Public Service Minister Judith Collins’ admission in Parliament that the Government is looking at restricting public sector workers' fundamental right to strike is deeply concerning and demands further explanation, says the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.
In response to questions in Parliament yesterday from Camilla Belich, Collins stated the Government is “looking at how we can strengthen the bargaining system so that people might have better options available before racing off to strike, such as, for instance, mediation or any other sorts of facilitated bargaining.”
PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons says Judith Collins needs to come clean about exactly what the Government is planning, as mediation and facilitation already exist and are regularly used.
“Judith Collins admitted in Parliament that the Government is looking to further limit the right to strike. This is a very serious matter and demands an urgent explanation.
“The right to strike is a cornerstone of our democratic workplace relations system. Any attempt to restrict this fundamental right would be a direct attack on working people's ability to negotiate fair wages and conditions.
“This Government has already shown it is willing to remove basic rights without consultation when it stripped away women's pay equity rights in the dead of night. It has also already undermined the right to strike by introducing pay deductions for partial strikes.
“Collins talks about 'better options' but what she's really talking about is forcing workers into new processes that favour employers and which remove the remaining few tools workers have to push back. There are already significant limits on the right to strike in New Zealand.
“The right to withdraw labour is fundamental to the balance of power in workplace negotiations and should not be further restricted.”
The PSA is calling on Collins to rule out any further restrictions on the right to strike and to instead focus on ensuring public sector workers receive fair pay rises that keep pace with the rising cost of living.
“Public sector workers provide essential services to New Zealand and face the same cost of living pressures as everyone else. They deserve to be paid fairly and treated with respect, not have their rights stripped away,” Fitzsimons said.
The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahiis Aotearoa New Zealand's largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.
Births and deaths: Year ended June 2025 – information release
19 August 2025
Births and deaths releases provide statistics on the number of births and deaths of people resident in New Zealand that are registered during a given period, along with selected fertility and mortality rates. They may differ from statistics presented elsewhere that relate to all births and deaths registered in New Zealand or to births and deaths occurring during a given period.
Key facts
In the year ended June 2025 compared with the year ended June 2024:
there were 58,365 live births registered, up from 57,006
there were 37,323 deaths registered, down from 37,500
the total fertility rate was 1.57 births per woman, up from 1.55
the infant mortality rate was 5.14 deaths per 1,000 live births, up from 4.95 per 1,000.
Visit our website to read this information release:
Federated Farmers Statement: Greenpeace is once again manufacturing outrage and trying to scare New Zealanders with alarmist headlines that have no basis in science, Federated Farmers says.
“This time, they’ve turned their attention to glyphosate, one of the most widely used and well-researched weedkillers in the world,” Federated Farmers arable chair David Birkett says.
“They claim a proposed change to New Zealand’s allowed glyphosate levels is a threat to public health, but it’s complete and utter nonsense that they’re peddling.
“Our food system is one of the safest in the world. Greenpeace knows that, but fear is more useful to them than facts.”
Birkett says the latest campaign from Greenpeace is just another chapter in a long-running saga of scaremongering and political spin.
“For decades, Greenpeace has spread misinformation about dairy farmers – now they’ve shifted their attention to arable farmers.
“Once again, they’ve lied to the public, andit’shardworking Kiwi farmers who pay the price.
“This is not a food safety issue – it’s a publicity stunt.”
One of the central claims from Greenpeace is a possible increase to glyphosate levels will result in the chemical ending up in people’s cereal bowls.
But Birkett says what’s completely missing from their messaging is that this change, even if it goes ahead, won’t affect what’s actually on Kiwi tables.
“Let me be very clear: New Zealand-grown grain for human food – like bread and breakfast cereal – is not treated with glyphosate.
“Under strict contracts with local mills, our farmers aren’t allowed to use it on those crops,” he says.
“That’s not changing. Those contracts will remain in place, so even if rules shift on paper, your porridge and your sandwich bread, if made from Kiwi grain, are still be free from glyphosate.”
Federated Farmers says the real insult here is that Greenpeace is painting a false picture of how New Zealand food is grown – damaging public trust and dragging honest farmers through the mud for the sake of a headline.
“It makes me wonder what the folks at Greenpeace have been putting in their porridge,” Birkett says.
“Our growers are following the rules, and our food is safe, but Greenpeace would rather stoke fear than deal honestly in facts.”
He says the rules around glyphosate – like all food safety standards – are set by the Ministry for Primary Industries, based on science and expert risk assessments.
“These decisions are made by scientists, experts who dedicate their careers to keeping our food safe.
“They would never approve anything that posed a real risk to human health,” Birkett says.
“We trust MPI, we follow the science, and if MPI changes the rules, farmers will comply – just like we always have.”
What makes Greenpeace’s outrage particularly hollow, Birkett says, is their silence on imported grain.
“Up to 70% of the wheat products eaten in New Zealand, like bread and biscuits, are made from imported milling wheat,” he says.
“Those imports are allowed to contain glyphosate residues at levels three times higher than what MPI is proposing for New Zealand grain.
“So, where’s the outrage about that?
“It’s not there – because it doesn’t fit Greenpeace’s narrative. They’d rather go after hardworking Kiwi farmers who are already doing the right thing.”
Federated Farmers says Kiwis can be confident that their cereals are safe.
“Our food is safe, and it always has been,” Birkett says.
“When it comes to questions about food safety, Kiwis should take advice from scientists and public health experts – not ranting Greenpeace activists trying to boost donations.”
He says this latest stunt is further proof that Greenpeace no longer deserves charitable status in New Zealand.
“This is not a charity acting in the public good. It’s an extreme activist group waging a vicious misinformation campaign to score cheap political points and raise money,” Birkett says.
“That campaign is incredibly dangerous. It’s undermining confidence in the food system, scaring families, and they just don’t seem to care – as long as donations keep flowing.” He says it’s time to hold the group accountable and strip them of their charitable status.
“Greenpeace has crossed a line. If they want to campaign, fine – but do it honestly. Don’t spread misinformation about the hard-working farming families who feed this country.
“In the meantime, Kiwis can trust that our grains are safe, our farmers are doing the right thing, and the real food safety experts, not political activists, are making the rules.”
In April, Federated Farmerslodged a formal complaintwith Charities Services requesting they open an inquiry into Greenpeace’s conduct and eligibility for charitable status.
Revelations that the Marsden Fund was given just one day's notice of further funding cuts demonstrates the Government's cavalier approach to dismantling New Zealand's science sector, the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi said today.
The $15 million cut to the Marsden Fund is in addition to the cuts that were already announced in Budget 2025.
“It is outrageous that the Royal Society only learned of the $15 million funding cut the day before the Institute for Advanced Technology was announced and was told to keep quiet about it,” said PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons.
“This is no way to make policy that will affect New Zealand's scientific capability for decades to come. The Government should be engaging meaningfully with our science sector workforce on their reforms, not giving them a day’s notice and swearing them to secrecy.”
“The Marsden Fund supports fundamental research – the kind of science that leads to breakthrough discoveries and innovations.
“The Government keeps talking about wanting research that can be commercialised, but they don't seem to understand that you can't have applied research without the fundamental research that underpins it.”
PSA represents public sector science workers including in Public Research Organisations and Callaghan Innovation.
“Our members feel demoralised and uncertain about the future. Many are considering leaving New Zealand for countries that value scientific research. We're haemorrhaging talent and institutional knowledge,” Fitzsimons said.
“The Government needs to step back from these rushed reforms and engage meaningfully with the sector and its workforce. The final report of Sir Peter Gluckman's review has been sitting with the Science Minister since April but still hasn't been released.
“We call on the Government to pause these damaging cuts, release the Gluckman review, and have a meaningful conversation with scientists, researchers and their representatives. Our researchers and the New Zealand public deserve better than policy-making by stealth and ambush.”
The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahiis Aotearoa New Zealand's largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.
North Canterbury may have grabbed most of the headlines so far for speaking up about proposed police cuts – but farmers further south are just as concerned.
Federated Farmers vice president Colin Hurst says farmers and others in his community of Waimate are deeply disappointed by the proposals.
“We’ve had a good working relationship between Federated Farmers and NZ Police historically, but they’ve really dropped the ball on this one.
“I’m flabbergasted by what Canterbury Police wants to do to their rural police down here, as it’ll gut our ability to respond to rural crime and protect our people.”
A respected arable farmer based in Makikihi since the 1980s, Hurst says the proposal for Aoraki Policing District – which could see up to 11 roles lost at rural stations from Rakaia to Waimate – is short-sighted and dangerous.
“You can’t tell me reducing numbers is a good thing. It seems to me that they’re taking away from rural Canterbury to shore up the urban centres,” he says.
Under the proposed restructure, public safety teams in Temuka and Waimate would be disestablished and replaced by new rural liaison officer positions, while larger 24/7 teams would be based in Ashburton and Timaru.
But Hurst says the geography just doesn’t work.
“It’s about a 40-minute drive from Timaru to Waimate, but up to another 40 minutes into some of the more remote areas.
“So, does that mean people in those communities would need to wait one-and-a-half hours for police to show up if they make an emergency call?
“I doubt they’ll even bother most of the time.”
A packed public meeting was held at the Waimate Event Centre last Friday to discuss the restructure, with more than 240 people attending.
Hurst, who spoke at the meeting, says he was disappointed by the police response.
“I got up and spoke and they basically dismissed me. That’s not good enough.
“We want to work with them on this – not be brushed off.”
He says farmers already perceive police as being stretched, with the 2023 Federated Farmers Rural Crime Survey showing nearly half of victims didn’t bother reporting crime because they didn’t believe police were resourced well enough to respond.
“So how many more crimes won’t get reported if the police service is whittled back even further?”
Hurst says reducing police presence will only embolden offenders.
“When you take frontline police out of rural communities, crime goes up. It’s that simple,” he says.
“We’ve fought for years to build good relationships with our local officers. They know who we are, where we live, what’s normal and what’s not.
“That local knowledge disappears the moment you centralise everything.”
While he acknowledges resourcing is a real issue for police, Hurst believes the current approach is the wrong one.
“We’re not saying police shouldn’t review how they work – we absolutely get that money’s tight.
“But don’t fix it by making rural communities take the hit.”
Hurst isn’t the only one speaking up, with Waimate District Council chief executive Stuart Duncan and Mayor Craig Rowley expressing “profound concern” in a submission to Canterbury Police.
“Council argues that these changes will severely impact community safety, increase emergency response times, and erode public trust,” they say.
“Local officers provide essential services, possess critical local knowledge, and have built vital relationships within their communities, all of which would be lost under the new model.”
They also raised concerns about the danger posed to vulnerable populations and the increased risk to council staff working after-hours, dealing with issues like noise control and aggressive individuals.
They say the restructure appears to have been driven by an insufficient budget allocation rather than an assessment of actual community need.
“Relocating officers instead of increasing overall police presence simply shifts the gap in service from one area to another, creating new vulnerabilities.
“In rural districts like Waimate, where resources are already stretched, reducing locally based officers will have a direct and negative effect on the very types of crime the restructure is seeking to address in larger cities.”
Hurst agrees with the council’s submission, saying it reflects the real concerns of the community.
He also praised the council for pushing back publicly.
“It’s good to see our local leaders taking a stand. We need more of that – this proposal needs to be rethought from the ground up.”
The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) has for the first time deployed its MC-12K King Air aircraft to Fiji to conduct maritime surveillance patrols, working with Fiji Government officials targeting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities and transnational organised crime.
New Zealand and Fiji engage frequently on challenges facing the region, and the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) deploys aircraft and ships to work with Southwest Pacific partners such as Fiji on maritime patrols.
The RNZAF’s No. 42 Squadron regularly conducts maritime patrols with the MC-12K King Air in New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), working with other government agencies to detect and deter IUU fishing.
Air Component Commander, Air Commodore Andy Scott said Fiji was an important security partner.
“By working closely together, combining assets and expertise, we hope to counter IUU activities and help protect Fiji’s fishing stocks. IUU fishing is of concern to all our Pacific neighbours as this impacts regional security, and people’s livelihoods,” he said.
“The MC-12K King Air is an extremely versatile aircraft in both training and for operational missions. Demonstrating our ability to deploy this aircraft to the Pacific and conduct patrols with Fiji’s officials in Fiji’s EEZ is another string to its bow.
“It has been a busy period in Fiji, as the Royal New Zealand Navy also has two uncrewed surface vessels deployed to Fiji conducting border protection tasks on behalf of the Fijian Government.
“Recently we also had a P-8A Poseidon aircraft deployed there patrolling Fijian waters and other areas of the Pacific. Our P-8A crews regularly deploy to the Pacific, conducting maritime patrols with Forum Fisheries Agency nations and conducting patrols of high seas pockets to detect and deter IUU fishing activities.”
RNZAF Squadron Leader Craig Clark said the deployment of the MC-12K to Fiji was a major step forward in the squadron’s ability to project capability into the Southwest Pacific in support of wider NZDF efforts in the region.
“We expected our focus during the deployment to be mainly on fisheries, but the Fijian authorities are also very interested in pleasure craft activity in their waters as they strive to combat transnational organised crime in their region,” he said.
“The MC-12K is ideally suited to investigating vessels in the vicinity of remote islands around Fiji, often tucked into small bays or inside reefs. The crew were quickly able to pivot to any task requested of them by Fijian authorities, who were impressed by the agility and effectiveness of the MC-12K.”
Over two weeks of maritime surveillance, the crew conducted six patrols, investigating and taking imagery of almost 100 vessels. They also took key Fijian leaders up in the MC-12K to demonstrate the capability on two further flights.
“What was also incredibly valuable was having our geospatial intelligence analysts embedded alongside their Fijian counterparts during the deployment,” Squadron Leader Clark said.
“Our analysts learned a great deal from the Fijian analysts, and vice versa. This kind of interoperability and cooperation is at the heart of our partnership with Fiji.”
Squadron Leader Clark said it was important New Zealand could support the security and resilience of Pacific countries and of the Pacific region as a whole.
“What happens in the Pacific is important to us, and being familiar with the Southwest Pacific and our Pacific neighbours is essential, especially in the context of greater geostrategic competition and with the threat of climate change and trans-national organised crime being of great concern in the region.’’
The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa is planning more protests on what it calls Winston Peters’ failed policy on Gaza.
PSNA has announced it is joining an International Day of Action for Palestine on 6th September.
PSNA Co-Chair, John Minto says there was “an incredible show of marches and rallies throughout Aotearoa New Zealand for sanctions against Israel during the past weekend.”
“But with Winston Peters obstinately running the Foreign Ministry, the government will ignore all expressions of public support for Palestinian rights.”
“So, we’ll be back with even more people on the streets on the 6th.”
“That number would have risen significantly in the past few weeks as people here are seeing the shocking images of Israel’s widespread use of starvation as a weapon of war especially against the children of Gaza.”
“Around the world, governments are starting to respond to their people demanding sanctions on Israel to end the genocide. Yet, Winston Peters is most reluctant to even criticise Israel, let alone take any action.”
“Sanctions are vital. Israel takes no notice otherwise,” Minto says.
“We’ve seen Israel’s arrogant impunity in increasingly violent action and showing off its military capacity and intentions.”
“Not a peep from our ministers over anything. Just on the Occupied West Bank, there are settlers freely shooting and lynching Palestinians. Israel’s parliament has just voted to annex the West Bank, as plans are also announced for a new settlement strategically designed to sever it irreparably into two parts.”
“In Gaza, Israeli troops are reinvading Gaza City to ethnically cleanse a million people to the south and Israeli aircraft are still terror bombing a famine devastated community,”
“Netanyahu has just started talking about a Greater Israel again. That would mean an invasion of all of its neighbours and the extinction of at least Lebanon and Jordan, which in Israeli government eyes have no right to exist.”
“Our pathetic government thinks it’s responding appropriately by going through a process of considering recognition of a Palestinian state,” Minto says.
“That can only be seen as a deliberate distraction from a focus on sanctions.”
“Back in 1947, New Zealand voted in the UN for a Palestinian state in part of Palestine. Recognition is token now, and it was token then, because the world stood aside and let Israel conquer all of Palestine, expel most of its people and impose an apartheid regime on those who managed to stay.”
“The global movement in support of Palestinian rights won’t be distracted. Comprehensive sanctions are the only way to force the end to Israel’s genocide.”
Ingram Micro’s ecosystem will broaden market reach for AlgoSec and simplify deployment for partners through the Xvantage™ digital platform
Sydney, Australia – 19 August 2025 – Ingram Micro, a global leader in technology solutions, is pleased to announce a new relationship with AlgoSec, an industry leading cybersecurity company.
This new relationship will enable AlgoSec to deliver unparalleled IT Security Management solutions to its partners and their clients across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ).
Through this collaboration, Ingram Micro partners will gain access to AlgoSec’s advanced application-centric cybersecurity solutions. Managed Service Providers (MSPs) will be able to offer enhanced network security management, automate security policy changes, and ensure compliance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
“AlgoSec’s automated security solutions enrich our cyber security portfolio and further strengthen our partners’ ability to secure hybrid networks,” says Amanda O’Brien, Ingram Micro’s General Manager of HBA and Cyber Vendor Management in Australia. “This collaboration enables partners to drive efficiency and compliance in the market.”
AlgoSec specialises in application-centric security management and automation for hybrid networks, covering public clouds, private clouds, containers and on-premises environments. Through network security automation, this collaboration allows Ingram Micro to complement its existing vendor offerings, enhancing firewalls and network solutions with automated policy management and risk remediation.
“We hear from our vast network of MSP partners that they are being consistently asked to do more with less. They are looking for solutions that give them improvements in the services they deliver, while at the same time lowering costs. With AlgoSec, they can automate security policies and troubleshoot faster, which will provide a better customer experience and avoid unnecessary work,” says O’Brien.
AlgoSec appointed Ingram Micro to take advantage of Ingram Micro’s broad ecosystem reach across markets and local expertise in hybrid-cloud infrastructure architecture best practices, as well as deep cloud capabilities.
“We continue to see a significant shift towards hybrid and multi-cloud strategies, and our customers are seeking to balance considerations around data sovereignty, compliance and operational complexity. AlgoSec’s solutions address the requirement to manage on-prem firewalls, hypervisor cloud security controls and software-defined infrastructure in a consistent, compliant and automated way to help ensure the highest protection available. This is a gamechanger for MSPs that are looking to scale and embed security into their broader service offerings,” says O’Brien.
To deliver application-centric security solutions to enterprises in the ANZ markets, AlgoSec will also use Ingram Micro’s Xvantage™ AI-driven digital platform to simplify solution deployment and enhance partner efficiency. Leveraging a single platform to manage cloud subscriptions and tap into cybersecurity services, AlgoSec and Ingram Micro possess a unique ability to aid MSPs in building out services faster and supporting customer conversations more effectively.
“We’re so excited to launch our new relationship with Ingram Micro,” says Reinhard Eichborn, Director of Strategic Alliances, AlgoSec. “We’re ready for this relationship to take off and help even more partners to benefit from the very competitive AlgoSec offerings.”
About Ingram Micro
Ingram Micro is a leading technology company for the global information technology ecosystem. With the ability to reach nearly 90 per cent of the global population, we play a vital role in the worldwide IT sales channel, bringing products and services from technology manufacturers and cloud providers to a highly diversified base of business-to-business technology experts. Through Ingram Micro Xvantage™, our AI-powered digital platform, we offer what we believe to be the industry’s first comprehensive business-to-consumer-like experience, integrating hardware and cloud subscriptions, personalised recommendations, instant pricing, order tracking, and billing automation. We also provide a broad range of technology services, including financing, specialised marketing, and lifecycle management, as well as technical pre- and post-sales professional support. Learn more at www.ingrammicro.com.
About AlgoSec
AlgoSec, a global cybersecurity leader, empowers organisations to secure application connectivity and cloud-native applications throughout their multi-cloud and hybrid network.
Trusted by more than 1,800 of the world’s leading organisations, AlgoSec’s application-centric approach enables to securely accelerate business application deployment by centrally managing application connectivity and security policies across the public clouds, private clouds, containers, and on-premises networks.
Utilising advanced AI capabilities, AlgoSec enables users to automatically discover and identify the business applications and remediate risks more effectively. Additionally, organisations can leverage intelligent change automation to streamline security change processes, thus improving security and agility.
AlgoSec’s policy management and cloud security platforms provide a single source for visibility into security and compliance issues within cloud-native applications as well as across the hybrid network environment, to ensure ongoing adherence to internet security standards, industry, and internal regulations.
Learn how AlgoSec enables application owners, information security experts, DevSecOps and cloud security teams to deploy business applications up to 10 times faster while maintaining security at www.algosec.com.
