessed as “not on track” for adults and “on track” for young people.

Subsequent punitive laws for young people, especially in relation to bail and sentencing, will likely detract from any gains made.

Failing to reduce reoffending

The NSW auditor-general recently reviewed the effectiveness of NSW Closing The Gap justice strategies.

It found the programs run by Corrective Services NSW and Youth Justice NSW were ad hoc and lacked shared decision-making with First Nations people. They also didn’t have a healing framework or a therapeutic model of care, as required by Closing The Gap.

There was also no governance or evaluation frameworks and no transparency in relation to funding commitments.

Not only did the auditor-general find programs were failing to reduce reoffending, but prison time was driving more recidivism.

Of the First Nations people incarcerated in NSW, 62% of adults and 73% of young people reoffended within 12 months.

These findings are consistent with other state and territory Closing The Gap failures in relation to reducing First Nations mass imprisonment.

So, what works?

Evaluations of First Nations prison programs across Australia rarely measure effect on recidivism.

An exception is The Torch in Victoria. It’s a First Nations-led organisation that has delivered Indigenous arts programs in prisons and the broader community since 2011.

It supports First Nations people’s creative skills and connection to culture and earning an income through artwork, with 100% of the art sale price going to the First Nations person.

Participants in the program in 2017-18 had a reimprisonment rate of 11%. This was much lower than the state average recidivism rate of 53.4% for First Nations people.

The Torch is effective because it provides ongoing support in and out of prison, opportunities for First Nations people to connect to culture and ways to make an income. Its First Nations leadership means the program is sensitive to the needs of community and accountable for delivering outcomes for its people.

Beyond recidivism

There are risks in attributing reoffending or not reoffending to specific programs alone. If initiatives don’t field the results desired, policymakers may adopt a “nothing works” mentality. This can make funding too short-term, especially when First Nations programs are under disproportionate scrutiny.

Programs such as Dreaming Inside in Junee prison (NSW) and Listening to Country in Brisbane Women’s prison (Queensland) are run without the administration of corrections staff.

Dreaming Inside comprises creative writing and reading workshops run by respected Wadi Wadi Elder Barbara Nicholson (Aunty Barb with First Nations men). The workshops had a positive impact on the men’s self-esteem, cultural engagement and strengthening cultural identity, according to an evaluation.

Listening to Country is an art-based program that explores acoustic ecology, soundscape and deep listening to culture and Country. The evaluation found it enhanced participants’ wellbeing and enabled connection to culture, which are protective factors against reoffending.

While these evaluations did not assess reoffending because it could not exclude variables affecting re-criminalisation, including the role of policing and adverse conditions in the community, they identified the important role of First Nations-led cultural programs in strengthening and healing First Nations people in prison.

Encouraging First Nations leadership

First Nations people in prisons have distinct needs compared to non-First Nations people. Programs need to be culturally safe and tailored to experiences of trauma, racism and socioeconomic inequality.

Apparent in the NSW auditor-general’s findings is that there are very few First Nations programs. Only three operate across four of the 39 prisons in NSW, Australia’s most populous state. Of those operating, they are not run by or co-designed with First Nations people or organisations.

Imposing requirements to reduce recidivism can place an undue burden on fledgling programs, which can preclude First Nations self-determination over design and outcomes.

It also deflects attention from the contribution of prisons to First Nations reoffending rates, including due to inequitable access to programs, treatment and work.

– ref. First Nations rehabilitation programs aren’t keeping people out of prison. Here’s what would help – https://theconversation.com/first-nations-rehabilitation-programs-arent-keeping-people-out-of-prison-heres-what-would-help-278783

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/31/first-nations-rehabilitation-programs-arent-keeping-people-out-of-prison-heres-what-would-help-278783/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor of History and Associate Head (Research) of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deakin University

American comedian Druski has gone viral with a short parody video titled “How Conservative Women in America Act”.

In it, Druski plays a character whose costumes, make-up and activities all resemble those of right-wing activist Erika Kirk, widow of former Turning Point CEO Charlie Kirk – whose role she has taken up.

Conservatives are up in arms, predictably. Many are calling it racism or reverse racism. Imagine, they declare, how fast a white man would be cancelled if he were to don blackface to send up the activities of an African American widow.

But this backlash misses the point. Blackface and whiteface are not opposite and equal.

Blackface punches down. Whiteface can’t

Whiteface draws attention to the privileges and protections that whiteness allows.

It uses exaggeration – in this case the ordering of not just coffee, but a “sweet cream foam chai ice matcha” with an “organic pup cup” for the fluffy pet – to draw attention to how gaudy and obviously performative the elite white class can be.

The joke in whiteface comedy is not “this person is white”, but “this person is protected, entitled and used to being in control”.

That privilege can even extend to white people who aren’t especially wealthy, as Druski has explored in other whiteface videos. In “Guy who is just proud to be an American”, the comedian portrays a stereotypical, ultra-patriotic NASCAR fan, whose racist and misogynistic remarks are egged on by his white peers.

Druski shows how his character’s feelings of superiority come from a very deliberate set of conditions and environments that produce his whiteness.

Key to the distinction between whiteface and blackface is simply the relative power of the groups being parodied.

Blackface minstrelsy emerged in the United States in the 1830s – just as slavery began to disappear – as a mass entertainment form that degraded Black people. White performers used burnt cork on their faces, and painted on enlarged red lips and white eyes, to create offensive caricatures.

Most white people embraced the new stereotypes, wanting to maintain a cheap labour force and cling to the feeling of superiority they gave them.

Blackface soon became the most popular form of entertainment all over the English-speaking world, including in Australia, New Zealand and Britain. It remained a mainstay of popular culture in movies, on television and even on radio, as late as the 1970s.

Whiteface, by contrast, is a prime example of what anthropologist James Scott called “weapons of the weak” – an idea taken up by historians of African American labour and social life, such as Robin D. G. Kelley in his work Race Rebels.

Rather than just reversing blackface, whiteface aims to expose whiteness as a social and historical performance with material consequences. In doing so, it calls into question any sense that racial inequality is natural.

Whiteface emerged before blackface

This method of undermining white people’s authority goes all the way back to slavery in colonial North America. For example, in 1772, in the city of Charleston, South Carolina, a group of about 60 enslaved Black people gathered for a party.

Thinking themselves in private, they mocked their white owners in an elongated performance including dress, speech and dance.

Annual one-day festivals or parades, which took place from the 1740s up until the Civil War provided similar opportunities for enslaved people in North America to come together for rare celebrations. Participants performed rituals – such as electing a Black person to be king or governor for a day – that demonstrated a deep understanding of white society.

Some white onlookers regarded these performances as merely poor imitations. Many, however, were unsettled when they saw that the people they had enslaved understood white society all too well.

Discomfort is the point

White onlookers of African American comedy have likewise been made uncomfortable, since at least Richard Pryor’s stand-up shows of the 1970s. Nobody who ever saw Pryor send up white people’s walking, eating, cussing, or indeed their ideas about race and safety, can ever forget them.

Pryor’s collaborator Paul Mooney, also a Black comedian, once said:

My job is to make white people mad. They have to learn how to laugh at themselves.

A more recent example comes from actor Maya Rudolph, who impersonated Donatella Versace in a series of early 2000s TV skits. Whiteface enabled her to exaggerate the signs of elite whiteness by portraying a camp, hyper-mediated version of European white femininity. In this context, whiteness becomes costume drama.

Exposing white fragility and grievance

This is the tradition Druski belongs in. His over-the-top portrayal of affluent and conservative white women compels viewers to notice the artifice of the performance.

His target is not women in general, but a rich, entitled figure who turns privilege into threatened innocence and then demands protection from racialised “dangers” she and other people like her have largely invented.

The complaint about “racism” draws a false equivalence between Druski’s satire and centuries of anti-Black racism. It also aims to distract from white women’s electoral power, including their majority allegiance to the Republican Party.

What the complaint really shows, as Paul Mooney might have said, is that too many white people are still refusing to laugh at themselves.

– ref. Druski’s viral whiteface skit isn’t racism. It’s satire that punches up at power – https://theconversation.com/druskis-viral-whiteface-skit-isnt-racism-its-satire-that-punches-up-at-power-279460

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/31/druskis-viral-whiteface-skit-isnt-racism-its-satire-that-punches-up-at-power-279460/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa M. Given, Professor of Information Sciences & Director, Social Change Enabling Impact Platform, RMIT University

Nearly four months into Australia’s social media ban for under-16s, the online regulator today released its first detailed compliance update report on how the world-first policy is progressing.

eSafety’s report comes at a crucial time, with many other countries eyeing the progress of the ban. Since the ban took effect on December 10 last year, I have spoken with journalists from Canada, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Everyone asks two questions: how successful is the ban, and are children still accessing social media platforms?

The new report paints a complicated picture – and leaves other key questions about the social media ban unanswered.

A number of compliance concerns

The report acknowledges social media companies have taken “some steps” to comply with the social media legislation (which restricts account holders to those aged 16 and older). Some 4.7 million accounts were removed by mid-January and another 310,000 by early March.

However, the report also highlights “compliance concerns” in four key areas:

1. Messaging to under-16s on some platforms encouraged children to attempt age assurance even where they declared themselves to be underage

2. Some platforms enabled under-16s to repeatedly attempt the same age-assurance method to ultimately pass age checks

3. Pathways for reporting age-restricted accounts have generally not been accessible and effective, particularly for parents

4. Some platforms appear not to have done enough to prevent under-16s having accounts.

The report explains the eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, is now investigating Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube for “potential non-compliance”. None of these companies has yet been fined. A decision about any enforcement action will be made by the middle of the year.

The report comes a week after the Australian government registered a new legislative rule to ensure the definition of social media platforms includes those “that have addictive or otherwise harmful design features”. These include:

• infinite scroll, which shows new content with no end point
• feedback features, such as displaying “likes” or “upvotes”, which can pressure people to compare themselves to others, and
• time-limited features such as disappearing “stories” that create a sense of urgency and encourage constant checking.

This rule change was implemented in the same week Meta and Google (parent companies of Instagram and YouTube) were found liable by a jury in the United States for the addictive features of their social media platforms.

A ‘constantly evolving’ landscape

The removal of more than 5 million accounts in four months sounds impressive. But this does not equal the number of social media users.

Many people hold several social media accounts. So it remains unclear how many children under 16 still remain on one or more platforms. The report also doesn’t detail how many new accounts children created since the legislation was implemented.

The report also does not estimate the number of under-16s who now use alternative platforms. However, there have been reports of a significant spike in downloads of non-mainstream platforms (such as RedNote, Yope and Lemon8) since December.

The report acknowledges the social media landscape is “constantly evolving” and that it’s impossible to maintain a complete list of platforms that fall under the age restrictions. However, eSafety does maintain a list of the initial platforms included under the ban legislation, and those that have self-identified and agreed to comply. These include Bluesky, dating platforms (such as Tinder) and Lemon8, but other platforms remain accessible to under-16s.

Since December, there have also been questions about whether Australia’s ban should extend to other platforms.

Reports point to the legislation’s “loophole” for gaming apps and exclusions for messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Messenger, as well as other platforms that include social networking features.

Roblox, which was initially considered under the ban and then exempted, has also made headlines related to child safety.

It is currently being reviewed by the government over concerns about child grooming.

Unanswered questions

As eSafety continues to investigate issues related to compliance with the legislation, several key questions remain unanswered.

One is to do with the “reasonable steps” social media companies must take to comply with social media age restrictions. The report says this is “ultimately a question for the courts to determine”. It also explains that defining what steps are reasonable must be considered “in the context of the platform’s service, technological feasibility, and the regulatory landscape”.

But if a company uses age-assurance technologies, whose inbuilt error rates allow some children to slip through the checks, will that company be considered to have taken reasonable steps to control account access?

A second question is whether eSafety will extend its compliance checks beyond the five mainstream platforms currently being investigated.

As new platforms are launched, and as children continue to seek new ways to connect with peers online, the potential spaces where they can encounter harm continues to grow. Is self-assessment by technology companies sufficient to enforce legislation intended to apply to all platforms that meet the definition of an age-restricted platform?

Finally, will the government continue to add new rules to keep kids safe?

One key limitation experts like me have highlighted since 2024 is that restricting access to accounts does not address the actual harms posed by content, algorithms and other platform features.

The government has completed consultation on its digital duty of care legislation. But it is still unclear when this legislation will be introduced.

The new report on social media restrictions shows there is a long road ahead for compliance. And if we want to fully address the harms posed by these platforms, new legislation that actually targets the root problems is needed.

– ref. Social media giants are not complying with under-16s social media ban, new report finds – https://theconversation.com/social-media-giants-are-not-complying-with-under-16s-social-media-ban-new-report-finds-279555

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/31/social-media-giants-are-not-complying-with-under-16s-social-media-ban-new-report-finds-279555/