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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 Wilson; though he doesn’t really qualify for William Ray’s series, because his black sheepishness only happened after he left New Zealand.

Edward Arthur Wilson, born in Birmingham England in 1878, arrived in New Zealand in 1901. He married Margery Clark in 1902; she was a recent immigrant from Queensland, though her mother had been born in Wellington in 1852. Both the Wilson and Clark families were members of the somewhat messianic Catholic Apostolic Church (not to be confused with the Roman Catholic church), founded originally by Edward Irving in the 1820s.

Wilson’s employment in England (1901 census) had been as a telephone inspector. In Wellington in 1902, he’s listed as a ‘stenographer’. Edward and Margery had two children, in 1904 and 1906.

In 1911 the family sailed to Canada. Margery and the two children were on the Mārama, arriving in May 1911; presumably Edward was already there. In the 1911 census of Canada, Edward is living with his family in Sunnyside, Calgary, Alberta; listed again as a stenographer. His story gets murky after that.

Apparently, he abandoned his family in 1912. He never returned to New Zealand, though his family did. I understand that he has living descendants in New Zealand. Margery identified herself as a ‘widow’ in the 1920s (in Auckland), and was listed as ‘next of kin’ to her co-resident brother during World War One.

Wilson appears to have worked as a shipping clerk for the ‘merchant navy’ for around ten years from 1912; work that seems to have involved lots of travel, much of it no doubt in dangerous waters. He apparently had a major prophetic vision while in France, in the early 1920s. (His apostolic upbringing will have primed him for this.)

Nostradamus meets Rasputin meets Charles Manson meets Bert Potter

Edward Arthur Wilson restyled himself as Brother XII. He created the Aquarian Foundation in 1927, in the context of radical theosophy. In that time in the early-mid-1920s, he wrote many prognostations about the fate of the world. At that time – in the problematic remission phase of the 1914-1945 Great World War, albeit before modern social media – there was a substantial audience for alternative narratives, given the perilous reality of the then world order.

The story of Wilson’s aquarian cult – based at Cedar-by-the-Sea, just out of Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada – is well summarised in Fear, Distrust, and Black Magic, written in 2024 by Kristin D’Agostino for A-B Tech (Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College) in North Carolina, United States. (Follow the link to part one first: How a 1920’s Socialite Fell Under a False Prophet’s Spell; the focus here is on Mary Connally, Brother XII’s principal patron.) While Mary Connally was an heiress, most of her fellow aquarians were also from prosperous families, and many not young – contrast most of the 1960s’ aquarians) searching for some missing insights as to where the seemingly bankrupt world went wrong.

The Aquarian Foundation community existed in two phases, from 1927 to 1928, and 1928 to 1933. In 1928 there was an important court case in which the prosecutors, judge, chief witness and court gallery appear to have been mesmerised by Wilson. The case collapsed when chief witness Mary Connally gave Wilson a glowing testimony instead of the damning evidence anticipated.

In the second phase of the community, Mary Connally became a slave to Wilson and his new paramour and enforcer, Madame Z, aka Mabel Scottowe; aka Edith Mabel Rowbotham, a former schoolteacher. And the cult became increasingly obsessed with hoarding money.

It’s not for me to say much more – others have done that – other than to note that Wilson’s ‘death’ in Switzerland in 1934 was possibly faked, signed-off by a member of the Aquarian Foundation. (Though it would have been hard for a narcissist sociopath like him, if still alive, to have rendered himself completely invisible.) Madame Z later married a man called Edric John Douglas Agate in 1943. In the United States’ 1950 census they were living together in – Eugene, Oregon – as Murray D and Edith M Agate.

Other Material about Brother XII

De Courcy Island farm of notorious cult leader up for sale, 7 May 2021, Times and Colonist.

For Sale: The Former Home of B.C.’s Notorious Apocalypse Cult, 8 June 2021, Montecristo Magazine.

#177 Edward Arthur Wilson, 9 March 2026, BC Booklook.

XII Brother, ABC Bookworld.

5 things you probably didn’t know about the Gulf Islands, 11 Jan 2026, Vancouver is Awesome.

entry in Dictionary of Canadian Biography

The Aquarian Foundation (about 1990), by James A. Santucci, professor of Comparative Religion at California State University; and The Aquarian Foundation, 18 February 2024.

Secrets of Brother XII, episode of Expedition Unknown (S.4, Ep.10) Josh Gates, 28 Feb 2018

The Dream of Brother XII, CBC podcast by Moss, Jennifer, 22 March 2016

ENCORE: Searching for Brother XII—the story of Nanaimo’s infamous cult leader, CBC podcast by Moss, Jennifer, 29 August 2016

The collapsing birth rate becomes front-page news, and a long-foretold financial crash? The Hub predicts 2026, Howard Anglin, a doctoral student at Oxford University

Works by John Oliphant, including Brother XII: The Strange Odyssey of a 20th-century Prophet and His Quest for a New World, 2006, Twelfth House Press

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Keith Rankin (keith at rankin dot nz), trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand.

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/03/keith-rankin-analysis-a-black-sheep-to-rule-them-all/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alice Barratt, PhD Candidate, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University

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 white back, forked tail and – as we’ve just discovered – a very clever strategy to survive its extreme environment.

The white-backed swallow (Cheramoeca leucosterna) is a type of passerine – the largest group of birds, comprising 60% of all bird species.

Scientists have long thought these birds incapable of deep torpor – a controlled state of reduced body temperature that saves energy and has been found in many animals in the northern hemisphere, where winters are more severe.

But our new paper, published today in the journal Current Biology, shows otherwise.

Understanding how animals cope with extreme conditions

Animal physiologists have long seen the value of studying animals in extreme conditions to understand their survival strategies.

In the past, however, field instruments were cumbersome or delicate and studies were mostly limited to artificial conditions in the laboratory.

This was a problem for several reasons.

First, in captivity wild animals are often stressed and don’t tend to exhibit their full capabilities. Exposing captive wild animals to extreme conditions is also logistically difficult and an animal welfare concern.

But more recently, technological advances allow us to measure the physiological responses of animals when they are exposed to extreme conditions in the wild.

Tracking birds to their burrows

Biologging involves attaching electronic devices to animals that can record key traits such as movement, body temperature and energy expenditure. It is providing a fascinating window into the natural lives of animals.

Technological advances have meant these devices have become miniature in recent years. This has greatly expanded the species scientists can study in the wild and provides an exciting opportunity to challenge long held assumptions based on lab-based studies – including about torpor.

Our team set out to investigate the white-backed swallow, which has been the subject of some intriguing reports over the years.

For example, during cold and wet winter periods, observations as old as 1936 have reported finding the birds in their sandy burrows during the daytime that appeared in a torpor-like state: “inert, nestling into each other as if to escape from the bleak winter’s day”.

Over the winters of 2023 and 2024, we used miniature (400 milligrams) temperature sensing radio transmitters to study the thermal physiology of these swallows in Sturt National Park – the traditional lands of the Wongkumara, Wadigali, and Malyangapa peoples.

We tracked tagged birds to their burrows at night and set up autonomous data logging units nearby to record their body temperature data.

Following a tenuous radio signal on foot across the desert was spectacular on a clear starry night. But sometimes it was also tiring and intimidating.

After that, we trusted our data logging units to collect the steady radio pulses emanating from the resting birds. From these we obtained their body temperature, and therefore their potential use of torpor.

We had two major inland rain events in winter 2024, leading to local flooding. This meant we were unable to access our field site. So we waited it out in the local campground, hoping our trusty loggers were still recording data while enduring the unusually chilly nights.

An extraordinary discovery

As the land dried out, we returned to find something extraordinary.

During and after these extreme rain events, the birds remained in their burrows even during the daytime. And they entered deep and long bouts of torpor – far exceeding what passerine birds were thought capable of.

Such torpor is presumably crucial for these in-flight foragers to survive when wet and cold conditions suppress the activity of flying insects.

More generally, our discovery of torpor use by a passerine bird suggests that this strategy is not limited to hummingbirds, nightjars and their relatives.

Instead, it could be a more widespread adaptation for survival across the diversity of birds.

A new wave of discoveries

Our finding adds to a growing number of recent discoveries revealed by biologging about the thermal adaptations of birds and mammals when faced with extreme conditions.

In 2024, for example, we found that even the largest of bats, the flying foxes (Pteropus species), are capable of using torpor during cold winter conditions that pose a risk of starvation.

In contrast, during summer, when flying foxes can be exposed to extreme heat events, our biologging data has shown they employ controlled increases in body temperature. This adaptation reduces the costs of shedding heat and helps to avoid lethal dehydration.

These data are essential for us to understand how animals survive extreme weather events, which are becoming increasingly common and severe with a warming climate.

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The authors would like to acknowledge Justin Welbergen, Ben Moore and Anthony Hunt for their contribution to the research.

Alice Barratt receives funding from Western Sydney University, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment and the Australian Bird Study Association.

Christopher Turbill receives funding from the Australian Research Council, and the Australian Commonwealth and New South Wales government.

– ref. Tiny radio transmitters reveal a hidden survival tactic in birds – https://theconversation.com/tiny-radio-transmitters-reveal-a-hidden-survival-tactic-in-birds-274517

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/03/tiny-radio-transmitters-reveal-a-hidden-survival-tactic-in-birds-274517/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danusha Jayawardana, Research Fellow in Health Economics, Monash University

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 on a range of outcomes. This includes doing better at school and being more likely to be top managers when compared to those born later.

In our new study, we looked at what impact birth order might have on how children spend their time. Both on their own and with their parents.

This revealed differences in terms of screen use and time spent enriching their intellectual development.

Our research

In our study, we used survey data from around 5,500 Australian children aged two to 15. The data comes from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, a nationally representative survey.

This included detailed 24-hour diaries, which recorded how children spent their time from waking up to going to sleep. They specified if activities were done with parents or independently.

We grouped activities into “sleep”, “school time”, “enrichment activities”, “screen time” and “physical activities”.

Enrichment activities are outside of school activities that help intellectual development. For example, reading, homework, playing board games or learning a musical instrument.

We then compared the diaries of firstborn children to later-born children from different families born in the same year, living in the same neighbourhoods, with similar socioeconomic backgrounds. All families had two or three children.

There is no similar data (such as time use records over years) available on siblings within the same family to capture and compare what siblings were doing at the same age.

Other studies looking at different outcomes (such as academic achievement) have shown birth order comparisons within a family are extremely similar to birth order comparisons across different families, once you adjust for family size, as we have done in our study.

So, it is likely our results would be similar to actual sibling comparisons within a family.

Younger kids get more screens

When compared to firstborn children, second- and thirdborn children spend an extra nine and 14 minutes, respectively, per day having screen time.

While this may sound modest, it represents a 7–10% increase compared to the average daily screen time of firstborns. Over the course of a week it is between about one and 1.5 hours.

This extra screen time also comes at the cost of other activities. In particular, later-born children spent 11 to 18 minutes less per day on enrichment activities, an 11–20% reduction compared to older siblings in the study.

We found no consistent differences between older and younger siblings when it came to time spent on other activities, such as school, physical activity or sleep.

Looking across age groups, the effects are generally greater for 10–14-year-old children. This suggests early adolescence is a period where particular attention is needed.

To check whether these patterns extend beyond Australia, we repeated the analysis using time-use diaries from a sample of children in the United States. The results were similar.

Why is this happening?

One common explanation for differences between first and subsequent children is parental time. As families grow, parents have less time and attention to foster subsequent children’s development.

However, this may not be the whole story. Our study showed later-born children did spend less time on enrichment activities with their parents. But about half of the difference comes from later-born children spending less time on enrichment activities on their own.

Screen time shows a similar pattern. The increase among later-born children is largely explained by activities they do alone, rather than with parents or siblings.

So this also reflects differences in children’s own choices or opportunities, not just direct parental involvement. For example, a younger sibling may have more freedom to choose to play video games rather than do their homework.

Of course parenting may still play an important role here. Our study shows later-born children face fewer rules around screen use, such as limits on programs or time, and are less likely to feel their parents expect them to follow rules. This may in part reflect parents’ desire for fairness in allowing similar use of screens for siblings at any given time, rather than at specific ages.

What does this mean?

The differences we find may seem small on any given day.

But they can add up over time. As our 2024 study showed, spending more time on screens and less time on reading, homework or other learning activities can lead to gaps in academic skill development over childhood, as measured by lower NAPLAN test scores.

The increase in solo screen time for later-born children is particularly concerning, because it may expose children to inappropriate content online.

What can we do?

First, recognising later-born children on average spend more time on screens and less time on enrichment activities than firstborns can be helpful for informing parenting strategies.

Second, it shows spending quality time with later-born children, actively encouraging enrichment activities, and keeping consistent rules around screen time all matter.

Finally, this suggests broader policies, such as the social media limits for under 16s, could help equalise opportunities for later-born children to learn and grow.

Gawain Heckley receives funding from the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (dnr 2023-01128).

Nicole Black receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

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

– ref. Our study shows younger siblings spend more time on screens than big sisters and brothers – https://theconversation.com/our-study-shows-younger-siblings-spend-more-time-on-screens-than-big-sisters-and-brothers-273904

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/03/our-study-shows-younger-siblings-spend-more-time-on-screens-than-big-sisters-and-brothers-273904/

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 of researching the scheme – interviewing workers, employers, country liaison officers, trade union organisers, community volunteers and academics, as well as digging into the data on it – I didn’t encounter anyone who thought it was a bad idea.

But there were many calls for change to make it work better for everyone. My , published today, suggests where we could start.

Who benefits from PALM now?

PALM has short- and long-term streams. Under the short-term stream, operating since 2012, workers can stay for nine months to do seasonal jobs such as fruit picking.

The long-term stream, introduced in 2018, allows for a four-year stay. Most long-term workers are employed in meat processing.

PALM is widely credited with delivering a triple win.

The first win is for Pacific participants and their communities.

In 2024-25 PALM workers remitted A$450 million to their home countries, an average of $1,500 each per person per month. The money bought food, paid school fees, upgraded housing and financed small enterprises.

Benefits flow beyond immediate families. After working in an Australian abattoir, Devid John Suma returned to Vanuatu and invested $30,000 to supply clean drinking water to his remote village.

The second win is for Australia’s economy. PALM workers make a significant contribution to regional businesses that struggle to attract local workers, from farms to abattoirs.

The third win is that PALM advances Australia’s strategic interests, not least by providing a counter to China’s wooing of Pacific nations.

Pacific leaders might wish for more aid from Canberra and be frustrated by the government’s tepid action on climate change. But well-paid work is something Australia offers that China does not.

Persistent problems

Yet the wins of the PALM scheme have countervailing costs in the pain of separated families, loneliness and broken marriages.

PALM is dogged by reports of workers being abused, underpaid or housed in substandard, overpriced or overcrowded accommodation.

Thousands of PALM workers have quit their approved jobs, “disengaging” from the scheme. This breaches their visa conditions and leaves them vulnerable to exploitation.

Drifting from its original mission

PALM has profoundly changed migration between the Pacific and Australia.

It brings workers to Australia from countries that have seen minimal migration to Australia since Federation, despite their geographic proximity — particularly the Melanesian countries Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu that were sources of labour in the late 19th century, when indentured South Sea Islanders built Queensland’s plantation economy.

But the future of PALM is not guaranteed.

Some Pacific countries, including Papua New Guinea, would like more of their nationals engaged under the scheme, while others worry it creates workforce shortages and disrupts community life.

Participation peaked at 34,830 workers in September 2023 and was at 32,365 in November 2025. Numbers in the long-term stream are steady, but fewer short-term workers are being recruited as employers revert to using backpackers — a cheaper, less regulated workforce — for seasonal jobs.

So, PALM has drifted from its original mission of filling seasonal gaps in the rural economy through annual circular migration, to become a labour program for sectors like meat processing and aged care with a constant demand for workers.

In April 2022, three-quarters of all PALM workers were in the short-term stream and a quarter were long-term. Now, more than half of all PALM workers hold long-term visas.

How to make the scheme work better

The PALM scheme changes lives and communities in the Pacific and Australia, often for the better. But its problems must be addressed to realise its potential.

Australian employers will turn away from a scheme that is too bureaucratic, expensive or cumbersome. PALM’s future won’t be secured by burying it under layers of rules and reporting.

has ten recommendations to improve PALM. These include:

• making it easier for PALM workers to change jobs, rather than tying them to a single employer
• simplifying PALM scheme rules for employers
• regulating labour hire at the national level
• giving workers access to Medicare while they’re in Australia to stop them missing out on medical attention
• and reforming working holiday programs by phasing out the second and third visas offered to backpackers who do work like fruit picking in regional areas.

Australia’s interest in fostering Pacific development and rivalry with China are added reasons to limiting working holidays and expanding the PALM scheme instead.

PALM is a work in progress and will never be perfect. The scheme is shaped by the power differential between Australia and its Pacific partners. And there are tensions between three priorities: being a development program enhancing Pacific wellbeing, being a labour market program benefiting Australia’s economy, and serving a strategic purpose in Australia’s rivalry with China.

Yet when it operates well, PALM is far more than transactional.

Beyond wages earned, jobs filled and diplomatic points scored, it also fosters cultural exchange and personal engagement, binding the peoples of Australia and the region more fully into a “Pacific family”.

Peter Mares received funding from The Scanlon Foundation Research Institute to research and write “Improving PALM: Pacific Australia Labour Mobility”, but the views in this article are the views of the author alone and do not represent the position of the Scanlon Foundation. Peter Mares is a fellow at the Centre for Policy Development and a sessional moderator with Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership. He is a regular contributor to Inside Story magazine. He has also received past Australian Research Council funding.

– ref. Australia’s Pacific worker scheme is far from perfect – but we can make it better – https://theconversation.com/australias-pacific-worker-scheme-is-far-from-perfect-but-we-can-make-it-better-274618

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/03/australias-pacific-worker-scheme-is-far-from-perfect-but-we-can-make-it-better-274618/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grace Waye-Harris, Early Career Researcher in History, Adelaide University

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 capture imaginations.

While sex, power and public execution provide endless entertainment, if you ask me, the enduring popularity of the Tudors is down to one factor – their magnificent fashion.

Dress was serious business in Tudor England. Clothing was its own language with each textile, colour and style carrying a different meaning. This allowed people to display their identity, status, and even send political messages.

From the Elizabethan Ruff to Henry VIII’s codpiece, here are five Tudor fashions which should make a comeback.

1. The linen shift

Sounds like a boring place to start, but the linen shift was a staple in every Tudor wardrobe.

Linen was inexpensive, breathable and could be laundered daily. Contrary to popular belief, the Tudors were obsessed with cleanliness and hygiene. Linen absorbs sweat, bodily fluids and was believed to protect the skin from diseases such as the plague. Wearing and changing your linen shift daily was the best way to stay clean and protected from infection.

A fashionable trend of the Tudor period saw the collar on the linen shift become larger so it could be seen under the outer garments. A clean collar demonstrated that you could afford to change your shift and therefore had good hygiene.

You know what they say, cleanliness is close to godliness.

2. The ruff

If there is a single item of clothing that is most redolent of the Tudors, it’s the ruff.

The ruff was a pleated collar made from linen or lace and given its iconic stiff shape with starch. During the reign of Elizabeth I, large lace ruffs became an elaborate status symbol because they were difficult to set and impractical to wear which meant you had to have a lot of servants helping you.

For Elizabeth I, the ruff was a significant source of power. The queen’s opulent ruffs commanded deference and situated her as the ultimate object in any room. In Elizabeth’s court, people came to her, not the other way around.

Dior gave the ruff a modern twist in their 2025 Fall–Winter collection, so it looks like they are already making a comeback.

3. Statement sleeves

In the Tudor period, sleeves were a separate garment that were attached while getting dressed in the morning. This allowed the wearer to pair them with different outfits and play around with fabrics, colours and styles.

The most popular style was the trumpet sleeve. This sleeve was narrow at the top of the arm and dramatically expanded in a cone shape over the elbow. A second sleeve would then appear underneath at the forearm.

This gave any outfit a dramatic and voluminous appearance with layers of luxurious textiles. See how this beautiful design looked on a young Elizabeth I.

A modern take on statement sleeves would be a great way to spice up any outfit.

4. Decorative techniques

Tudor tailors used a range of decorative techniques when making clothes. Paning, pinking and cutwork were just some of the more elaborate modes of garment construction but the most common was slashing.

Slashing involved cutting small slits into outer garments of velvet to reveal an inner layer of white silk. The layering and contrast of different colours not only created a striking and vibrant image but showed off your ownership of expensive textiles.

You can see slashing on Henry VIII’s doublet (jacket) and sleeves in his famous portrait.

In 1991, this technique inspired Vivienne Westwood to produce the collection Cut and Slash, so it definitely has a place in the modern era.

5. The codpiece

Ok, this one is a bit of fun… but for Henry VIII the codpiece was no laughing matter. Starting out as a small triangular piece of material, by the early 16th century the codpiece had evolved into a padded, stiff and bejewelled item symbolic of virility and fertility.

Toxic masculinity was all the rage during the Tudor period, and Henry VIII was under immense pressure to maintain absolute control through his superior machismo.

As the king aged, his vigour waned and his failure to produce a male heir sent him into a crisis of masculinity. The display and exaggeration of his manhood through the codpiece was Henry’s only means of reasserting his masculine identity and fecundity.

Henry’s 1540 tournament armour gives a clear indication of just how exaggerated the codpiece became.

One thing is for sure, fashion in Tudor England was not a flippant pursuit. If the ever-enduring legacy of the Tudors can teach us anything, it’s that we should always dress to impress.

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

– ref. From statement sleeves to the codpiece: 5 fashions which should come back from Tudor England – https://theconversation.com/from-statement-sleeves-to-the-codpiece-5-fashions-which-should-come-back-from-tudor-england-271507

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/03/from-statement-sleeves-to-the-codpiece-5-fashions-which-should-come-back-from-tudor-england-271507/

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Henry, Associate Professor in Screen, Flinders University

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 access to social media – have sharpened debate about how far governments should go.

Despite past and current efforts – including a government inquiry shortly due to report its final findings – New Zealand arguably lags other developed countries in tackling a problem that is growing more serious and complex by the year.

In 2026, the question facing the government is whether to cautiously follow overseas models, or to use this moment to develop a response better suited to its own legal, social and cultural context.

What is online harm?

Online harm can take many forms, including exposure to illegal material, AI-driven racial bias, and the non-consensual sharing of intimate images. As Netsafe highlights, online abuse and harassment can unfold across social media, messaging apps, email and text, and often involves repeated or sustained behaviour.

New Zealand’s legislative response has developed gradually over the past decade. A major step was the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015, which introduced civil and criminal penalties for serious online abuse and established Netsafe as the approved agency for complaints and dispute resolution.

Since then, governments have attempted broader reform. In 2018, the Department of Internal Affairs launched a wide-ranging regulatory review, followed in 2021 by the Safer Online Services and Media Platforms review, which aimed to modernise online safety protections and oversight.

However, that process stalled and in May 2024 the review was terminated by Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden. A year later, the government launched a new inquiry into “the harm young New Zealanders encounter online”.

In the meantime, New Zealand’s fragmented and increasingly outdated regulatory framework is struggling to keep pace with fast-evolving digital risks.

What can NZ learn from other countries?

Many submissions to the government’s latest inquiry urged New Zealand to learn from overseas experience, while others noted that not all of those solutions would work at home.

InternetNZ argued that as a small and relatively late mover, New Zealand can “piggyback” on reforms in larger markets, so long as it ensured they reflect the country’s “unique local context, both socially and practically”. The Inclusive Aotearoa Collective – Tāhono similarly stressed the need to protect sovereignty.

Others argued New Zealand should draw on its reputation for innovation and develop its own culturally appropriate approaches.

Amokura Panoho of Pou Tangata Online Safety, for instance, called for updating the Harmful Digital Communications Act to address emerging AI harms such as deepfakes, and creating new Māori-led reporting pathways tailored for young Māori to seek help. Advocates argue this could allow New Zealand to anticipate future risks rather than chase them.

Australia’s move to ban social media for under-16s has loomed large over the inquiry. While France and the United Kingdom are considering similar bans, there are concerns blanket age restrictions can be blunt instruments and that young people often find ways around age-verification systems.

This international focus was reinforced in the inquiry’s interim report, which drew heavily on models from Australia, the UK, Ireland and the European Union. But submitters also pointed to other lessons, including the UK’s Internet Watch Foundation, South Korea’s online safety framework and California’s youth privacy laws.

A further complication is that many international reforms remain largely untested. Australia’s Online Safety Act is still being rolled out in phases, while the EU’s Digital Services Act only entered full force in early 2024. As a result, evidence about their effectiveness remains limited.

The case for a national regulator

One of the clearest options emerging from the inquiry is the creation of a national online safety regulator: a model already adopted in several comparable countries, including Australia, the UK and Ireland.

In the UK, communications regulator Ofcom oversees the Online Safety Act 2023, while Australia’s eSafety Commissioner was granted expanded powers under the Online Safety Act 2021.

A 2021 Department of Internal Affairs report concluded that a central regulator in New Zealand could streamline oversight, provide a single point of contact and improve enforcement. The inquiry’s interim report reached a similar conclusion, pointing to the benefits of coordinated regulation and proactive “safety by design” rules.

But reform has been slowed by political caution, particularly around concerns about freedom of expression. The government’s preference for light-touch regulation has left gaps – notably in addressing emerging harms such as sexualised deepfakes – prompting ACT MP Laura McClure’s member’s bill aimed at closing some of those loopholes.

The inquiry’s final report, and the government’s response to it, offer a rare opportunity to reset direction. The challenge will be to move beyond piecemeal reform and design a system capable of keeping pace with rapid technological change, while placing the voices of young people and Māori at its centre.

Claire Henry receives funding from the Australian Research Council as a DECRA Fellow. She previously received a research grant from InternetNZ (2018) for an unrelated project on “Preventing child sexual offending online through effective digital media.”

Michael S. Daubs was commissioned by the Department of Internal Affairs to co-author the 2021 report with Peter Thompson.

– ref. As Australia’s online harm crackdown reshapes the debate, NZ must find its own path – https://theconversation.com/as-australias-online-harm-crackdown-reshapes-the-debate-nz-must-find-its-own-path-274723

Evening Report: https://eveningreport.nz/2026/02/03/as-australias-online-harm-crackdown-reshapes-the-debate-nz-must-find-its-own-path-274723/