Source: PSA
Environment – Have your say on application for new herbicide – EPA
Source: Environmental Protection Authority
BusinessNZ – Supermarket ‘express lane’ has broader appeal
Source: BusinessNZ
Auckland News – Supplier diversity excellence recognised in Aotearoa, New Zealand
Source: Auckland Council
Amotai, an Auckland Council-led national supplier diversity facilitator, celebrated its annual Supplier Diversity Awards on 26 August 2025, recognising standouts Independent Traffic Control, McConnell Dowell and Ministry of Education in three categories: Supplier of the Year, Buyer of the Year and Supplier Advocate of the Year.
Co-Founder and esteemed Manukura for Amotai Anna-Jane Edwards says she’s proud to witness the continued growth of Amotai and finds this year’s theme ‘Strengthening Our Commitment’ particularly fitting.
“Amotai was born in 2018 after recognising the lack of diversity within Auckland Council’s own supply chain. Since inception, we’ve only gone from strength to strength – we’re delighted to have celebrated our seventh Summit event and our second Supplier Diversity Awards this year.
“The theme aims to inspire and demonstrate the resilience of the supplier diversity movement in Aotearoa. We hope to continue this momentum well into the future, recognising champions in this space along the way and learning from overseas best practices, while uplifting Māori and Pasifika communities here in Aotearoa,” adds Anna-Jane.
Auckland Council’s Chief Executive Phil Wilson says Amotai continues to live up to its name and deliver for under-represented communities.
“Amotai means the swell in the tide; a tide that can carry all waka to new horizons, and its efforts to date have been doing just that, by connecting buyers and suppliers to build a stronger, more inclusive economy and future for all.
“It’s great to see sold-out events at both the Navigate Summit and Supplier Diversity Awards this year – we’re continually inspired by the winners and wish them all a warm congratulations,” says Mr Wilson.
For the second consecutive year, Navigate Summit hosted an international delegation representing the United States, Canada and Australia. This year also marked the launch of a partnership with Auckland University, which aims to increase research and understanding about the impact of supplier diversity in Aotearoa, growing a body of evidence around the economy of mana in action through Māori and Pasifika enterprises.
The Amotai Supplier Diversity Awards 2025 finalists and winners are as follows:
Supplier of the Year
ARC Asbestos Removal & Demolition
Independent Traffic Control (iTraffic) (winner)
Tito Group
Buyer of the Year
Air New Zealand
Downer
GHD
McConnell Dowell (winner)
Supplier Advocate of the Year
Adam Brown – JFC Ltd
Junior Ioane – Ministry of Education New Zealand (winner)
Megan McNay – Downer
Roslyn Pere-Morris – Auckland Council
About Amotai
Amotai connects public, private and not-for-profit sector buyers across Aotearoa and Australia with Māori and Pasifika-owned suppliers with the aim to unlock opportunities for innovation, growth and resilience on both sides, supporting participating parties to positively impact communities through their procurement processes.
University Research – Abused women at increased risk of serious illness – UoA
New research finds women who suffered childhood sexual abuse and multiple types of intimate partner violence were more likely to be hospitalised with diseases. Cancel Done
New research finds women who have experienced interpersonal violence and abuse are 1.6 times more likely to visit hospital with cancer and almost three times as likely to be hospitalised for respiratory diseases. See the Scandinavian Journal of Public Health.
About two-thirds of New Zealand women have experienced violence or abuse over the course of their lives.
These women are also:
twice as likely to be hospitalised for pregnancy complications
1.6 more likely to be hospitalised for digestive disorders, and
1.5 times more likely to be hospitalised for injuries (not necessarily resulting directly from the violence).
Experiences of childhood sexual abuse and multiple types of intimate partner violence were strongly associated with hospitalisation for these diseases.
“We are talking about a range of diseases that are serious enough to require hospital-level treatment,” says lead author Professor Janet Fanslow from the University of Auckland’s School of Population Health.
“Results also signal that we need to get serious about violence prevention, because the experience of violence is a cost to our health system. We know the country is struggling to pay for health services. So, supporting people to have healthy relationships and doing effective violence prevention up front is going to keep people safer, help them be healthier, and save us money.”
The researchers took reliable data on New Zealand women’s exposure to violence from earlier research and, with their permission, matched that group of women to their hospital records over 31 years from 1988 to 2019, then aggregated the figures.
“As far as we are aware, this is the first time researchers internationally have been able to reliably match hospitalisation data and solid data on women’s experience of violence,” Fanslow says.
“In our previous papers, we have had good assessments of violence from surveys, but then we have been reliant on people’s ability to remember and describe all of their health problems and their diagnoses, which can lead to inaccuracies.”
The study used gold-standard measures to find out about women’s experience of multiple types of violence, including childhood sexual abuse, physical or sexual violence by non-partners, and five types of intimate partner violence – physical violence, sexual violence, psychological abuse, controlling behaviours, and economic abuse.
More than 1,000 (1,151) ever-partnered women who were surveyed gave consent for linkage of their survey data with information on their use of hospital services from the New Zealand National Minimum Data Set on Hospital Discharges.
The new study explored the associations between each interpersonal violence type and hospitalisation for health conditions, after adjusting for the influence of age and ethnicity.
Experience of violence was common, with 62.6 percent of women reporting experience of interpersonal violence in their lifetime, including high rates of childhood sexual abuse (21 percent), sexual violence by non-partners (9.2 percent), and/or multiple types of intimate partner violence (21 percent).
Men also surveyed
More than 1,000 (1,054) ever-partnered men were also surveyed. Of these, 68.4 percent reported some experience of interpersonal violence, with the majority of this (43 percent) coming from non-partner physical violence, mainly perpetrated by other men.
Men who experienced interpersonal violence were twice as likely as other men to be hospitalised for injuries or non-disease specific symptoms.
Childhood sexual abuse was reported by 7.5 percent of men in the survey.
Men who experienced childhood sexual abuse were seven times more likely to be hospitalised for nervous system disorders compared with men who had not experienced child sexual abuse.
“All interpersonal violence can have health consequences. However, the fact that experience of any interpersonal violence is associated with hospitalisation for a greater range of conditions among women than men is likely because the violence perpetrated against them is more frequent and/or more severe,” Fanslow says.
Implications
“The whole point is that violence and the effects of violence are appearing in our health systems, but we're often not recognising it, and therefore we're not responding appropriately,” Fanslow says.
“If clinicians are aware violence could be contributing to the health problem, they could link people to appropriate support services, whether it's around immediate safety or long-term recovery and trauma-informed care,” Fanslow says.
She says health leaders need to prioritise and resource implementation of existing protocols and procedures, such as the national Violence Intervention Programme, if we are to respond effectively to violence. There needs to be proactive screening and routine inquiries about violence exposure.
The research was funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
New business pathway welcome but don’t repeat mistake of setting English language bar too high
Immigration advisers support a new residence pathway for migrants but urge the government not to repeat its mistake of setting the bar too high on English language requirements.
“The Business Investor Visa announced today is a positive step, but it's concerning that the requirements around English language have yet to be defined,” says the Chair of the New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment, Simon Laurent.
“Immigration advisers certainly don't want to see a repeat of the mess around the Skilled Migrant Visa, which is bordering on racism as it discriminates against people from non-English language speaking countries.
“It's important that migrants can communicate in English, but the bar is set too high for the Skilled Migrant Visa. This harsh requirement must not be repeated in the new Business Investor Visa.
“New Zealand has a long and shameful history of immigration policies that have discriminated against people from non-Anglocentric countries. One of the principal tools for enforcing this
racial and cultural bias was — and continues to be — how well they spoke English.
“The legacy of discrimination remains embedded in our current immigration system. And nowhere is this more evident than in the language requirements for permanent residence under the Skilled Migrant Category. The settings today are, irrefutably, too high.
“The current International English Language Testing System (IELTS) requirement for Skilled Migrant Residence is higher than that needed for international students to enter undergraduate study at University of Auckland.
“A Skilled Migrant applicant from a non-Anglocentric country must have a current test score at or above 6.5, whereas the University of Auckland requires students from countries that are not from a predominantly English-speaking country to provide a current test score at or above 6.0 for entry into a Bachelor of Arts degree programme.
“The requirement also surpasses the language standards required for enrolment in trades-based qualifications approved by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, which are typically set at a minimum of IELTS 5.0.
“If we are serious about equity and about selecting migrants based on their potential to contribute, rather than their country of origin, then our language requirements must reflect that, ” Laurent says.
The Association wants the Government to change these settings, ending discrimination against applicants from non-English speaking backgrounds who might otherwise make a material contribution to New Zealand.
“It's time to ensure our immigration rules reflect fairness, not old colonial prejudices.
“Similarly, it is difficult to justify setting an English threshold for applicants under the new Migrant Investor Visa scheme that is too high, when at the same time we wish to encourage them to make a significant investment of their wealth and their business skills to our economy.
“A final point is that while the government has unveiled a pathway for experienced businesspeople, we await keenly the other half of the policy – that for start-up entrepreneurs. Both pathways are important to New Zealand, which has large numbers of mature business owners who want to retire and are looking to sell their business, plus opportunities for talented migrants to bring their new ideas to the New Zealand market,” Laurent says.
Simon Laurent is Chair of the New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment, the longest-standing organisation for immigration professionals.
Tax Reform – Government tying its own hands with Tax Bill repealing transparency provisions – PTA
Tax Justice Aotearoa are outraged by the proposed repeal of transparency provisions in the Government's new omnibus Taxation (Annual Rates for 2025–26, Compliance Simplification, and Remedial Measures) Bill, comparing the move to putting a blindfold on IRD, at a time when we need to be taking a closer look at how our tax system operates.
The Minister has described these as practical changes that make the tax system simpler and more effective, but when it comes to the repeal of s 17GB nothing could be further from the truth. This was the provision that enabled the IRD to conduct its groundbreaking research into high net worth individuals in 2023, which revealed the extreme inequality between the effective tax rates of the most well off and the average working New Zealander.
“This repeal is a fundamental blow to transparency in our tax system and shields the rich and powerful from legitimate scrutiny, making it harder to ensure our tax system is balanced and not asking too much of workers and those least able to pay,” says Glenn Barclay, spokesperson for Tax Justice Aotearoa.
“While it is very clear that s 17GB was necessary because pre-existing powers were insufficient to gather information that could inform policy change to address our unbalanced tax system, it is not clear what the problem is that the government is trying to fix with its repeal,” says Barclay.
“We understand that there were no reported problems during the research and reporting process relating to the High Net Worth Individuals project. No formal complaints were received and no legal action was taken against IR. IR appears to have conducted the process with integrity.”
“Most importantly, IR was able to produce important research that should inform the development of our tax settings going forward to address inequities revealed in that study,” says Barclay.
“While it is for the government to decide what tax policies it advances in light of such research, ignoring the evidence is one thing, but this measure is essentially outlawing crucial evidence from even being collected in the first place. That is deeply concerning when we're talking about fairness across our tax system and hardworking New Zealanders having confidence that they are getting a fair go.”
“We encourage all political parties to reconsider this matter as it goes through the select committee process and urge them to remove the repeal of s 17GB from this Bill.”
Banking Sector – ASB partners with NZ Product Accelerator to drive productivity using AI
ASB has partnered with the New Zealand Product Accelerator to launch a programme which will connect artificial intelligence (AI), data science and business analytics master’s students and interns with ASB business customers. Students will be placed within a business for one semester to help them solve real world problems, using AI and innovative digital technologies to drive productivity.
NZ Product Accelerator works with Kiwi companies to identify opportunities to grow their business through implementing innovation, tech and science. Through this new partnership, ASB and NZ Product Accelerator will align a student’s unique skills with an ASB business customer’s individual needs to maximise growth potential.
Starting with an initial cohort of 13 students from the University of Auckland, the programme plans to scale up to around 100 student placements and internships each semester from a range of New Zealand universities. Businesses from a variety of sectors are participating, including manufacturing, healthcare, education, fashion and construction.
Private training institute academyEX, led by Frances Valintine, is one of the first businesses to join the programme and will work with a student to leverage data to improve its customers’ learning experience. Another student will join healthcare equipment company, Allied Medical, to develop an AI-powered system to accelerate and improve technical parts enquiries. Other businesses participating in the first cohort include cosmetics business The Beauty Lab Collective and manufacturer Windowmakers.
Ben Speedy, ASB’s General Manager Commercial Banking and Business Strategy says: “Unlocking productivity is essential for Kiwi businesses to grow, but many have been challenged with limited investment and slow tech adoption. This programme provides a practical way for businesses to integrate AI and accelerate growth. We’re excited to help these businesses gain cutting-edge skills, while offering students real-world experience. As AI, data science and business analytics continue to evolve, this partnership will be a game changer for these businesses.”
Sir Ian Taylor, Patron of the NZ Product Accelerator says: “The NZ Product Accelerator sits at the intersection of innovation, industry and impact. The partnership with ASB brings together the brilliance of Kiwi research and science with the real-world needs of business. The NZ Product Accelerator model proves how collaboration can accelerate progress, drive commercial success, and deliver lasting benefits to Aotearoa.”
Ben Speedy says: “Enabling growth is a priority for us at ASB. We continue to support exporters and innovators with capital and global network opportunities, as well as boosting our internal capability in the critical food and fibre and manufacturing sectors.”
Over the past five years ASB has grown business lending more than any other bank, with net business lending up $4.5 billion. Last year, ASB worked with the Employers and Manufacturers Association and Productivity and Transformation Consultants LMAC to deliver 21 productivity workshops, aimed at supporting manufacturers to embrace big data, digitisation and advanced technology. Over 200 businesses attended, with 40 of them going on to complete an investment roadmap for a productivity gaining initiative.
Culture and Arts – SCREENRIGHTS ANNOUNCES $300K CULTURAL FUNDING INCLUDING SUPPORT FOR TWO AOTEAROA PROJECTS
Screenrights has announced six projects will be supported by the 2025 round of its annual Cultural Fund, with a total $299,750 in funding for this year’s focus of Creative Intelligence. Among them are two Aotearoa New Zealand initiatives: Jack Media’s Te Piringa: A Programme for Indigenous Wellbeing in Screen Storytelling and Script to Screen’s Script Development Workshops for Deaf, Disabled and Neuro Diverse creatives. Each will receive $50,000, alongside four Australian projects also selected for funding this year.
GARUWA will run ‘Ngaluwi: Documentary Storytelling Incubator’, a 12-month initiative designed to support First Nations documentary practitioners and teams, with a grant of $49,750. Milk Crate Theatre’s ‘MCT ScreenLab: Unearthing New Voices for the Screen’ will receive $50,000 for their 20-week program providing accessible, professional screen-based training for individuals with diverse lived experiences, including those experiencing homelessness, disability, and mental health challenges. And Aotearoa New Zealand’s Jack Media will receive $50,000 for ‘Te Piringa: A Programme for Indigenous Wellbeing in Screen Storytelling’, a six-month Indigenous-led pilot program designed to support the health and wellbeing of Māori and Indigenous screen practitioners, both on-screen participants and crew.
A ‘Residency+ Producing Skills Program’ aims to develop culturally diverse and First Nations screen producers through a three-phase capacity building initiative from Cinespace supported by a $50,000 grant. ‘AI for Women in Screen’ will see Jessie Hughes deliver masterclasses designed to upskill women screen practitioners in AI* tools, enabling them to lead creative teams through technological transformation in the screen industry, with $50,000 in funding from the Screenrights Cultural Fund. And Aotearoa New Zealand’s Te Tari Tuhi Kupu A Whakaahua Script to Screen will receive $50,000 for their ‘Script Development Workshops for Deaf, Disabled and Neuro Diverse creatives’ program designed to upskill Deaf, Disabled, and Neuro Diverse (DDN) creatives in innovative screen storytelling.
“We were once again so impressed with the calibre of applications and the breadth of the potential positive impact for the screen sectors in both Aotearoa-NZ and Australia,” says Screenrights Board Director and Cultural Fund Working Group Chair Rachel Antony. “My thanks, too, to our panel of external assessors for their thoughtful consideration and recommendations of this final six.”
The Screenrights Cultural Fund makes a difference by supporting people with exciting and innovative new initiatives that foster the creation and appreciation of screen content in Australia and New Zealand. Including this year’s funding round, the Cultural Fund has now provided almost $2 million in funding for projects since it was launched in 2018. Applications were assessed by a panel of professionals with both local and international expertise in screen, media and education.
*Screenrights recognises the benefits that generative AI can offer the screen industry, while advocating for the legal use of copyright materials through licensing. Upholding copyright is vital for maintaining a viable creative sector that can contribute to and benefit from the use of generative AI. Further information about our position can be found here.
https://www.screenrights.org/cultural-fund
ABOUT THE SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS
Activity: A 12-month initiative by GARUWA, a First Nations-owned and led production enterprise, Ngaluwi is designed to support First Nations documentary practitioners. The program offers tailored mentorship and strategic guidance for projects at various stages (development, production, or impact design), prioritising cultural safety, creative sovereignty, and First Nations values. It aims to support and amplify First Nations storytellers making positive social, environmental and political change. The incubator will select three First Nations-led documentary projects via a national call-out, providing up to nine hours of bespoke support per team from a network of producers and impact experts. This initiative seeks to build a replicable model for a sustainable and culturally safe ecosystem for First Nations impact storytelling.
Location: online across Australia
Amount Funded: $49,750
Recipient Quote: “With Ngaluwi, we’re creating a space where First Nations storytellers can be supported in ways that honour cultural integrity and our responsibilities to future generations. GARUWA is deeply committed to nurturing this next wave of documentary filmmakers, and Screenrights’ support allows us to build an incubator that meets projects where they are, strengthening an ecosystem where First Nations voices lead the way in shaping stories of justice, healing and change.” – Genevieve Grieves, Worimi, Co-founder & Creative Director, GARUWA
Activity: The MCT ScreenLab aims to provide accessible, professional screen-based training for individuals with diverse lived experiences, including those experiencing homelessness, disability, and mental health challenges. This 20-week program expands Milk Crate Theatre's Community Arts and Cultural Development (CACD) practice into film and digital storytelling. It includes intensive learning led by professional screen artists covering story development, concept planning, production, post-production, and funding, followed by a hands-on creative production phase where participants create original screen content. Delivered in accessible community spaces in the City of Sydney, the initiative seeks to unearth new talent, champion diverse narratives, and build pathways into the screen sector for underrepresented voices in Australia.
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia
Amount Funded: $50,000
Recipient Quote: “Milk Crate Theatre is delighted to receive the support of Screenrights Cultural Fund to bring our ScreenLab project to life. We can’t wait to bring an amazing range of new and diverse stories and talent from our community to new audiences through screen.” – Jodie Wainwright, CEO, Milk Crate Theatre
Activity: A six-month Indigenous-led pilot program designed to support the health and wellbeing of Māori and Indigenous screen practitioners, both on-screen participants and crew. The program addresses the emotional labour, cultural responsibility, and potential for retraumatisation involved in Indigenous storytelling, especially concerning topics of colonisation and intergenerational trauma. Te Piringa will offer culturally grounded wānanga (gatherings), therapeutic and peer support, and trauma-informed practices. It will also develop Indigenous-led resources such as mana-enhancing talent agreements, guidelines for working with sensitive material, and trauma-led protocols for interviewing, consent, and participant aftercare. These tools aim to embed Indigenous wellbeing and safety into the screen sector, serving as a template for other Indigenous cultures and minority groups. The pilot will directly support 10-15 participants through three regional wānanga and an online resource hub, with an evaluation to inform future scalability and systemic change within the screen industry.
Location: regional areas and online across New Zealand
Amount Funded: $50,000
Recipient Quote: “I’m incredibly grateful to receive this funding to bring Te Piringa to life. This kaupapa has the potential to become a significant cultural resource for Indigenous storytellers and creatives, one that uplifts our people, honours our ways of healing, and embeds care at the heart of how we work. It’s a step toward a safer, stronger future for our industry.” – Nicola Smith, Jack Media
Activity: The Residency+ Producing Skills Program is a capacity-building initiative designed to develop culturally diverse and First Nations screen producers. It focuses on strategic planning, pitching, market access, and business development, addressing identified gaps in project development, financing, marketing, and distribution skills among emerging creatives. The program, based in Footscray, Victoria, will run in three phases in 2026: Packaging & Pitching; Production Management; and Marketing & Distribution. It aims to foster diverse leadership, create sustainable pathways for underrepresented creatives, and ensure their projects are strategically positioned within the Australian screen industry.
Location: Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Amount Funded: $50,000
Recipient Quote: “This program will build the capacity of culturally diverse producers and creatives to lead their own projects and careers. By investing in skills like development, packaging, and distribution, and teaching adaptability and resilience in a fast changing industry, we’re not only increasing the visibility of underrepresented voices—we’re creating lasting pathways for our community to thrive in the screen industry.” – Steve RE Pereira, President, Cinespace Inc.
Activity: A generative AI Masterclass designed to upskill women screen practitioners in AI tools, enabling them to lead creative teams through technological transformation in the screen industry. Delivered in partnership with Screen Producers Australia, the program employs a “train the trainer” model, providing participants with hands-on experience in creating AI-enhanced visual treatments and equipping them to deliver similar workshops to others across Australia. The program will be offered as a 2-day in-person Masterclass in Sydney for 30 selected women and a 1-day online Masterclass for 50+ national participants. Led by Jessie Hughes, an awarded creative technologist and screenwriter, the initiative aims to increase women's visibility and value in the industry by adding graduates to a national database of hireable AI-literate screen practitioners, addressing the underrepresentation of women in AI fields. The project is designed for scalability and long-term impact through continued resource sharing and future program iterations.
Location: Sydney, NSW and online across Australia
Amount Funded: $50,000
Recipient Quote: “This initiative is about giving Australian women leaders a crucial headstart in shaping the future of our industry. As we navigate a profound technological shift, I am committed to seeing women lead the charge in our screen industry's adoption of AI. I’ve seen the transformative power of this approach firsthand; creators from a previous Forbes-featured program have gone on to attain university lectureships and step into senior screen roles. The success of these women is a testament to what happens when we intentionally create opportunities for creatives who previously weren't made to feel like tech was a space for them. This is about more than upskilling; it’s about shifting power, expanding opportunity, and shaping the future of the Australian screen sector with diverse creative intelligence.” Jessie Hughes
Script Development Workshops for Deaf, Disabled and Neuro Diverse creatives
Location: Various centres (tbc) across New Zealand
Amount Funded: $50,000
Recipient Quote: “NZ’s leading screen sector professional development organisation, Te Tari Tuhi Kupu a Whakaahua Script to Screen, is proud to be piloting a new community programme of Script Development Workshops.