Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

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Health Status – Expansion of mental health crisis support services welcomed

Source: Te Hiringa Mahara – Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission

Te Hiringa Mahara – Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission welcomes investment in crisis response services announced today by Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey.
The substantial funding package will improve access to support for people in mental health and substance use crisis. The announcement was made at the inaugural Hauora Hinengaro: He ara tūroa conference that Te Hiringa Mahara is co-hosting with TheMHS in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
The additional funding for will provide for a range of crisis support services. Funding an 40 additional frontline clinical staff for crisis assessment and treatment is a significant increase, along with additional initiatives to boost access to peer support.
“The investment will mean more people will get safe and welcoming support at a critical time. This is a step in the right direction. We look forward to seeing where support will be extended to, and the timeframes. In our monitoring role we will keep a close eye on this,” Te Hiringa Mahara CE Karen Orsborn said.
“We know that peer workers and cultural workforces can play a bigger role drawing on their lived experience. This is something we have been calling for so we are very pleased to see access to peer services is being expanded”.
The report released yesterday by Te Hiringa Mahara – Ururpare mōrearea: Crisis responses monitoring report – shows people seeking help and their whānau find current crisis services hard to navigate. We are calling for a nationally cohesive system to be developed by June 2027.
“A cohesive national approach will set out what is needed and where to supplement services. The challenge is to connect services up for people who need it wherever they live. This includes crisis lines which are under pressure,” Ms Orsborn said.
“The current system doesn’t always work well, particularly for Māori, young people or those living rurally, so this needs to remain a real focus.”
Note
The new  Ururpare mōrearea: Crisis responses monitoring report is available online: www.mhwc.govt.nz 
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Business Sector – Rise in unemployment underscores fragile recovery, says EMA

Source: EMA

The Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) says the slight rise in unemployment to 5.3% for the September quarter is disappointing but not unexpected and reflects the ongoing fragility in the business environment.
Alan McDonald, Head of Advocacy at the EMA, says the increase aligns with what the EMA is hearing from its members across the country.
“It’s no surprise the rate has edged up; it’s been widely predicted,” says McDonald. “While there has been a recent lift in business confidence, headlines like this tend to knock it back down. It’s a reminder of how fragile the recovery still is.”
The EMA says the data point to ongoing caution among employers, with some sectors holding back on investment and hiring due to soft demand and economic uncertainty.
“We’re seeing record numbers of job seekers, and nearly 13% of these are NEETs (18- to 24-year-olds who are not in employment, education, or training),” says McDonald.
“That’s a real concern, but we’re encouraged by the approach Minister Upston and the Ministry for Social Development are taking in working more closely with employers and focusing on training and recruitment. That’s the right direction.”
Despite the rise in unemployment, the EMA believes there are signs of improvement that may begin to show in future data.
“Unemployment is a lag indicator, and while this result is disappointing, we’re hopeful it marks the peak,” says McDonald. 
“We’re starting to see some hints of positive movement but it will take time before that’s reflected in hiring intentions.
“It’s also likely that a number of those planning on leaving school and other institutions may be staying a bit longer, which may have an upside in those people being better prepared to enter the workforce and having slightly higher skill levels.
“Alongside economic indicators, several key legislative reforms are underway, including changes to the RMA, infrastructure, immigration, employment law, and vocational education. 
“While these reforms will take time to deliver results, they are important steps towards strengthening the business environment and supporting future growth.”
The EMA says what businesses need most now is a period of stability.
“When the unemployment numbers do start to turn, we’d expect to see other economic indicators follow suit,” says McDonald.
“Even modest growth would be welcome, but what we really need is stability. That’s the message we’re hearing loud and clear from our members.”
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Health – Upper Hutt a Canary in the Coal Mine for General Practice, says GenPro

Source: General Practice Owners Association (GenPro)

The collapse of after-hours and emergency care in Upper Hutt is a warning sign for the rest of New Zealand unless the underlying problems facing general practice are urgently addressed, says the General Practice Owners Association (GenPro).

“The situation in Upper Hutt as reported by media is the canary in the coal mine for general practice,” says Dr Angus Chambers, Chair of GenPro. The Lower North Island city of 47,500 people currently has no hospital, no urgent or after-hours medical service, and a severe shortage of GPs.

Residents are forced to travel to already overcrowded emergency departments in Lower Hutt for even basic treatments.
 
“Upper Hutt residents are bearing the brunt of a national healthcare crisis,” Dr Chambers says. “The same lack of access to urgent and after-hours care is now emerging across New Zealand.”

Daytime GP appointments are increasingly difficult to secure, pushing up demand for urgent care. Yet providing urgent and after-hours services is becoming financially and operationally unsustainable due to:

Unsociable working hours and difficulty attracting staff;
Ongoing GP shortages and burnout;
Competition from heavily subsidised telehealth providers.

“Providing urgent care has become unviable for many clinics,” says Dr Chambers. “At the heart of the problem is a funding model that simply doesn’t reflect the real cost of running general practice and after-hours services.”

He warns that too few doctors are choosing to train or stay in general practice. Many are retiring early or moving overseas, leading to closures and cutbacks nationwide — as seen in Upper Hutt in 2022 when the local after-hours clinic shut its doors.

Dr Chambers acknowledges recent steps by the Government, including increased patient subsidies, modernising the funding model, and new funding for urgent and after-hours services.

“These are positive moves,” he says, “but they’re not enough to reverse years of underinvestment. Without bold, sustained action, we’ll see more communities facing the same crisis as Upper Hutt.”

“Telehealth is part of the solution, but not a panacea,” Dr Chambers notes. “Patients overwhelmingly prefer face-to-face consultations — and for many conditions, especially involving young children, that’s what provides the safest and most effective care.”
 
GenPro is urging the Government to increase funding for both accident-related care under ACC and general health care under Te Whatu Ora, ensuring it reflects the true costs of running modern general practices and urgent care.

“Adequate, sustainable funding will help retain and attract the GPs New Zealand desperately needs,” says Dr Chambers. “If we don’t act now, Upper Hutt won’t be the last community to have restricted local health care.”

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Economy – Financial stability risks remain heightened – Reserve Bank of NZ

Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand

5 November 2025 – “Financial stability risks remain higher than in recent years”, says Reserve Bank Governor Christian Hawkesby in releasing the Financial Stability Report this morning.

Fragmentation of global trade and finance, and ongoing uncertainty continue to present risks. Elevated global equity valuations, in areas such as tech stocks, and growing government debt levels in many advanced economies are also vulnerabilities. As a small open economy, New Zealand would be exposed to any impacts on global economic activity or volatility in financial markets.

“Underperformance in parts of the New Zealand economy such as retail and hospitality is creating challenging conditions for households and businesses. Loan defaults have picked up, although they remain low compared to during the Global Financial Crisis. Lower interest rates and high commodity prices are supporting some sectors, including agriculture,” explains Mr Hawkesby.

Banks remain well placed to manage the current uncertainty. Strong lending standards, including loan-to-value limits, have helped to restrict the amount of high-risk lending in the system. As demonstrated by our recent stress test, capital buffers would allow banks to cope with a significant worsening of the economy, while continuing to provide credit to support any recovery.

“To promote a resilient financial system that balances stability and depositor protection with competition and efficiency, we are currently assessing feedback on proposals for key capital settings and getting input from international experts. We intend to announce a decision in December.

“We are also closely monitoring impacts from the introduction of the Depositor Compensation Scheme in July. Some non-bank deposit takers have seen deposit inflows as customers spread their money to maximise coverage and returns,” Mr Hawkesby said.

In the insurance sector, property insurers have benefited from relatively few significant claims events and improved conditions in global reinsurance markets.

Health insurers, however, are facing significant growth in claims costs. This is resulting in operating losses and driving up customer premiums, as insurers look to restore margins.

“Results from our 2024 Cyber Capability survey show that regulated entities report they are generally aligned to our guidance on cyber resilience. However, there is room for improvement, with cyber and operational risks remaining focus areas of our supervisory work,” Mr Hawkesby said.

More information

November 2025 Financial Stability Report: https://govt.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bd316aa7ee4f5679c56377819&id=a359d486cc&e=f3c68946f8

Reserve Bank to ease LVR restrictions: https://govt.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bd316aa7ee4f5679c56377819&id=aeb7f765d7&e=f3c68946f8

See our recent bulletin outlining findings from our 2025 Bank Stress Test: https://govt.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bd316aa7ee4f5679c56377819&id=b8c8906040&e=f3c68946f8

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Save the Children – Crimes against children in conflict surged 30% in 2024 to worst ever level

Source: Save the Children

Children are being killed, maimed, sexually assaulted and abducted in record numbers in conflict zones, with a new Save the Children report revealing a 30% jump in verified grave violations against children in conflict in 2024 [1].
The report showed an unprecedented 41,763 such abuses against children in conflict last year, a 30% increase from 2023-the previous highest year since records began-and about 70% more than in 2022 [2].
More than half of the violations occurred in four places-the occupied Palestinian territory, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria and Somalia.
This surge in violations is unfolding against a backdrop of unprecedented conflict exposure, with record number of 520 million children living in active conflict zones in 2024-or over one in five globally-and the largest number of state-based conflicts since the end of World War II [3]. While the number of children living in conflict zones has grown by 60% since 2010, the number of verified grave violations has surged by 373%, showing that conflicts are not only more frequent, they are also far deadlier and more brutal for children, said Save the Children
The report questions the world’s approach to security, highlighting that less than 2% of global security spending goes to peacebuilding or peacekeeping, despite record-high military budgets. These damning figures show that global focus on military and state security has failed to protect children from the gravest forms of harm, said Save the Children.
More than 11% of the earth’s land surface was within a 50 km radius of a conflict event – the highest share ever recorded-with the number of recorded conflict events globally rising to nearly 27,000 in 2024 from 24,000 in 2023. Africa now has both the highest number and share of children living in conflict zones, with 218 million affected-32.6% of the region’s child population-the share surpassing the Middle East for the first time since 2007 [3].
On average, 78 children a day in conflict zones faced grave violations-or more than seven soccer teams worth of children-as well as being exposed to attacks on schools, hospitals, and with armed forces and groups blocking humanitarian assistance [4].
The report Stop the War on Children: Security for whom? analyzed the number of verified grave violations against children in conflict since such records began, with the crimes including killing, maiming and abduction, sexual violence, recruitment into armed groups, attacks on schools and hospitals, and denial of humanitarian access to children. Since reporting started in 2005, more than 400,000 grave violations against children in conflict in 33 countries around the world have been verified, with almost 160,000 children killed or maimed, and more than 100,000 children recruited and used by armed forces and groups.
Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children International, said:
“This damning report is more than facts and figures. It’s about Ali- who had to flee northern Gaza with his seven siblings and is so severely malnourished that he has developed osteomalacia or “soft bone disease”, leaving him unable to move or walk. It’s about Bahati-, 12, whose school in eastern DRC was attacked and he was forced to walk for two days with bullets flying overhead. It’s about the girls and boys around the world who are living and breathing terror, pain, grief, hunger and suffering.
“The world is at a critical juncture. Armed conflict is surging, and grave violations against children have reached record highs. At the same time, the humanitarian system and the United Nations are on their knees. While the future shape of these institutions remains uncertain, one principle must guide their transformation: children must be at the center.
“True security isn’t about weapons or walls. It’s about whether children are safe, learning, and free from fear.
“States must act decisively to prevent conflict and promote peace, protect children, ensure accountability and meaningfully listen to and involve children.”
Gudrun Østby, Research Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, said:
“Our estimates show that the number of children living in conflict zones reached a record high last year: 520 million – more than one in five worldwide. With unprecedented numbers of children at risk – and aid budgets under severe pressure – the need to protect children caught in conflict has never been more urgent. Behind every number is a child whose safety, education and future are at risk.”
“Africa is now the continent with both the highest number and the highest share of children living in conflict zones. We must ensure that children everywhere – no matter where they are born – are protected from the devastating impacts of war.”
Save the Children is calling on states to uphold international humanitarian law, ensure safe humanitarian access, scale up targeted funding for children in emergencies, and endorse and implement key treaties and declarations that safeguard children and education in war zones.
They must develop national strategies for peace, integrate peace education, and address root causes of conflict. And they must urgently ensure accountability for violations against children by strengthening international and national accountability mechanisms, supporting the UN CAAC agenda, and advocating for impartial listing of perpetrators. Finally, children’s voices must be heard in the global, regional and national forums on issues shaping their futures.
The case studies used in the report:
NOTES:
  • [2] Analysis of the 2025 UN annual report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict (CAAC), based on data reported and verified in 2024. The analysis also draws on previous Save the Children mapping of the number of grave violations in the 2005-24 CAAC reports. The CAAC report tracks military use of schools and hospitals, but does not record them as grave violations. In this report, military use of schools and hospitals are also considered grave violations. The verified incidents of use is therefore added to the ‘attacks on schools and hospitals’ category of grave violations. This methodology is chosen to give a fuller picture of the harm experienced by children in each country context.
  • [3] Updated analysis on the number and share of children living in conflict zones conducted by the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). The core dataset used to map conflict patterns in this report is the Uppsala Conflict Data Program’s Georeferenced Event Data Set (UCDP GED) until 2024. To estimate the number of children living in conflict areas, and populations more generally, PRIO cross-referenced the conflict data with population data from the Gridded Population of the World (GPW) and from the UN World Population Prospects. PRIO uses UCDP’s definition of armed conflict: ‘armed force used by an organized actor against another organized actor, or against civilians, resulting in at least 25 battle-related deaths in one calendar year’. A ‘conflict zone’ is defined as an area within 50km of where one or more conflict incidents take place in a given year, within the borders of a country.
  • [4] The UN Security Council has identified six grave violations against children in situations of armed conflict: killing and maiming of children; recruitment or use of children by armed forces and groups; sexual violence against children; abduction of children; attacks against schools and hospitals; and denial of humanitarian access for children. These grave violations were defined on the basis of their egregious nature and their severe impact on children’s wellbeing. In addition to the six violations, the UN Special Rapporteur on Children and Armed Conflict has verified cases of detention of children since 2012 and presented them in their annual report. 
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Health Appointments: Lack of representation a slap in the face for nurses

Source: New Zealand Nurses Organisation

The Minister of Health’s failure to appoint a nurse to the new Primary Care Advisory Group is an insult to nurses, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO says.
Simeon Brown has announced appointments to the advisory group set up to provide specialist advice on the future of primary health care.
NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says the first-person patients and whānau often deal with in primary health care is a nurse.
“Nurses are not only often the first point of contact people have in primary health care, they are the professionals who advocate for the needs of their patients.
“The appointment of six doctors, a pharmacist and a professional director – but no nurses – is a slap in the face for nurses who are the backbone of primary health care in Aotearoa.
“It is omitting patient advocates, despite Simeon Brown telling the Royal New Zealand College of GPs in July the advisory group is ‘about partnership – putting patients first by ensuring those who deliver care have a real voice in shaping the future of primary care’,” Kerri Nuku says.
The advisory group also lacks representation by Māori health care practitioners or leaders.
“By ignoring the voice of Māori, the advisory group is destined to perpetuate a broken system by failing to address health inequities which cost Māori years of their lives and the country more financially in the long term.
“The Minister needs to tell the public what criteria he used to select this advisory group,” Kerri Nuku says.
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Education and Politics – Minister Caves to Extremists – Principals Fed

Source: NZ Principals Federation

As they grapple with major curriculum changes and changes to the Teaching Council, school principals woke this morning to learn that the Minister plans to remove all Te Tiriti o Waitangi responsibilities from School Boards.
“Schools and their Boards have enthusiastically embraced their obligations to enact Te Tiriti o Waitangi, because it is a positive and normal action, in line with all other indigenous cultures of the world,” said Leanne Otene, President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF).
“What the Minister has done today is to take an extreme, far right position which is not compatible with where Aotearoa New Zealand society is headed,” said Otene.
“Countries like Australia, Canada, Ireland, Wales and Greenland look up to Aotearoa New Zealand schools as leaders in reviving indigenous language and culture, so this move puts us completely out of step as global leaders,” said Otene.
“Our approach to enacting te Tiriti o Waitangi has helped create school cultures in which our tamariki see themselves reflected every day, and in which their language and culture is valued and respected,” said Otene.
“Our school Boards are proud of the progress we have made as a nation, towards normalising biculturalism, as was the intention of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. They have upheld their Tangata Tiriti obligations with respect and dignity for the betterment of our whole society,” said Otene.
“All schools are self-managing schools, and Boards can continue to prioritise their commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. For the sake of our future tamariki, we encourage them to do so,” said Otene. 
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Environment – KASM appalled at government plans to change Fast-Track Act

Source: Kiwis Against Seabed Mining (KASM)

Reaction from Cindy Baxter, chair, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, reaction to the government's announced plans to change the Fast Track Approvals Act.

“This is a fundamental undermining of democracy.

“On behalf of tens of thousands of Kiwis, we have opposed destructive seabed mining for 20 years.  The idea that we are ‘stalling progress’ simply because we may appeal is absurd. The Government wants to lock the public out entirely, but the EPA panels are doing their job thoroughly, despite the constraints already placed on them.”

“Wannabe seabed miners Trans Tasman Resources knows its application is full of holes: it hasn't done its homework. It needs Shane Jones to intervene in order to get this destructive project over the line.”

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Education and Politics – Minister’s Teaching Council move undermines profession

Source: NZ Principals Federation

The Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand is the independent professional body for schoolteachers, and like all other professional bodies such as the Medical Association or Law Society, is responsible for setting teachers’ standards, registration criteria, code of conduct, advocating for the profession and dealing with complaints and disciplinary matters.
“Education Minister Stanford now wants to remove the Teaching Council’s independence and undermine teachers’ professionalism by shifting the roles of setting standards, registration criteria and the code of conduct, to the Ministry of Education and shifting the balance of power within the Council’s membership, to ministerial appointees,” said Leanne Otene, President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF).
“This action completely undermines our teaching profession and is unprecedented political interference,” said Otene.
“We are fast losing all confidence in Minister Stanford who has not consulted with us on any of her significant recent moves on curriculum, Board responsibilities for enacting Te Tiriti o Waitangi, or this latest move on the Teaching Council,” she said.
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Property Values – New rating valuations on the way for Dunedin City – QV

Source: Quality Valuation (QV)

Dunedin City property owners will soon receive new three-yearly rating valuations by post.

Updated valuations have been prepared for all 57,395 properties in the district by independent valuers Quotable Value (QV) on behalf of Dunedin City Council. They reflect the likely price a property would have sold for on 1 June 2025, excluding chattels.

The total rateable value for the district is now $48,862 billion, down 0.1%, with the land value of those properties now $24,472 billion, a decrease of 4.8%.This reflects a downturn in the market since the district’s last revaluation on 1 July 2022.

Residential properties
Following the nationwide peak of late 2021, Dunedin’s residential home values began to decrease during 2022, bottoming out in mid-2023, with values declining by approximately 6% during that period.

Since then, there’s been a slight recovery, with the market remaining relatively flat, decreasing by less than 1% in the 12 months to the end of June. Some downward pressure remained at the new rating revaluation effective date of 1 June 2025, with August QV House Price Index data showing an average further -0.7% change in the three months after 1 June.

The most active part of the market is first-home buyers, driven by the sub-$600,000 segment. Investors have slowly returned on the back of increasing rents.

Listings rose in late 2024 but began to decline from March 2025. Sales volumes are up 15.6% on the same period in 2024. Overall, we consider the market to be entering a stable period of supply and demand.

Overall, residential values decreased by an average of -2.63% from July 1 2022 to June 1 2025. The average home value is now $664,651, while the corresponding average land value has decreased by 6.37% to $340,650.

“Property values have remained relatively stable within Dunedin City over the past three years and values have generally had minimal changes since the 2022 rating revaluation,” said QV Urban Valuations Manager, Tim Gibson.

“Properties that are in good condition, and modern dwellings, are seeing more demand and growth than the average property in Dunedin. While poorly maintained or more dated properties are likely to have seen larger decreases,” he said.

“Land value changes were also varied, with increases in areas where townhouse development is still occurring and in prime locations such as Māori Hill, Roslyn, and St Clair. Conversely, areas like South Dunedin and some particularly steep-contour locations saw greater-than-average reductions,” Mr Gibson said.
Lifestyle Properties
The lifestyle market has largely mirrored the residential market, with capital value (CV) decreases of 5 to 10% relative to 2022 levels, and values over the past 18 months have remained steady. Quality modern properties remain sought after, although with longer marketing periods. Older properties requiring maintenance and modernisation are being discounted by purchasers in line with building costs.

The lifestyle vacant-land market has been subdued in recent years, with very low building activity. By extension, there is minimal appetite for new lifestyle developments and subdivisions. The cost of earthworks and service connections is also a key factor. The average capital value of an improved lifestyle property has decreased by 4.5% to $1,102,378, while the corresponding land value for a lifestyle property decreased by 5.7% to $658,385.
Commercial and Industrial Properties
There are 2,676 commercial and industrial assessments within Dunedin City, with commercial and industrial property capital values showing average increases of 1.20% and 4.30% respectively since QV’s last revaluation in 2022. During the same period, land values increased by an average of 1.70% for commercial and 2.0% for industrial, compared to their 2022 land values. The Central Business District retail and office sector has experienced higher vacancy levels, along with a higher Official Cash Rate than in 2022. This has led to higher-than-expected yields for investors and minimal rental growth. Overall, this has resulted in a slight decrease in commercial capital values of -1.50% and land values of -2.0%.

Suburban commercial properties are faring better, with minimal vacancies and stronger rental growth observed from a lower base level. The greatest increases in capital values were noted in Mosgiel (+12.3%) and Green Island (+14.0%).

Industrial property remains investors’ preferred choice, with some strong sales for development sites noted along Hillside Road and good sales in Dukes Road North showing yields of 6.25%–6.50%. Sales volumes overall have been at lower levels than during the 2022 revaluation period.
Pastoral and Dairy Properties
Pastoral and dairy property values remain close to 2022 levels with minimal change. Low sales volumes, high-cost structures, and fluctuating commodity prices have been key factors over the past three years. Combined with ongoing legislative uncertainty, the market has not seen value growth.
Throughout 2025, rural confidence improved with higher commodity prices; however, this has not yet translated into increases in property sale prices. A key reason is the elevated cost of livestock in going-concern purchases, and farmers are acutely aware that commodity prices can drop as rapidly as they have risen.
What are rating valuations?
Rating valuations are usually carried out on all New Zealand properties every three years to help local councils assess rates for the following three-year period. They are not intended for other purposes, such as raising finance with banks or as insurance valuations.

They reflect the likely selling price of a property at the effective revaluation date, which was 1 June 2025, excluding the value of chattels. Any market changes since that time will not be included in the new rating valuations, which often means a sale price achieved today will be different from the new rating valuation.

Rating valuations are calculated using a detailed process that uses all relevant property sales in the area. A large number of properties will also be physically assessed, particularly those that have been issued building consents in the last three years.

The updated rating valuations are then independently audited by the Office of the Valuer General to ensure they meet rigorous quality standards, before the new rating valuations are confirmed and posted to property owners.
New rating values will be posted to property owners after 29 October 2025. If owners do not agree with their rating valuation, they may object by 5 December 2025.

If you’d like more information on rating valuations, head to www.qv.co.nz/about/about-rating-valuations/#, or for details on how to object to your new rating valuation, go to www.qv.co.nz/services/rating-valuations/object-rating/