Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Emma Dunlop-Bennett as Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Pasifika).  

Dr Dunlop-Bennett, of Samoan (Sā Petāia, Sā Te’o, Sā Atoā) and Māori (Ngāti Maniapoto) descent, is a former New Zealand High Commissioner to South Africa and other African countries. Prior to becoming the AVC (Pasifika), she worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, where she held leadership roles in strategic policy and climate change. She joins Te Herenga Waka on Monday 1 September after 25 years working in foreign policy, diplomacy, and community development. A pōhiri and ‘ava ceremony will be held in the coming weeks to formally welcome Emma into her new role.
 
Dr Dunlop-Bennett’s PhD research was on Samoan perspectives on child wellbeing. It was the first research in New Zealand that positioned Pasifika children as experts on their wellbeing and created a space—grounded in Pacific research methods—for them and their parents to share their knowledge. She also holds a Master of Philosophy majoring in International Development, and a Bachelor of Science in Geography.

“My vision for Tangata Moana is simply this: that they recognise the brilliance within them and harness this to succeed,” she says. “I joined Te Herenga Waka because I firmly believe that this is the place where Tangata Moana can soar.”

With several family members as alumni or current students, Dr Dunlop-Bennett has strong connections to the University, and to tertiary education in Aotearoa. Her mother, Tagaloatele Professor Peggy Fairbairn-Dunlop, was the inaugural director of Te Herenga Waka’s Va’aomanu Pasifika in 2006 and received a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2019. All four of her sisters graduated from the University, as well as her eldest daughter Elena Bennett. Her second daughter Grace Bennett is currently completing her undergraduate degree, and her niece, Emele-Moa Makisi Setefano works at the University.  

“Success is not only possible—it is inevitable when Tangata Moana are empowered and supported. I’ve spent much of my career working alongside Pacific communities—both here and across the region—where I’ve seen the power of education to transform lives and open up new futures.”  

She has extensive experience leading projects and policy work throughout the Pacific and is looking forward to bringing her connections and wealth of experience to support and promote Pasifika education and research at the University. Dr Dunlop-Bennett was raised in Samoa, in the village of Tanugamanono, and has worked in Fiji and Vanuatu.

The AVC (Pasifika) is part of the Provost’s team and Provost, Professor Bryony James, is delighted to welcome Emma to the ‘aiga’. She says, “We are all looking forward to working with Emma and excited to have such an accomplished Pacific woman joining the team.  

“With Emma’s leadership we will be able to build on the remarkable legacy of Luamanuvao Dame Winnie Laban as we ensure Te Herenga Waka is a welcoming and aspirational home for Pacific staff and students.”

Just two weeks into the new vaping laws, 125 complaints poured in – and dozens of retailers were caught breaking the rules.

Forum calls for compulsory second language learning in school years seven to 10.

Language learning in New Zealand is at “crisis point” – with fewer students studying languages now than in the 1930s, a new report says.
 
Language Learning for New Zealand’s Future recommends that second language learning become a core requirement of the national curriculum from years seven to 10, with three to four hours of teaching every week.
 
The call for compulsory language learning comes as the Government undertakes a major curriculum refresh.
 
“Languages is the only one of eight learning areas in the curriculum that are not a core requirement. This education policy gap is costing New Zealand academically, culturally and economically,” says Juliet Kennedy, President of the New Zealand Association of Language Teachers.
 
The report’s findings mirror views expressed at a recent language learning forum in Auckland, which brought together more than 100 education leaders, language experts, teachers, business people, government officials and rangatahi. Key findings were that:

Enrolments in languages have been in long-term decline due to no mandate in the curriculum and languages not counting as literacy-endorsed University Entrance subjects.
New Zealand is out of step with the rest of the English-speaking world: Australia, Britain, United States, Canada, Singapore and South Africa all require language study, and in Europe, multilingualism is the norm.
The teaching workforce is at risk: while there is a strong pool of language teachers, many are being lost to other subjects or leaving the profession due to low demand.

 
“Language learning makes students smarter — boosting literacy, problem solving and academic performance across the board. It fosters cultural identity and belonging, and it strengthens New Zealand’s ability to succeed in global trade, diplomacy and business. We cannot afford to fall further behind,” Kennedy says.
 
Published at the launch of New Zealand Chinese Language Week, the report’s key recommendation is that second language learning should be compulsory for school years seven to 10. Other recommendations call for the development of multiple learning pathways, increased teacher supply, and embedding a comprehensive national languages policy.
 
“Strong government leadership and commitment to language teaching in New Zealand is an essential basis for change. The current curriculum refresh presents an opportunity to address this gap,” Kennedy says.
 
New Zealand Chinese Language Week Trust Chair Jo Coughlan said: “While the Trust has an emphasis on promoting Chinese languages, we were pleased to play a convening role in bringing together the broader community of language learning interests for the national forum and these recommendations. The learning of any language, including Pacific languages, will benefit individuals in their broader learning, and help New Zealand remain globally competitive and engaged.
 
“This report highlights the wider benefits of second language learning,” Coughlan says.

Source: Palestine Solidarity Network (PSNA)

The Palestine Solidarity Network has issued judicial review proceedings to challenge the New Zealand Superfund’s investments in companies helping to build or maintain illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territories.

The case will be heard in the Auckland High Court on 14/15 October. The named plaintiffs are PSNA Co-Chairs, Maher Nazzal and John Minto, and Rawaa Elhanafy.  The lawyers taking the case are Rodney Harrison KC and Frances Joychild KC. 

Mahar Nazzal says the Superfund has investments in companies identified by the United Nations Human Rights Council as providing services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of illegal settlements on Palestinian land in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The UN list was updated in 2023 and the updated database is here in a pdf.

Nazzal says the recent report by Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese ‘From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide’ says when Israel is committing genocide in Gaza many companies such Booking.Com and AirBnB are profiting from “occupation tourism” in Palestine.

“We look forward to the court having a thorough look at the Superfund’s investments and whether they are in line with their legal obligations” 

John Minto

Maher Nazzal

Co-Chairs

Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa

Case Summary

The New Zealand Superfund has investments in four companies listed in June 2023 by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

• AirBnB
• Booking.com
• Motorola
• Alstrom 

Each of these companies is deeply embedded in Israel’s illegal occupation. AirBnB and Booking.com are advertising homes for rent in illegal Israeli settlements. This encourages investors to purchase these properties and also encourages the building and expansion of these illegal settlements.

Motorola has a long lucrative history of providing technology and infrastructure to enable Israel’s mass surveillance of Palestinians across the Occupied Palestinian Territory as well as involvement in providing transport infrastructure which links the illegal settlements via racially segregated roads.

Why does this matter now?

In December 2022, Israel elected arguably its most extreme ethno-nationalist government ever.  It stepped up the brutal repression of Palestinians and made clear it would not countenance a meaningful peace plan or the formation of a Palestinian state.

The new government said its “top priority” was to push ahead with more illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

In the last week of June 2023, Israeli ministers announced plans to build more than 5,000 additional houses in these illegal settlements on Palestinian land. Further expansion of these settlements in the Occupied West Bank is taking place while the world is distracted with Israel’s ongoing mass killing and mass starvation of Palestinians in Gaza.

This “green light” to illegal Israeli settlers has resulted in a massive wave of settler attacks on Palestinians towns and villages with pogroms against the Palestinian populations – attacks which have been actively supported and assisted by the Israeli Defence Forces.

A very recent case was the killing of Awdah Hathaleen who was involved in the production of the Oscar Award winning documentary ‘No Other Land’.

Within the last two weeks Israel’s Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich has approved plans for another illegal Israeli settlement which would split occupied East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank – a move his office said would “bury” the idea of a Palestinian state.

The case has taken on renewed urgency with the July 2024 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, which found Israel’s occupation of the land it captured in the 1967 Six-day War is illegal and urged signatory countries to withdraw all “aid or assistance” to Israel in maintaining its illegal occupation.

On 18 September 2024 the United Nations General Assembly voted in support of the ICJ ruling (New Zealand supported the resolution) which includes the demand:

(c) To implement sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, against natural and legal persons engaged in the maintenance of Israel’s unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in relation to settler violence;

A further United Nations General Assembly resolution (Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine) was passed in November 2024 which also called for states

“Not to render aid or assistance to illegal settlement activities”

New data shows a concerning increase in deaths and hospitalisations from stimulant drugs like methamphetamine and cocaine amid a recent surge in consumption.

The data is revealed in a new report from the NZ Drug Foundation, Drug overdoses in Aotearoa 2025, released to coincide with International Overdose Awareness Day.

The report also shows a change in the make-up of drugs implicated in overdose fatalities, including the first officially recorded fatalities involving nitazenes, a group of opioids more potent than fentanyl.

Drug Foundation Executive Director Sarah Helm says that while the increase in stimulant harm was expected given a sharp uptick in cocaine and methamphetamine use, she warns that this may just be the beginning.

“This is a very worrying trend, even though it’s one we’ve been expecting,” she says.  

“Given what we know about the sustained higher levels of methamphetamine consumption, we fear that this may only be the beginning of a serious spike in hospitalisations and deaths from stimulants.”

Helm says people may be unfamiliar with what a stimulant overdose (sometimes called overamping) looks like or how they should respond to one. She urges people who are using stimulants to learn the signs at thelevel.org.nz

The report shows a troubling increase in deaths from novel substances, with nitazenes (a family of potent synthetic opioids) and bromazolam (a novel black-market benzodiazepine) appearing in official drug death data for the first time.

29 August 2025 – Meridian Energy Limited (Meridian) and Nova Energy Limited (Nova) have completed agreements to establish a 50-50 joint venture to build and operate the 400MW Te Rahui solar farm at Rangitāiki near Taupō. The joint venture has also secured $300 million in project financing through ANZ for the first 200MW phase of the project.

Project offtake will be shared 50-50 by way of a power purchase agreement with Meridian for 100% of the offtake and a contract for difference with Nova for 50%.

Nova received resource consent for Te Rahui in April 2024. When completed, both phases will produce enough electricity to power around 100,000 homes. First power on phase one is expected in mid-2026, with full power in mid-2027. Neither party has yet received a financial investment decision for stage two (200MW), but both parties are working to progress stage two as soon as possible.

Meridian Chief Executive Mike Roan says the joint venture is a great example of how collaboration can move big projects forward for the benefit of electricity users.

“Te Rahui is a big undertaking and sharing the investment and offtake makes strong commercial sense for both parties, while the project will also benefit home and business customers by further strengthening security of supply.”

“It’s a real win-win and we’re delighted to have this opportunity to partner with Nova on Te Rahui,” says Mike Roan.

Te Rahui, along with four consents secured by Meridian in the past 12 months, shows the company is gathering pace in its goal to commence seven new projects by 2030, with the Harapaki Wind Farm and Ruakākā BESS already delivered. Also consented are a BESS in the Manawatū, a wind farm at Mount Munro in the Wairarapa, a solar farm to sit alongside the BESS at Ruakākā and the re-powering of the Te Rere Hau wind farm. Construction is underway on the Ruakākā Solar Farm and the Mount Munro Wind Farm has progressed to detailed design.

“We are doing our share of the heavy lifting to secure New Zealand’s energy future. Having invested more than $1 billion in the past five years, we have a further $2 billion planned for investment over the next three years. These projects will add over 1,000MW of new capacity, a five percent increase to the electricity system,” says Mike Roan.

“Our contribution to capacity growth goes even further. Through agreements like this one with Nova and the power purchase agreement we have with Harmony Energy / First Renewables for their 150MW Tauhei Solar Farm in the Waikato, Meridian is also supporting other developers.”

“All of the work underway across the sector will help make New Zealand’s electricity system more resilient and affordable. I believe it will also enable future economic prosperity. With one of the most renewable grids in the world, New Zealand can take advantage of the opportunity to create and market more green products internationally.”

Meridian and Nova originally announced their intention to form a joint venture for Te Rahui in December 2024.

The parties have awarded construction and initial operations and maintenance contracts to Beon Energy, who specialise in delivering renewable energy projects and have an extensive track record in Australia and New Zealand.