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Advocacy – Palestine Forum of New Zealand Calls for Safe Passage of Madleen and Urgent Sanctions Against Israel

Source: Palestine Forum of New Zealand

The Palestine Forum of New Zealand strongly condemns the violent interception of the Madleen, a civilian aid vessel attempting to deliver essential humanitarian aid to the besieged people of Gaza, by the Israeli military. We demand the immediate safe passage of the vessel and call upon the New Zealand Government to urgently implement meaningful sanctions against Israel for its ongoing war crimes and illegal occupation of Palestine.

“The Madleen was carrying life-saving aid to a population enduring unimaginable suffering under Israel’s illegal siege. Its interception is a flagrant violation of international law and a direct attack on humanitarian principles,” said a spokesperson for the Palestine Forum of New Zealand.

The unlawful blockade of Gaza — now in its 18th year — has turned the region into what human rights organisations have described as the world’s largest open-air prison. The systematic denial of aid, food, water, fuel, and medical supplies is part of Israel’s ongoing campaign of collective punishment against the Palestinian people.

Palestine Forum of New Zealand reiterates the following urgent demands:

  • Immediate safe passage for the Madleen and all humanitarian vessels to Gaza.

  • The New Zealand Government is to impose targeted sanctions against Israel, including an end to military, economic, and diplomatic cooperation.

  • Support for the Unlawful Occupation of Palestine Sanctions Bill and pressure on Parliament to prioritise it for debate.

  • Active support for international legal mechanisms, including the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, to hold Israel accountable for its war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“Aotearoa cannot remain silent while innocent people are bombed, starved, and denied medical care. New Zealand has a proud history of standing on the side of justice — from opposing apartheid in South Africa to advocating for nuclear-free policies. It’s time our government showed the same moral courage for Palestine,” the spokesperson added.

The Palestine Forum of New Zealand stands in unwavering solidarity with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the Madleen crew, and the people of Gaza. It will continue to amplify the call for justice, dignity, and the right of return for all Palestinians.

Maher Nazzal
Palestine Forum of New Zealand

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PSA welcomes withdrawal of suspension of disability workers at Te Roopu Taurimu

Source: PSA
Mediation is set to resume with disability support provider Te Roopu Taurima and the PSA following the withdrawal of a lockout and suspension of workers without pay by the employer, the PSA in return agreed to lift the strike notices.
Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau Trust is the country’s largest provider of kaupapa Māori-based support for people with disabilities in residential facilities in Northland, Auckland, Waikato and Canterbury.
“We welcome the withdrawal of the harsh and oppressive suspension and lockout and as a result the PSA also withdraws strike action in support of the collective agreement,” said Fleur Fitzsimons National Secretary Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.
Te Roopu Taurima told the PSA it would suspend 38 workers late Friday without pay for six weeks in response to low level strike action taken in support of their collective agreement.
Last year the trust also locked out Kaitaataki (house leaders for residential disability support) preventing them from working the extra hours they rely on to earn enough to support themselves and their whānau, this forms part of legal action in the Employment Court.
The PSA and Te Roopu Taurima attended facilitation run by an Employment Relations Authority member recently. The Authority member then provided recommendations to settle the collective agreement.
“The PSA did not get everything we wanted but nevertheless agreed that we would recommend the outcomes to our members. Te Roopu Taurimu now needs to come to the party and accept the recommendations, this is the basis on which the PSA att

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Weather News – Snow to ease, but more rain is on the way – MetService

Source: MetService

Covering period of Monday 9th – Thursday 12th June – Snow to ease, but more rain is on the way.
 
Key points:

Rain returns from Tuesday, especially for the upper North Island
Thunderstorms possible on Tuesday for the north
Temperatures rebound after a frosty start to June
More snow likely for the ski fields to kick off the ski season

Winter has arrived with a bite. Over the weekend, many parts of Aotearoa New Zealand recorded their coldest temperatures of the year so far, dropping as low as -12 degrees about inland Canterbury, with snow falling to low levels in parts of the South Island.

But while the chill lingers into Monday, the weather is already on the move. A low-pressure system developing in the Tasman Sea is set to take charge through the week bringing a mix of wetter, windier, and eventually milder conditions across the country.

MetService meteorologist Devlin Lynden explains, “We don’t get much of a breather, this low will dominate the week’s weather. From Tuesday morning and through Wednesday, we are expecting rain and cloud, especially across the upper North Island where there may be thunderstorms on Tuesday”

“Temperatures stay cool early on, but they start trending upwards midweek as warmer air is drawn in from the north, stretching into the low 20s for some areas of the North Island. There will still be a touch more pre-season snow on the ski fields, but for most, it’ll feel like winter’s icy grip has eased.”

Rain is expected to spread across the North Island from Tuesday morning, with northern regions, like Northland, Auckland, Waikato, and down to Taranaki bearing the brunt.

 “You’ll want to pack a jacket and keep those gumboots on if you’re headed to Fieldays this week,” adds Lynden. Central and southern areas may see patchier showers, but still a fair share of grey skies.

The wet, unsettled weather will continue for many through the working week as the low centre moves closer to central New Zealand into Thursday. However, temperatures should be a little more forgiving than those seen over the weekend.

Stay up to date with the latest forecasts and any warnings at metservice.com.
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Local News – Porirua to light up for Matariki

Source: Porirua City Council

Porirua is set to shine as we celebrate Matariki for 2025.
The night sky will twinkle once more inside Te Rauparaha Arena, with delicious hāngi, performances and interactive displays, while our harbourside has a beautiful light display planned.
Porirua Mayor Anita Baker says the long weekend and city activities are a perfect chance to connect with whānau and take part in what makes Matariki special – acknowledging our past, relishing our present, and looking forward to a positive future.
“This long weekend has fast become an important time on our city calendar and I love how we gear up to celebrate life, give thanks and recognise our wonderful cultural diversity,” Mayor Baker says.
“I can’t wait to see residents out, enjoying the night walk or heading along to what’s happening at the Arena or Pātaka. Each year it gets better.”
From 19-21 June, between 6 and 9pm, a light display on Porirua’s harbourside is a must visit. Dress warm and walk around the water’s edge on Wi Neera Dr to experience something magical under the stars. There will be fireside stories, buskers and yummy kai as well.
On the first night (19 June), people are encouraged to join the Ka kā te Rama light walk at 5.30pm and add to the sparkle with their own fairy lights, lanterns or torches.
Indoors, the wonderful Matariki under the stars experience is back (20-22 June and on 28 June), along with Elvis Under the Stars (21 June), Fitness Under the Stars (23 June) and a hearty hāngi (26 June).
At Pātaka Art + Museum, the gallery is honouring the central star Matariki, the mother of the Matariki constellation, who fosters wellbeing and health. From yoga to artist talks and live music, Pātaka is somewhere for creativity and connection.
At the City Centre Library, enjoy a free storyworld and craft session on 18 June from 11am-12pm with children’s book illustrator Joy Te Aho-White.
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Federated Farmers launches KiwiSaver petition

Source: Federated Farmers

Federated Farmers has launched a nationwide petition calling on the Government to urgently change the KiwiSaver rules to help young farmers get their foot on the ladder.
“Accessing your KiwiSaver to buy your first farm, flock, herd or home has been an incredibly hot topic for farmers,” Federated Farmers dairy chair Richard McIntyre says.
“On the campaign trail of the 2023 election, Todd McClay stood up in front of young farmers in Morrinsville and made a promise that he would make it happen.
“I’m sure he had the best of intentions, but unfortunately farmers have been bitterly disappointed by the lack of action from the Government on the issue to date.
“That’s why Federated Farmers has launched this petition: to hold the Government accountable and send a clear message that it’s time to follow through on their promise.”
The petition’s launch has been timed to coincide with the National Fieldays, where thousands of farmers, industry leaders and politicians will gather at Mystery Creek.
“Politicians are always out in force at Fieldays, rubbing shoulders with farmers, and we really wanted to make sure KiwiSaver issues were a topic of conversation,” McIntyre says.
“Allowing young farmers to access their KiwiSaver to buy their first herd, home, farm or flock is the number one thing the Government could do to help our next generation of farmers.
“It would shave years of hard work and saving off their progression through the industry, and really turbocharge their farming careers.
“Why is the Government okay with that money being managed by stockbrokers and invested in Fortune 500 companies, but not by a farmer buying a herd to go sharemilking?”
McIntyre says he can’t see any reason the Government wouldn’t throw their full support behind making this policy change happen.
“A lot of young urban people enter KiwiSaver because it’s a good way to build a deposit for their first house. They’re saving for a home early on – not for their retirement.
“We’re asking for young farmers to have the same opportunity – a one-off withdrawal early in their careers to help them get ahead by purchasing their first home, farm, herd, or flock.”
New Zealanders are encouraged to sign the petition online at www.kiwisaverforkiwifarmers.nz or at Federated Farmers’ Fieldays site D70.  
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Energy Sector Unites to Future-Proof Tomorrow’s Workforce

Source: Energy Resources Aotearoa

The Electricity Engineers’ Association (EEA) and Energy Resources Aotearoa have signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding to develop a comprehensive 2025 national energy workforce report and action plan.
This collaborative initiative brings together two of New Zealand’s leading energy industry bodies to develop an evidence-based, sector-wide workforce strategy that encompasses electricity supply, energy resources, large energy users, and the service sector.
The report will identify critical workforce gaps, training needs, and future skills necessary to support the evolving energy sector landscape. It will also map the current schooling, vocational, and tertiary pathways while proposing actionable solutions for attracting, developing, and retaining the workforce required to power New Zealand’s future.
John Carnegie, Chief Executive of Energy Resources Aotearoa, says this partnership marks a turning point for workforce development in the energy sector.
“By aligning analysis across all forms of energy, we can provide a clearer picture of workforce needs and better coordinate investment in talent development.
It's about building a resilient, skilled workforce that’s ready to lead the future for our energy sector.”
Nicki Sutherland, Chief Executive of Electricity Engineers’ Association, says the new partnership is a significant step forward for the sector’s workforce planning.
“Through this initiative, EEA and Energy Resources Aotearoa aim to foster a more unified energy sector by strengthening cross-industry collaboration and aligning efforts around shared workforce priorities as we journey towards a lower emissions future.
By breaking down traditional silos, the partnership seeks to ensure that workforce planning reflects the full complexity of the sector’s challenges and opportunities enabling smarter, more coordinated action to meet the demands of a low-emissions future.”
The final report will be published in December 2025 and launched at a national event that will engage government, iwi, educators, industry leaders, and community stakeholders.
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Stats NZ information release: Business employment data: March 2025 quarter

Business employment data: March 2025 quarter – information release

9 June 2025

Total actual filled jobs in the March 2025 quarter were 2.26 million.

In the March 2025 quarter (compared with December 2024 quarter):

  • total seasonally adjusted filled jobs were down 0.1 percent (2,499 jobs). 

For the year ended March 2025 compared with the year ended March 2024:

  • total gross earnings were up 2.3 percent ($4.0 billion).

An annual comparison is used for earnings to account for payroll timing differences between quarters.

Visit our website to read this information release and to download CSV files:

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Stats NZ information release: Business financial data: March 2025 quarter

Business financial data: March 2025 quarter – information release

9 June 2025

For all business financial data (BFD) industries, in the March 2025 quarter compared with the March 2024 quarter:

  • sales were $190 billion, up $6.1 billion (3.3 percent)
  • purchases were $133 billion, up $4.6 billion (3.6 percent)
  • salaries and wages were $31 billion, down $363 million (1.2 percent)
  • operating profit was $26 billion, up $1.9 billion (8.0 percent).

When adjusting for seasonal effects, in the March 2025 quarter compared with the December 2024 quarter:

  • sales increased in 13 of the 14 New Zealand Standard Industrial Output Classification (NZSIOC) level 1 industries
  • manufacturing (up $1.7 billion); electricity, gas, water, and waste services (up $1.3 billion); and wholesale trade (up $1.2 billion) industries had the largest movements in sales.

The business financial data release covers most market industries in the New Zealand economy, using survey and tax data.

Visit our website to read this information release and to download CSV files:

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Education – QPEC condemns Minister Seymour’s campaign to fine parents whose children do not attend school to a particular standard

Source: QPEC

“David Seymour warns of prosecutions this year in school truancy crackdown”

Understanding School Absence – QPEC condemns Minister Seymour's campaign to fine parents whose children do not attend school to a particular standard.  

The Minister is launched on an expensive and fruitless game to blame and shame parents.   This feeds his law-&-order base.   It also feeds his own diet of rigid neo-liberal control of society.   His frame of reference is coercive and wrong-headed, offering no long-term solutions.  

In its place, we propose a supportive school engagement model, with two basic principles to guide the issue of absenteeism in school:  

1. a serious, well-intentioned, continuing investigation to address the complex reasons why some young people are not regularly at school
These include mixtures of poverty; dislocation; instability in life; low socio-economic status; Covid fallout; unemployment; bullying; mental, cognitive and physical health obstacles; problems with transport; bad, uncertain and unavailable housing;  disillusionment with state structures like education.  
2. a community-based programme focusing on school engagement to work alongside families, to help them address school attendance  
NZ used to have local community stewards for school attendance, who knew their neighbourhoods intimately and supported them throughout the year.   But a previous government centralised the programme, thereby undermining the process.  

Awkward questions  

An obvious question levelled at this issue demands to know what to do with parents and families who choose deliberately to keep students out of school.  

QPEC holds that the country should extend the community-based programme above to work as closely and positively as possible with families for long-term effects.  

In particular, the programme needs:

(1) to emphasise the lifetime benefits of well-supported, critical education for individuals, families and communities, and

(2) to listen carefully to families' commentaries on school education.  

The emphasis should be on including people rather than scapegoating them as Seymour proposes.  

Such a programme could be supported by using the $140 million that Seymour has acquired for  his law and order programme.  

There is a disconcerting reality to face.   Some households may have very legitimate reasons for children to avoid school, based on previous bad experiences.   Nationwide, we need to recognise this possibility and develop mature responses as a result.    

We should be ready to address discriminatory processes, for instance, and if necessary to provide alternative education models that are consistent with human rights and sound education practice.  

Above all, our priority needs to be the best interests of young people and families.  

David Cooke, National Chair, QPEC

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Environment – Paddle-outs in seven locations show strength of opposition to seabed mining

Source: Kiwis Against Seabed Mining

On World Oceans Day, kiwis across the North Island’s west coast gathered today to paddle out in opposition to seabed mining, in seven different locations.

The day started in Patea, South Taranaki at 0730 am, with a small but determined crew paddling out in freezing temperatures, including Debbie Ngawera Packer. 

Many of the Patea team then drove to Ngāmotu New Plymouth’s Fitzroy Beach where hundreds were on the beach, of which 130 paddled out. 

At Whaingaroa/Raglan, a 120-strong crew from te whare Ururoa introduced the day with an Arahi,  before around 50 surfers from the 300-strong crowd took to the water at Manu Bay Manu Bay.

In Pōneke Wellington the Island Bay paddle-out was thwarted by the huge swell that saw ferries cancelled, so the team gathered on the beach. 

In Wautakia Bay near Muriwai, a small gathering of surfers took to the water amid big swells.

Port Waikato spelt out “no” on the beach, and did the paddle-out, followed by a beach cleanup.