Covering period of Monday 2nd – Thursday 5th February
January 2026 saw sweltering heat early in the month with intense rain to follow. Some long-standing records were broken:
Tauranga Airport Wettest Day (9am to 9am) with 274.0mm on 21st Jan.* Timaru Airport Wettest January with 135.7mm. Tauranga Airport Wettest January with 408.9mm. Kerikeri Airport Warmest January Day (9am to 9am) 32.7°C on 11th Jan. Whitianga Airport Wettest Day (9am to 9am) 247.6mm on 21st Jan.
Records began in 1910 for Tauranga, 1956 for Timaru, 1978 for Kerikeri and 1987 for Whitianga.
Today (Monday), the upper South Island celebrates Nelson Anniversary Day. While cloud and rain move in from the west, many have had a fine morning in the east. The remainder of the day will be dry for Marlborough. It’s a different story for the rest of the country.
MetService Meteorologist Michael Pawley adds “There’s a soupy mess of humid air covering much of the North Island today, and a low-pressure system moving in from the Tasman Sea. Rain is trekking up the South Island today, getting heavier about central New Zealand tomorrow as the low crosses over. There is even the possibility of snow above 1,200 meters about Canterbury from Tuesday afternoon.”
MetService has a Heavy Rain Watch about the Westland ranges south of Fox Glacier until this evening. Tomorrow there is a Heavy Rain Watch for Marlborough south of Seddon, and Canterbury north of the Rangitata River, which has a high chance of being upgraded to an Orange Rain Warning. In addition, there is a Strong Wind Watch for southeasterlies about Fiordland, Westland and Grey District.
MetService has heat alerts for Napier and Hastings today, which are expected to reach 32°C and 33°C respectively. Much of the North Island has a muggy night ahead. Napier has an overnight minimum temperature of 23°C, and Auckland will only drop to 21°C.
On Tuesday, the maximum temperature for Canterbury will be in the early hours of the morning. Christchurch will drop to a chilly 12°C for most of the day.
* Tauranga experienced a wetter 24-hour period between 17th and 18th May 2005; however, this rainfall was spread across two official reporting days, as daily rainfall is measured from 9am to 9am for climatological records.
Source: General Practice Owners Association (GenPro)
A new survey of nearly 1,800 New Zealand patients shows a clear and consistent preference for face-to-face consultations with family doctors, reinforcing the central role of in-person, GP-led care in general practice
The survey, conducted by the General Practice Owners Association (GenPro), gathered feedback from 1,798 patients through GenPro member practices.
The results provide a valuable snapshot of patient sentiment at a time when access targets and digital care models are under active discussion.
Eighty-seven percent of respondents ranked in-clinic, face-to-face consultations as their preferred way to receive care, with telehealth options — including video, email, and patient portals — ranking significantly lower.
“Patients are telling us very clearly that quality care, trust, and reassurance are closely tied to seeing their GP in person,” said Dr Angus Chambers, Chair of the General Practice Owners Association.
“Digital tools absolutely have a place, but they are not a substitute for the clinical judgement, connection, and confidence that come from face-to-face care.”
The survey found that patients particularly value in-person appointments when it matters most. Nearly two in three patients prefer face-to-face care when a physical examination is needed, or if they have new health concerns, the survey says.
“These results highlight that patients see in-person consultations as critical for accurate diagnosis and building trust,” Dr Chambers said. “That’s something a screen cannot replicate.”
While telehealth is useful for convenience, patients don’t see it as a replacement for in-person GP care. Telehealth was most commonly used for:
Repeat prescriptions (60 percent); Test results (55 percent); Minor or simple health issues (53 percent).
However, 15 percent of respondents said they did not like telehealth and would not use it at all.
“Telehealth works well for specific, low-complexity tasks,” said Dr Chambers. “But patients are clear — when it comes to real clinical engagement, they want to be in the room with their GP.” The survey also revealed a strong preference for GP-led care:
96 percent prefer to see a GP when visiting their practice; 48 percent said they always want to see a GP, even when other clinicians are available.
When booking appointments, patients prioritised appointment availability (80 percent) and continuity with the same clinician (66 percent).
Cost and convenience ranked lower, suggesting patients value ongoing relationships and access over speed or price.
“This reinforces what general practice has always known — continuity of care matters,” Dr Chambers said. “Patients want to be known, understood, and cared for by a qualified professional they trust.”
The survey did not collect demographic or regional data and was not intended for formal benchmarking. However, GenPro says the findings highlight the need for patient voices to be front and centre in policy discussions about access targets and models of care.
Dr Chambers said that the Government had lavished subsidies on telehealth providers of telehealth.
“A ‘digital first’ policy might look good on paper and create the impression that the government is taking action. But it will not deliver the outcomes it promises. The money would be far better invested in retaining and recruiting community GPs to deliver the safer, higher-quality care they already provide.”
Researchers are exploring how dark patterns exploit vulnerable consumers, and what New Zealand law can do about it.
Several of the world’s most powerful social media giants, including Meta and YouTube, are on trial in the US over claims their apps were designed to be harmful to young people. For University of Auckland law academics Professor Jodi Gardner and Dr Joshua Yuvaraj, the case connects closely with their research into manipulative advertising, vulnerable users and New Zealand law.
In the chapter Manipulative Advertising and Vitiating Factors, which features in a forthcoming book examining how laws in the Asia-Pacific region are transforming in response to the digital world, the researchers look at the role ‘dark patterns’ play in manipulative advertising.
Dark patterns are digital design tactics intended to confuse users, make it difficult to express their true preferences, or manipulate them into taking certain actions.
There are different types of dark patterns that can influence purchases, for example, forced action, obstruction, sneaking an item into a basket, and scarcity or urgency messaging. These practices are objectively unfair to all consumers, and the researchers say they’re relatively straightforward to recognise and regulate.
Their chapter, however, focuses on a more complex dark pattern: identifying people with potential vulnerabilities, such as by tracking their search habits, and then exploiting these through targeted ads or pop-ups.
The researchers call this ‘vulnerability exploitation’.
“The harm in question doesn’t come from the content of the advertisement itself, but from the fact that it purposefully targets people who are vulnerable and may agree to purchases not in their best interests,” they write.
Gardner and Yuvaraj use three case studies to highlight how vulnerable groups can be targeted by manipulative advertising: children urged to buy online game add-ons before a countdown ends, financially illiterate or disadvantaged people encouraged to invest in digital assets, and women anxious about fertility targeted by egg-freezing companies.
The authors argue that the heightened vulnerability of such groups to dark patterns underscores the need for better consumer protections.
Another issue when it comes to manipulation in gaming is the use of ‘loot boxes’, says Yuvaraj. This is where players can open a virtual crate or similar item, without knowing in advance what kind of game feature or ‘loot’ they will receive. One New Zealand gamer described becoming addicted to the thrill of opening loot boxes and spent about $16,000 doing so.
The Department of Internal Affairs has so far rejected calls to include loot boxes in the definition of gambling, and the researchers say their regulation and that of other in-app purchases will likely need to come under the Fair Trading Act.
Yuvaraj and Gardner say protections in the Act to directly address the exploitation of vulnerable consumers should be expanded. They advocate supplementing ‘statutory unconscionability protection’ with broader ‘unfair practices’ provisions, as seen in recent European Union and Singapore reforms.
They say expanding New Zealand’s statutory consumer protection framework to directly cover ‘vulnerability exploitation’ could bear fruit, as shown by a €1.125 million fine ($NZD2.2 million) given to Epic Games in the Netherlands for targeting children with in-app purchases in the popular game Fortnite.
Another avenue to improve the law in this area is to expand court-developed protections so they better fit modern, app-based and standard-form contracts, and Yuvaraj says courts could intervene when a person’s vulnerability or lack of meaningful choice affects their ability to agree to or understand the impact of a contract or transaction. This could include situations where a business should have been more alert to a person’s vulnerability, or where there’s a power imbalance.
“Given how quickly new technologies are developing that can cause harm to people, such as AI deepfakes, it’s critical to ensure New Zealand’s legal framework is set up to protect the most vulnerable members of society,” he says.
Federated Farmers says while it supports the intent of the Government’s resource management overhaul, a deep dive into the draft legislation has revealed some serious concerns.
Most concerning are provisions allowing freshwater rights to be auctioned, tendered, or levied – effectively enabling freshwater to be taxed, says Federated Farmers RMA reform spokesperson Mark Hooper.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say we were alarmed when we read clauses in the Natural Environment Bill that give future Ministers sweeping powers to tax water to manage demand.
“There is no way on earth Federated Farmers can or will support that.
“I’ll be seeking urgent clarification from the Beehive, because any reform that allows water taxes by stealth is completely unacceptable to us.”
Last December the Government released two new bills – the Planning Bill and the Natural Environment Bill – to replace the Resource Management Act.
Hooper says Federated Farmers staff have spent the past eight weeks working through the detail.
“It’s important to state up front that Federated Farmers is completely on board with the aims of the reform.
“The promise of a stronger focus on property rights, a tighter scope, fewer resource consents, more standardisation and less litigation all sound like the reset farmers have been calling for.
“But as we’ve worked through the detail, it’s become clear that there are parts of these bills that do not align with those aims at all.”
Hooper says the risk of water taxes is not the only concern. As currently drafted, the new system may be more permissive where environmental limits are comfortably met, but significantly more restrictive where a catchment is at or near its limit.
“Councils often set limits that aim to maintain current water quality levels, so this could mean many catchments are immediately at or beyond environmental limits from the outset.
“As the Natural Environment Bill becomes more restrictive as catchments approach those limits, that could actually mean more resource consents for farmers as the bills are currently drafted.
“This is on top of requirements for all farmers to also have a Freshwater Farm Plan.
“Federated Farmers supports a shift to a farm plan approach, but only if it replaces, rather than sits alongside, the need for a resource consent.”
Another area of concern is the wording around when councils must compensate landowners for loss of property value.
Hooper says Federated Farmers welcomed the Government’s earlier commitment to compensation when restrictive overlays – such as Outstanding Natural Landscapes and Significant Natural Areas – are imposed on farms.
“But now, when we read the draft legislation, we’re seeing a compensation regime that’s much more uncertain than many expected.
“It relies on proving a ‘significant impact on the reasonable use of land’, which means compensation could be very limited and will ultimately depend on how future court cases interpret that threshold.”
Hooper says another major concern is that Water Conservation Orders remain largely untouched, despite being an outdated planning tool.
“Farmers and growers are pretty baffled that these relics haven’t been ditched, as they’re a very poor way to manage freshwater resources.
“They allow any member of the public to override regional council processes and push for stricter freshwater controls.”
Hooper says much of the most important detail in the Natural Environment Bill – including the meaning of key goals, the scope of regulation, and what regional plans must contain – is deferred to future national direction set by the Minister.
“That creates a ‘trust us and wait’ model and opens the door to wildly different interpretations by future governments.
“Farmers need certainty if they’re going to invest in their land. A system that leaves key details up to future Ministers creates risk, delays decisions, and undermines confidence in the whole reform.”
Federated Farmers is preparing a strong submission aimed at highlighting weaknesses in both bills and supporting the Select Committee process to amend both bills.
“We’ll be doing all we can to ensure the reform delivers what farmers were promised,” Hooper says.
Researchers look back in time to see how people react when lotteries are restricted and an alternative is offered.
Imagine if the money from every Lotto ticket you bought had instead gone into a ‘lottery bond’. You’d still have a chance to win life-changing cash prizes, but your money would also be saved, earning interest and being paid back over time. If you don’t win, you don’t lose it all either.
In Belgium, where University of Auckland finance lecturer Dr Gertjan Verdickt lived most of his life, Lotto draws, like in New Zealand, are broadcast on national television each week, and this sparked his interest in how people respond when governments try to curb gambling.
The Business School researcher and co-author, Amaury De Vicq (University of Groningen), studied what happened after, in 1905, the Dutch government banned the sale and purchase of traditional lotteries but allowed an alternative: ‘lottery bonds’.
“We wanted to look back in time to investigate what happens when a government tries to shift gambling from something addictive and loss-making (lotteries) to something safer such as lottery bonds. How do different socio-economic groups react?”
These ‘lottery bonds’ were a legal fixed-income product that let people invest in a bond while also going into a prize draw. Buyers were guaranteed their money back, plus interest, with the added chance of winning. Similar prize-linked products operate in several countries today, with different designs.
Verdickt says this kind of government-run bond scheme could be attractive in New Zealand.
“Lotto is often defended because it funds community projects, which is fantastic, but it can disproportionately draw spending from people on lower incomes. Maybe the government could move towards supporting people to put money into something where they get a safe return, and the chance for a big win.
“A premium government-led bond-style product, different to the solely prize-based Bonus Bonds which wound up in New Zealand in 2020, could fund public projects, while allowing New Zealanders to grow their money rather than lose money week after week.”
So how did everyday Dutch people react when regular Lotto was banned?
The researchers drew on Dutch inheritance tax archives to create detailed portfolio holdings for 3,618 people, allowing them to track how different groups adjusted their investments after the policy change.
The researchers found that overall, less wealthy people put more money into lottery bonds, while wealthy individuals decreased their holdings.
“Although we didn’t observe people’s prior lottery purchases, the magnitude of the move towards lottery bonds indicates that these bonds could be considered a substitute for gambling.”
Age and location mattered too. The researchers found younger people were less likely to take up lottery bonds, while older individuals showed a stronger move into them after the policy change. The lack of interest in lottery bonds among younger individuals could be seen as a success in the Dutch government’s attempt to curb gambling, says Verdickt.
Lotteries and other forms of gambling remained legal in neighbouring Belgium and Germany, and the researchers say poorer people living farther from those borders were more likely to invest in lottery bonds than those closer by, who may have been tempted across the border.
Channelling the urge to gamble
The regulation of gambling has always been a challenge for governments, say the researchers, pitting concerns for financial stability and addictions against consumer demand.
“Our study shows the Dutch government’s lottery bonds were helpful; they channelled people’s urge to gamble into an instrument that also encouraged saving.”
He says governments like New Zealand’s might consider promoting a form of ‘lottery bond’ as a safer alternative to playing Lotto.
“Of course, these days people have so many options online and in-person when it comes to gambling. You can’t ban the urge to gamble, but you can guide people towards safer channels.
“The lottery bond offered by the Dutch government, for example, wasn’t a perfect investment, but it did provide a better option for many people.”
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Downie, Professor of Political Science, School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australian National University
There’s a reason political commentators refer to Australia’s “climate wars”. Every time a climate policy is put on the table, supporters and opponents come out in force and duke it out.
Last year, debates over Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions target led to a heated contest between various groups such as the Climate Council — arguing for strong action — and others such as the Business Council of Australia, which commissioned modelling to highlight the economic costs of a strong target.
This was not a one-off. Since at least the 1990s, emissions-intensive industries such as coal and gas and their lobby groups have had an outsized influence on climate policy. This includes groups such as the Minerals Council of Australia, which represents BHP, Rio Tinto and Whitehaven Coal, and Australian Energy Producers, which lobbies on behalf of BP, Shell and Woodside, among others.
Until now, we did not have a good understanding of who mobilises on climate policy in Australia, what side of the issue they fall on, and in which arenas they mobilise. In our new research, we found a core set of only 20 groups dominating climate policy debate in Australia, including gas corporations, industry lobby groups, environmental NGOs, and think tanks.
Who are these groups?
To find out which groups are most influential, we collected data on all organisations active on climate policy in Australia between 2017 and 2022. This included examining the number of groups as well as their volume of activity in the executive branch of government (responsible for implementing and enforcing laws, managing day-to-day administration and setting policy), the parliament and the media.
For example, we identified 700,000 mentions of groups in articles about climate change from 13 media outlets, including The Australian and the Sydney Morning Herald.
As well as media records, we also built a database of organisations who actively consulted with government departments and provided evidence to parliamentary inquiries.
We found 20 groups accounted for more than half (52%) of all activity.
They included a mix of mining and energy firms, such as AGL, BHP and Rio Tinto and their lobby groups, such as the Minerals Council of Australia. It also included high-profile NGOs, such as the Climate Council, and think tanks active on climate policy, including the Australia Institute and the Grattan Institute.
It’s important to note we didn’t look at the content of the messages in the media, the parliament or in departmental consultations, just the number of organisations and the frequency of their activity.
Where do these groups stand on climate action? tweaked
Among the 20 groups, some are strong supporters of climate action, such as the Climate Council. By contrast, the Minerals Council of Australia has a long history of opposing climate policies dating back to the Kyoto Protocol in the 2000s and the short-lived carbon price in the 2010s.
Interestingly, there are more pro-climate groups than anti-climate groups. Most NGOs in our study tended to support action on climate change, including the Australian Conservation Foundation, Greenpeace and WWF.
Many of the business groups do not. But it’s not as black and white as this might suggest. Firms and business advocacy groups are not unified. A growing number of renewable energy companies now mobilise in support of climate policy, often through advocacy groups such as the Smart Energy Council.
Interestingly, many industries active on climate policy don’t have a hardwired position. Rather, they sometimes support and sometimes oppose climate policy. This is often because their commercial interests are only indirectly impacted by climate policies, such as firms in the technology or finance industries.
These somewhat “neutral” groups actually account for the majority of groups active on climate policy in Australia.
Does this vary by arena?
We also explored whether some groups dominate the media more than the parliament, or the parliament more than the executive. For example, are environmental NGOs more active in the media than in Senate hearings? Are business groups more active in consultations with the government departments that make up the executive branch of government?
Interestingly, we found the media is the only arena where fossil fuel interests dominate. For example, groups typically opposed to climate action represent 43% of all media mentions, compared to 20% in support and 36% neutral.
This begs the question – why does the media appear to have a strong bias for reporting pro-fossil fuel messages?
One explanation consistent with overseas studies
is simply that messages from business coalitions and very large businesses are more likely to receive media coverage than other types of organisations, such as environmental NGOs.
These organisations are likely to have high standing in the media because they are viewed as key players in policy debates with inside knowledge. Certainly in Australia, the largest firms and lobby groups mobilised on climate change are tied to? fossil fuel industries.
Do these groups matter?
As we sweat through another of the hottest summers on record, the federal government will rightly remain under pressure to put in place further policies to cut carbon pollution. In fact, recent polling shows one in two Australians want action on climate change “even if this involves significant costs”.
Who mobilises to support or oppose climate policies will likely have a big influence on policy outcomes such as increasing renewable electricity in the grid, phasing out petrol and diesel vehicles or stopping new coal and gas projects
Our research shows a core set of groups, including firms in the coal and gas industries, that are likely to have an outsized voice in such policy debates.
While this does not always equate to influence, it is an important precondition. In the media in particular, it appears fossil fuel interests have the loudest voice.
This research was funded by the Climate Social Science Network.
Police have launched an investigation after the discovery of a body at a worksite on Taihape Road, Omahu, earlier today.
Staff were called to the scene about 9.10am after a body was located on the property.
The circumstances of how the person came to be there, and how they died, are unclear, and the death is currently being treated as unexplained.
Police will now work to identify the person and to establish the circumstances surrounding their death.
A scene examination will be carried out, as well as a post mortem examination. Cordons are currently in place at the address.
Anyone with information about this incident or anyone believed to be involved can get in touch through our 105 service, quoting reference number 260203/9739.
You can also share information anonymously through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
Unemployment expected to remain steady at 5.3 pct – data due 4 Feb, 10.45 am.
Labour market probably at the bottom, but improvement gradual.
Prospect of some modest job growth.
Wage growth to remain subdued, lagging inflation.
Data not likely to change RBNZ rates on hold policy.
Unemployment looks set to linger around a near-decade high, but may show signs that the labour market downturn has ended.
Most major bank economists expect the unemployment rate to stay unchanged at 5.3 percent for the three months ended December, but with tentative signs of employment growth, and wage growth subdued.
ASB senior economist Mark Smith was among the more optimistic with a forecast unemployment rate easing to 5.2 percent, which would be the first decline in four years.
“We expect the data to confirm we have passed the turning point for the labour market.”
Other economists echoed the view that the labour market, the sector that lags recessions and recoveries, has at least touched the bottom.
“We do expect this Wednesday’s suite of … labour market data to show a general halting of deterioration as well as some more signs of improvement in the details,” BNZ senior economist Doug Steel said.
Labour market numbers can be something of a statistical lucky dip.
The unemployment rate can be moved by the size of the workforce, how many are participating, have gone training or stopped looking for work, irrespective of how many jobs may have been created.
ANZ senior economist Miles Workman said more people participating in the search for work, even if the jobs were not there, might still be a positive.
“While it would point to a more disinflationary labour market than the RBNZ anticipates, it would also add to the evidence that conditions are rounding a corner, with labour supply responding to improving job prospects.”
The jobs are coming
Partial labour market indicators in the recent months, such as job advertisement and filled jobs numbers, point to an increase in jobs matching the growth in the working age population.
“Employment is expected to register its strongest growth in around two years, although numbers are still more than 30,000 shy of late 2023 peaks,” ASB’s Smith said.
However, Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon said overall improvement would be gradual with employers being wary of hiring.
“The September quarter saw a strong lift in hours per worker, and indeed that’s where we’d expect to see the initial response to an economic upturn – employers have scope to get more out of their existing workers, before resorting to new hiring.
Slow wage growth to please RBNZ for now
Wage growth is expected to remain subdued and steady around four-year lows of 2 percent.
“Labour cost growth is expected to remain modest, with the balance of power still tilted towards employers,” ASB’s Smith said.
He said emerging signs of skilled labour shortages, a stronger labour market and growing wage demands would eventually weigh on the Reserve Bank’s official cash rate outlook (OCR).
“Reducing labour market slack suggests the need to normalise OCR settings. We expect a 25 basis point hike in December and a 3.0 percent OCR endpoint, but note the risks are pointing to a larger and more frontloaded pace of OCR hikes.”
The RBNZ is expected to hold the cash rate steady at 3.25 percent for most of this year.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
There’s long been a fundamental issue underpinning Australia’s approach to Indigenous affairs. The state makes laws specifically about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples without any protected mechanism giving them a say in the process.
The proposed Voice to Parliament sought to remedy this democratic deficit. Had the referendum succeeded, it would have established a formal representative connection between Indigenous peoples and the Commonwealth parliament.
The Voice proposal was a reform to democratic representation. Its failure was a missed opportunity to renew Australian democracy.
But it was also an explicit choice: to sustain the political subjugation of Indigenous people by denying them representative channels for making their voices heard on matters that affect them.
This enduring structural limitation leaves the parliament without any representative mechanism to consult with, or be accountable to, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
What does Indigenous representation look like?
Even as we have seen increasing numbers of Aboriginal members in the federal parliament, they do not represent all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Nor are they empowered to. In the 125 years since federation, there has never been a Torres Strait Islander representative at the Commonwealth level.
A key aspect of political accountability is the ability of a constituency to remove their representative at the ballot box. If a majority feels their MPs have failed to advance their interests or otherwise represent them, they can vote them out.
For minority populations, this mechanism fails because their votes will, by definition, always fall short of a majority. This has long been called “the tyranny of the majority”.
While this is a problem for all minorities, the political claims of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are distinct from other minority groups. This is because they’ve been politically subjugated through unlawful dispossession.
Voting rights alone cannot remedy this. We need to move beyond this narrow view of political representation.
More than politics
Being represented is not just about aggregating votes or delegating decision-making power to elected parliamentarians.
There are many types of democratic representation, far beyond formal political institutions. There are also unions, nongovernmental organisations, social movements, media organisations and community advocates.
These actors represent themselves and others through various channels, such as:
submissions to government inquiries
public protests and rallies
media campaigns
cultural productions
legal challenges
grassroots organising.
Through this lens, we can see Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have long maintained and exercised their representative power, even when formal political institutions exclude or silence their voices.
Critics of the Voice proposal from both conservative and progressive perspectives focused on the power of direct decision making.
But it’s crucial to recognise representative power entails more than just making decisions in formal political institutions. Representative power can also set new agendas, shape political debates and transform public attitudes and values.
The proposed Voice offered what we might call “connective tissue” between First Nations peoples and communities, and the Australian state that continues to govern them.
The Voice proposed a new focal point for channelling the varied interests of diverse First Nations communities directly to government, as well as the broader Australian public. In similar ways to the Yoorrook Commission and First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria (and now Gellung Warl), the Voice promised to highlight new priorities for action.
This is why the proposal’s defeat represents more than just maintaining the status quo. It transforms the political subjugation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from a historical legacy into the contemporary choice of the nation.
Despite decades of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advocacy, careful institutional design and extensive consultation, the Australian public collectively decided to maintain political structures that exclude First Nations perspectives from decision-making processes that affect them.
Strengthening democracy for all
As we move forward, the implications of this decision extend beyond Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs. It raises questions about Australia’s capacity to renew its democracy.
The capacity of democracies to change themselves in response to shifting social conditions and emerging demands is a key part of what keeps them democratic.
But this renewal involves much more than just holding elections. It requires political systems to transform their structures in response to injustices and problems of new generations. This includes long-term challenges, such as climate change.
When democratic systems don’t adapt, they risk ossifying into forms of rule that maintain historical inequities under the guise of democratic process.
This kind of political ossification threatens the democratic futures of all Australians. It also does nothing to improve the everyday lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The challenge now becomes how to maintain pressure for democratic renewal in the face of this setback. This requires Australians to continue to expose and challenge the democratic deficit the Voice sought to address.
We must also strengthen the many forms of First Nations political representation that persist in the face of institutional exclusion.
Sana Nakata receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Daniel Bray has previously received funding from the Australian Research Council.
The Electricity Authority is set to launch a new power bill comparison website.123RF
The electricity market regulator will launch a new power bill comparison website next month, in a bid to ensure the industry better serves consumers.
It is one of many changes being made after a spike in electricity prices last year led to a government review of the market.
In 2024, a spot price shock saw households and businesses face increases of between 10 and 15 percent on their power bills, which was a factor in the shutdown of several industrial businesses across the country.
Electricity Authority chief executive Sarah Gillies said a new power comparison website would be launched next month with the authority also considering rules to simplify bills so that they were easier for consumers to understand.
It also wanted to see more companies offering plans with lower prices during off-peak hours and electricity regulators sharing power use data, so consumers could automate their electricity use if they wanted to.
“Last year we made a decision that we needed to see the large retailers offering time-of-use plans, there was a sense that some were doing it, but not everybody … so that’s a requirement for everybody over a certain size to do that from July this year.”
In January, the government announced the retail electricity sector as the next industry to be considered under the Customer and Product Data Act.
Known as open electricity, it would simplify the ability to compare the electricity needs of a household or small businesses against every power plan on the market.
Last year, the government established a Consumer Data Right – a legal framework to let people access, share, and manage certain data, like transaction history, with trusted third parties through secure digital systems – with the hope of creating greater choice, convenience, and innovation.
Gillies said the authority was working with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment on a framework that detailed what information should be shared, and how.
“Data is absolutely critical … and the bottom line is it belongs to consumers, it’s about them.”
Previously, power companies had been reluctant to release data, despite it belonging to the consumer.
Gillies said the Power Build comparison website was due to be launched next month, replacing the Power Switch in a bid to help consumers ensure they are getting the best deal. It had been built using two years’ worth of data from 30,000 households and would no longer be funded by power companies being charged a fee every time a consumer switched, she said.
“You can either use your own power bill or you can answer some questions about your household and how you use your power and those two options will give you some choices.”
She said there would be information to help people understand time of use pricing, an electricity tariff structure where rates vary based on the time of consumption, charging higher prices during “peak demand” hours and lower prices during “off-peak” times.
The government is still working through potential legislation as a result of reforms in the industry.
Gillies said 35 rule changes had been made in the last two years, which showed a “constant strengthening” of the rules that govern the system.
“We have this incredible privilege to write the rules of the electricity industry, secondary legislation,” Gillies said.
The maximum penalty for a breach of the rules is currently $2 million, with a proposal to increase it to $10m or three times the commercial gain or 10 percent of a company’s turnover.
“That’s quite important because that’s much more akin to the kinds of penalties that you see with the FMA and the Commerce Commission.”
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At Tuesday’s full Auckland Council meeting, Wayne Brown put on a cap saying ‘RATES’ in a self-described move to mock the proposal.
He said the rates cap plan was a “fascinating piece of nonsense from Wellington”.
“I shall put my rates cap on while we mock this piece of ridiculous legislation,” Brown told the Council meeting.
“And I have a can of baked beans here which represents the amount of saving [over] a month that ratepayers will get, as a result of this fine work.”
Auckland’s mayor says the saving to ratepayers will amount to a can of beans a month.Supplied
The council opposes the cap on the grounds it is not an effective tool to provide affordability and would result in more debt.
“Auckland ratepayers are unlikely to achieve the savings estimated by central government of $2.79 a month for each household, or the cost of a can of baked beans as noted by some commentators,” council’s manager of financial strategy and modelling violet bird said in a report.
“This assessment from the government excluded Auckland Council from its calculations due to the council’s ‘moderate rates forecast’ and size.”
Ratepayers ‘fed up’, Luxon says
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon previously said ratepayers were “fed up”.
“They’re tired of having to prudently manage their own budgets while rates continue to go up, only to see their local council fail to demonstrate the same fiscal discipline.”
He said the government was not considering allowing councils to raise revenue through a levy on tourists, like a bed tax.
“We want councils to be focused on the money that they’ve got and make sure they’re doing a much better job of managing it. Some councils are doing a really good job, some councils are doing a very very poor job.”
Consultation on the changes opened immediately, and was set to close in February 2026 with the legislation expecting to be passed by the end of that year.
In December, the government announced it wanted councils to limit rates rises and more detail was released later that month, leaving councils a short runway to prepare a response.
The rates rise cap would likely start with minimum increases of two percent and a maximum of four percent, with the cap taking effect from 1 January 2027.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on February 3, 2026.
Polls are snapshots, not predictions: how to read them critically this election year Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grant Duncan, Research associate, Public Policy Institute, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau With nine months to go, how much can opinion polls tell us about the general election on November 7? Short answer: not much. Based solely on polls, no one could have predicted the past
We ate space mushrooms and survived to tell the tale Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Webb, Lecturer, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology Eating the space mushrooms for the first time. Author provided, CC BY-SA The mushrooms spread out on the chopping board seemed normal enough. They were rich and dense, and had a strong earthy aroma. In
Why regularly taking laxatives over the long term can be a bad idea Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Associate Professor and Clinical Academic Gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University Photo by Anna Shvets/Pexels If you’ve ever been constipated you may have tried laxatives. They’re easy to get without a prescription and often help get things moving. Certainly a lot of people use laxatives and some
Academics call for divestment from NZ pensions fund implicated in Gaza COMMENTARY: By Vincent Wijeysingha Will maximising investment returns override ethics? That is the question the tertiary sector posed to UniSaver, the academic equivalent of KiwiSaver, now revealed to invest in Israeli weapons and military intelligence. In 2024, some 400 university staff appealed to UniSaver to divest from such companies. The fund initially ignored the call.
Keith Rankin Analysis – A Black Sheep to Rule them All Analysis by Keith Rankin. It’s great that there is a new season (Season 9) of William Ray’s podcast series Black Sheep, which looks at contributors to New Zealander history, many little known, who were of dubious or ambiguous character. Here I draw attention to a black sheep who I think trumps them all, Edward Arthur
Tiny radio transmitters reveal a hidden survival tactic in birds Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alice Barratt, PhD Candidate, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University White-backed swallow in Sturt National Park. Alice Barratt, CC BY-NC In Sturt National Park, near Tibooburra in central Australia where temperatures can range from freezing to nearly 50°C, there lives a small bird with a
Our study shows younger siblings spend more time on screens than big sisters and brothers Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danusha Jayawardana, Research Fellow in Health Economics, Monash University Atlantic Ambience/ Pexels Where kids are born in a family can be important. But it is not just about who gets more grown-up privileges or parental pressure. Research tells us firstborn children, on average, tend to do better
Australia’s Pacific worker scheme is far from perfect – but we can make it better Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Mares, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, School of Media, Film and Journalism, Monash University The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme (PALM) is a crucial source of workers across regional Australia. About 32,000 people from nine Pacific nations and Timor-Leste work in Australia under PALM. Over seven months
From statement sleeves to the codpiece: 5 fashions which should come back from Tudor England Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grace Waye-Harris, Early Career Researcher in History, Adelaide University Portrait of Elizabeth I of England, 1588. Woburn Abbey/Wikimedia Commons There are few dynasties in history as well-known as the Tudors. From Henry VIII’s six wives to Elizabeth I’s defeat of the Spanish Armada, the Tudors continue to
As Australia’s online harm crackdown reshapes the debate, NZ must find its own path Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Henry, Associate Professor in Screen, Flinders University Getty Images Around the world, lawmakers are grappling with how to better protect young people from online harms such as cyberbullying, sexual exploitation and AI-generated “deepfake” images. Recent reforms overseas – notably Australia’s landmark move to restrict young people’s
What is Israel’s Herzog doing in Australia – who invited him, and why? ANALYSIS: By Andrew Brown Israel’s President, Isaac Herzog, is due to arrive in Australia next Sunday. Why is a foreign Head of State asked to help heal an Australian community after an Australian tragedy? Australia is being asked to accept something extraordinary as if it were normal. Who invited Isaac Herzog in the first place,
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NSW is ditching good character references in sentencing. Will the rest of the country follow? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vicki Lowik, Adjunct Research Fellow, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Sciences, CQUniversity Australia New South Wales is set to become the first jurisdiction in the country to end the use of good character references in the sentencing of convicted criminals. The government will introduce a bill
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ASIC flags $40 million in refunds after review of risky financial products Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Lee, Associate Professor in Property and Real Estate, Deakin University Australia’s corporate regulator has secured refunds of A$40 million to more than 38,000 investors in risky financial products, following a review of the industry. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) raised concerns that marketing of
Wellington Airport. File picture.RNZ/ Mark Papalii
Fog is causing disruption at Wellington Airport, with more than 40 flights affected on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the airport said 48 flights had been cancelled.
According to the airport’s website, on Tuesday afternoon flights leaving for Christchurch, Napier and Dunedin were among those cancelled, along with flights arriving from Christchurch, Brisbane and Hamilton.
Passengers are advised to check directly with their airlines for the latest information on their travel plans.
MetService is forecasting rain for Wellington with strong southerlies on Tuesday evening.
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An updated Code of Conduct will strengthen integrity across the Public Sector, Public Service Minister Judith Collins says.
“New Zealanders expect the people that serve them to act with the highest integrity, accountability and professionalism,” Ms Collins says.
“The newCode of Conduct for the Public Sectorresets those expectations and provides clear guidance to public servants.”
The Code is based around the public service values and builds on existing expectations about integrity and conduct. It also introduces new standards to address key findings from the 2025Public Service Census,including merit-based appointments, workplace culture and respectful behaviour.
“Integrity requires strong leadership, sound judgement, and workplace cultures where people feel safe to speak up and do what is right – especially when no one is watching,” Ms Collins said.
“To support this, the Public Service Commission is introducing required training on the updated Code of Conduct and General Election Guidance – which covers how public servants must act before, during, and after an election.
“We’re fixing the basics so New Zealanders have a system that is not only effective, but exemplary – one that consistently serves the public interest and appropriately uses the powers entrusted to it.”
The updatedCode of Conduct for the Public Sectoris now available on the Public Service Commission website. Integrity learning resources will be available on the Leadership Development Centre in March 2026, when the Code takes effect.
A therapy pug who has helped children too unwell to attend school has been missing for more than two weeks in Russell, Bay of Islands.
Doug, a six-year-old pug, disappeared while holidaying with his owner, Auckland-based Northern Health School teacher, Monique Burke. He was last seen rummaging through a nearby Russell property before heading in the direction of where they were staying.
“He does frequent the neighbours – so we have since found out – and would pop next door, I’m guessing, and would just wait to see if there were any snacks available and if not, he would just trot on home.”
When Doug had been gone for more than an hour — far longer than usual — Burke knew something was wrong. Searches of the neighbourhood that night were unsuccessful, and the hunt has continued ever since.
Burke told Afternoons she has exhausted all avenues, including a social media campaign, door-knocking neighbours and nearby businesses, and even enlisting a police dog to help track him down — all without success.
Doug has been part of the Northern Health School community since he was a puppy, working alongside Burke to support students who are unable to attend their regular schools due to illness, injury, or mental health challenges.
“He was a special little guy,” Burke says. “[He had an] innate way of sensing when a student needed comfort and would go and sit with them.”
Doug has also helped students overcome a fear of dogs and has worked alongside psychologists and other schools to support student transitions.
“More often than not he was a reason that got many of our students through the door.”
Burke says it’s unlikely Doug wandered far on his own.
“He is a mummy’s boy, he wouldn’t go far and he’s got little legs and a little fat body, and I just can’t imagine him trying to get through some of the terrain that is up there [in the bush].”
She worries someone may have picked him up thinking he was abandoned, because she had just removed his collar.
“I’m hoping that if he has been picked up that he is being well looked after and that potentially they hear the story behind and do the right thing and bring him in.”
Burke is urging anyone with information or sightings to come forward, adding that any leads or social media shares are deeply appreciated.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Waikato Police investigating a burglary reported on Monday morning have arrested two people after recovering the stolen vehicle and personal belongings.
The burglary was reported to Police around 10.30am on Monday after the occupants of a residential property in Tamahere had come back from a walk. When they returned, they saw the home had been broken into, with their vehicle and belongings stolen.
Investigators from the Waikato Tactical Crime Unit attended the incident and quickly identified a local address of interest.
Further assistance was provided by recently installed CCTV cameras within the Tamahere Village including Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), which identified the suspect and stolen vehicle.
Upon searching the address, Police located the missing belongings in a separate vehicle parked at the rear of the property and spoke with people at the house.
The stolen vehicle was identified in several thefts in Te Rapa later that night and fled Police before crashing into a fence. Two people were taken into custody.
A 29-year-old woman and 34-year-old man will appear in the Hamilton District Court today for breaching court release conditions. Further charges will follow in relation to dishonesty offending.
Investigation into the burglary continues.
Police urge residents to consider prevention measures they can take to keep their homes safe from being a target for burglary. Home security systems, community CCTV, motion activated lights and secured windows and doors are some good measures.
To imagine how healthy and abundant New Zealand forests could be, we don’t have to travel back in time; we can look to the many predator-free islands across the country for inspiration.
In this story, we journey to Whenua Hou/Codfish Island at the bottom of Te Waipounamu/the South Island to find out why it’s one of the most coveted wildlife sanctuaries in the country and how it is inspiring efforts to protect and restore native species nearby on Rakiura/Stewart Island.
Campbell Island teal thriving on Whenua Hou. Photo credit: Leon Everett
There are 110 predator-free islands in New Zealand, and more than 30 of them lie just offshore from Rakiura. This includes Whenua Hou, which is home to the largest population of the critically endangered kākāpō, along with other extremely rare birds including mohua/yellowhead, kuaka/Whenua Hou diving petrel, mātātā/fernbird and tūtukiwi/snipe.
Although Whenua Hou is off-limits to the public to help protect threatened wildlife, DOC and Ngāi Tahu have been working there for decades, largely to support and study kākāpō and prevent rats from re-invading.
As we are working to eradicate rats, feral cats and possums on Rakiura, we asked two experienced conservationists to describe the eco-system on Whenua Hou and how it compares to Rakiura National Park which is just three kilometres east of the island.
‘We are Whenua Hou, Whenua Hou is us’
Tāne shows how his ancestors on Whenua Hou harvested tōtara bark to make poha – kelp bags used to store tītī/muttonbirds birds for kai.
Whenua Hou was the first place in the south where European men – mostly sealers – and Ngāi Tahu women lived together. It was also an important place for Ngāi Tahu voyagers who used to stop there on the way to the Tītī Islands to harvest tītī/muttonbirds.
Tāne Davis is one of the descendants of these inhabitants, and as a child, he remembers seeing the island’s mighty tōtara from his father’s boat on the way to the Tītī Islands to catch crayfish.
“I used to wonder what was there… and my mother used to say, ‘Ko mātou ko Whenua Hou, ko Whenua Hou ko mātou’. We are Whenua hou, Whenua hou is us.”
Left to right: Ngāi Tahu Carver James York, Ngāi Tahu Fund Chair Suzanne Ellison, Mahri Batey, Leanda Davis, Jane Davis, Tane Davis. Pictured with Te Pou Nehera
Tāne first stepped foot on Whenua Hou 25 years ago, not long after it became predator free, with DOC and Ngāi Tahu working together to eradicate pacific rats/kiore in 1998 and possums in 1986.
Tāne has since had a vital role in the management of the island as the chair of the Ngāi Tahu Whenua Hou Komiti and the Ngāi Tahu representative for the Kākāpō Recovery Programme.
“You don’t have to look hard to see the changes. Whenua Hou has become a safe haven for taonga species, and the forest has regenerated quite quickly from possum browsing.”
This work has paved the way for kākāpō to potentially have their biggest breeding season on record this year.
It has also helped to create opportunities for Ngāi Tahu descendants to return and re-affirm their whakapapa connections on Whenua Hou. This included the establishment of three pou in 2017 to tell the story of the island’s human history and preserve it for generations to come.
“You can feel the presence of our tīpuna on the island, and we feel a sense of belonging and the responsibility as kaitiaki.”
Tāne has great belief in the vision for Rakiura to become predator-free, and the benefits this will have for all people connected to the island.
“Whenua Hou is like a role model for Rakiura. We’ve got to utilise these achievements on a larger scale.”
An island heaving with wildlife
DOC scientist, Graeme Elliott using an aerial and a receiver to find kākāpō that have transmitters attached to them. Photo supplied
DOC scientist, Graeme Elliott, has spent most of his life studying New Zealand’s wildlife, including kākāpō on Whenua Hou.
“My first visit was in 1995. We often slept in tents and there was a constant chatter of seabirds, but we also stayed in the hut next to this stunning white sand beach.”
He says when visiting Whenua Hou, nature is no longer a spectacle that you’re searching for, but you’re living amongst it and interacting with it at every moment – it’s naturing at its finest.
“When you go outside the hut, the forest is heaving with birds. There’s a little duck or a kākāpō wandering around, and tītī nesting underneath the deck.
“Without deer and possums, the forest has grown dense and luscious, making it difficult to get around. There are kākā and kererū everywhere, along with big flocks of mohua, brown creeper, kākāriki and riflemen.”
On summer nights, Graeme says you can hear hundreds of thousands of petrels flying over the forest as they come ashore to breed.
“Their colonies on the island are a bit whiffy but their poop acts as an incredible natural fertiliser. Big parts of the island are porous with lots of holes made by burrowing petrels. Most of New Zealand used to be covered in seabird burrows once upon a time.”
Check out the diversity of wildlife in this gallery of images captured by DOC volunteer Archer Tern during a trip to Whenua Hou last year.
Rakiura could become like a huge version of Whenua Hou
Whenua Hou is a fair comparison to Stewart Island regarding its landscape as they are nearly identical, but just on a smaller scale, Graeme says.
“The type of vegetation is similar as well, with rimu, totara, kahikatea, rātā, and miro. But the bird life is vastly different. Forest birds are so uncommon on Rakiura, and the damage caused by pests and predators is visible all over the place.”
Oban township, which has more bird life than other parts of Rakiura, gives a false impression of what life is like in the forest, he says.
“This is likely because regular trapping has occurred in the area for many years. Oban is also in close vicinity to Ulva Island, which is predator free and hosts a range of native species, some of which have large home ranges and will travel around the township.
“Oban also has a variety of urban food sources for birds like kākā, kererū and tui that are not available elsewhere on the island, such as exotic fruit trees.”
When you get out into Rakiura National Park, Graeme says there’s a shocking absence of sound and forest health is poor in comparison to Whenua Hou.
“We have feral cats eating birds, rats hoarding and eating seeds and eggs, deer eating plants and saplings on the ground, and possums stripping the new shoots and leaves off trees like Southern Rātā which thins out the canopy. It’s so still in places that you can hear a single fly buzzing when the bird noise should be dominant.”
Honouring the legacy of Solstice
Solstice on her third nest in 2019 on Whenua Hou. She sadly died of an infection last year after battling cloacitis. Credit: Andrew Digby
Graeme and Tāne have dedicated much of their lives to protecting te taiao – the natural world. They both dream of seeing Rakiura become New Zealand’s largest wildlife sanctuary yet.
“It’s desperately needed for our threatened species, especially for kākāpō, which are nearly at capacity on Whenua Hou, so they can grow their population,” Graeme says.
This was reinforced recently with the passing of Solstice, who was the last kākāpō to be found and rescued on Stewart Island in 1997. She was one of the female founders of the modern population and has 27 descendants.
“Solstice was a matriarch for the species,” Tāne says.
“Her legacy is one of desperate survival and hope for future generations. We can honour her by enabling her mokopuna to return home to Rakiura and fill the forests with their booming calls once again.”
Iwi Chairs Forum kaikōrero Rāhui Papa says his rōpu fully support the challenge.RNZ / Marika Khabazi
The National Iwi Chairs Forum is backing a court case by Ngāti Manuhiri looking to challenge amendments to the Marine and Coastal Areas Act (MACA).
Hauraki iwi Ngāti Manuhiri are set to take the government to the High Court over changes made to the act last year, which made it harder for Māori to win customary marine title.
Justice minister Paul Goldsmith has repeatedly said the changes restore the act to Parliament’s “original intent”.
The changes have been bashed by former ministers, treaty lawyers, iwi and hapū leaders and even prompted an almost 20,000-strong petition opposing the amendments.
Now, Ngāti Manuhiri want to challenge those changes in the High Court, alleging that the changes limit their ability to exercise of their culture, deny their access to justice, and discriminate against Māori.
In a statement, Ngāti Manuhiri chair Mook Hohneck said the revised test measures customary ownership through Western concept of exclusion rather than tikanga Māori.
“What we’re seeing is not an attempt to uphold the original intent of the law, it is an attempt to fundamentally change the rules with which we’ve engaged in good faith because the Crown isn’t getting its way,” Hohneck said.
“The Crown is stacking the deck in its favour, and is setting a precedent that future governments can constantly move the goal post whenever they see fit.”
The legislation is retrospective, meaning some applicants would need to start the process from scratch.
Hohneck claimed those changes amounted to retrospective interference with ongoing court proceedings, and breached their expectation that their application would be determined under the law as it stood when they applied.
“Our claim seeks declarations that the 2025 law changes are inconsistent with natural justice and the Bill of Rights Act, and are discriminatory against Ngāti Manuhiri.”
“Our settlement with the Crown included a formal apology and commitment to rebuild their relationship with Ngāti Manuhiri, based on the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The Marine and Coastal Area Act amendments cut across that promise and apology,” Hohneck said.
Speaking from Waitangi, Iwi Chairs Forum kaikōrero Rāhui Papa said his rōpu fully supported the challenge.
He told media the current legislation “unpicked” settlement processes and agreements.
“In the case of Ngati Manuhiri, they feel that they had quite a strong and enduring settlement because it was hard negotiated.”
“We absolutely support [it]. If an iwi feels that their settlement, their hard negotiated settlement, is being unpicked some years after the agreement, that just shows the institutional forgetfulness and amnesia of the government to what they actually agreed to.” he said.
There was a similar sentiment from Northland Regional Council chair and Ngāti Hine chair Pita Tipene, who told RNZ support for the challenge from Ngāti Manuhiri was unanimous.
“In terms of Ngati Hine, we will support any measure, any action that protects and enhances our collective rangatiratanga.”
“Whether it is in court, whether it is out in the community, that’s our focus,” Tipene said.
Changes to the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act were made in October last year.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Source: Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission
For the third year, Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission has surveyed New Zealanders’ awareness, understanding and attitudes to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, human rights and New Zealand’s constitution.
The survey found that a sense of belonging, respect for human rights, and an understanding of our history are overwhelmingly viewed by New Zealanders as important to Aotearoa’s future. It also highlighted the importance of respectful discussion about Te Tiriti (viewed as important by 78%), positive relationships between Māori and the Crown (83%), and legal and constitutional protection of Te Tiriti (70%).
Conducted by Horizon Research on behalf of the Commission in December 2025, it follows similar surveys in 2024 and 2023.
“Many of the results tell a different story to the narrative of division we have been fed over the past two years,” says the Commission’s Indigenous Rights Governance Partner, Dayle Takitimu. “The majority of New Zealanders value Māori culture and traditions, care about the real histories of Aotearoa, and want respectful discussions about Te Tiriti.”
In December the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called on New Zealand to uphold Te Tiriti, making a specific recommendation to Government to “take measures to counter misinformation and divisive narratives regarding the Treaty and to promote public understanding of its role in advancing harmony and equality”. The Committee raised concerns about a range of recent government initiatives and warned that weakening Treaty protections “could undermine progress towards reconciliation and risk entrenching historical, structural, and systemic discrimination against Māori”.
“It’s our hope that this data reassures New Zealanders that they are more united than they think,” adds Takitimu. “We want people to share these numbers far and wide, even the areas where we can do better. Let’s have a discussion about how political rhetoric and misinformation moves us, and how we can all have more constructive discussions in future — tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti.”
What New Zealanders think is important for the future of their country
70% that Te Tiriti is protected in our laws and constitution.
78% respectful discussion of Te Tiriti.
87% everyone knows the country’s history.
83% positive Crown/Māori relationships.
79% protecting and celebrating Māori culture, language and identity.
74% harmonious race relations through honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
91% that human rights are protected in New Zealand’s laws and constitution.
93% that everyone feels a sense of belonging.
* Horizon Research Human Rights and Te Tiriti/Treaty Issues December 2025
The survey also asked respondents to rate their own level of knowledge around Tiriti issues, as well as their awareness of a range of statements. The findings show that people feel well informed about Te Tiriti and have high levels of awareness of a range of basic Treaty facts.
For example, there is strong awareness of the links between Te Tiriti and human rights, with 88% aware that Te Tiriti relates to people’s human rights, and 80% aware that globally agreed human rights standards recognise and protect the rights of Indigenous peoples. Four in five people are aware that the Waitangi Tribunal has made expert findings on what was agreed to through Te Tiriti.
The Waitangi Tribunal also emerged as the most trusted source of accurate information about Te Tiriti / the Treaty, trusted by 45% of respondents. The Human Rights Commission is named as the fourth most trusted source of accurate information (31%). 17% of respondents said they don’t trust any source.
Of note, areas rating highest in terms of lack of awareness included:
In relation to the signing of the Declaration of Independence/ He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga in 1835 (with 15% of respondents not at all aware of this)
That the Waitangi Tribunal has made expert findings that Māori didn’t give up their sovereignty when they signed the Treaty / Te Tiriti (14% not at all aware)
The tino rangatiratanga guaranteed in the Treaty / Te Tiriti closely aligns with the human right to self-determination (13% not at all aware)
The fact that current checks and balances don’t stop Parliament from passing laws that breach human rights or Te Tiriti (13% not at all aware)
The fact that around 500 Rangatira signed Te Tiriti, while 39 signed the English language Treaty (12% not at all aware).
The findings will be used by the Commission to inform its awareness-raising, research and education activities.
