Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

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BusinessNZ – Announced investment in education will bolster reform

Source: BusinessNZ

BusinessNZ welcomes the Government’s Budget 2026 investment of $131.1 million into compulsory education, saying the package reinforces the importance of strong foundational learning for New Zealand’s long-term economic future.
BusinessNZ Director of Education, Skills and Immigration Rachel Simpson says meaningful education reform requires resourcing and ensuring teachers have the tools, training, and support to consistently deliver high-quality learning in the classroom.
“This investment recognises that teacher professional development is central to lifting student achievement and ensuring reforms translate into better outcomes for young New Zealanders. Strong foundational education is critical for the future workforce New Zealand businesses depend on.
“Businesses need a schooling system that equips young people with the core skills, resilience, and confidence to succeed. Investment in education is ultimately an investment in New Zealand’s productivity, competitiveness, and long-term prosperity.
“For young people coming through the system, the new settings and resourcing will better equip them for a wider range of opportunities, giving them the core skills to pursue different careers, and the confidence and capability to continue adapting, learning, and succeeding as industries evolve.”
The BusinessNZ Network including BusinessNZ, EMA, Business Central and Business South, represents and provides services to thousands of businesses, small and large, throughout New Zealand.
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Health Provision – One in five GP referrals declined as wait times for care increase

Source: Association of Salaried Medical Specialists

Twenty per cent of GP referrals to specialists are being declined across several districts, but the extent of the problem nationally is unknown as Health NZ doesn’t collate this information.
A new report by the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists compared data from seven districts and found declined referrals increased from 101,962 in 2023 to 110,916 in 2024 and an estimated 112,348 in 2025.
If the trend remained consistent across every district it would mean 255,000 people are declined first specialist appointments (FSAs) every year.
“FSA wait times are a key health target for this Government and our report shows that more and more are being declined,” ASMS Senior Policy and Research Advisor Virginia Mills says.
“This is due to chronic public health workforce shortages and increases in acute admissions. Health funding is not responding to population changes and unmet need.”
Despite increasing declined referrals, the report found the treatment waiting list has not substantially declined.
“Even with the current push to outsource planned care to the private sector, the workforce shortages and limited capacity to deliver planned care are too great to overcome,” Mills says.
The report concluded:
  • Workforce targets must accompany FSA and planned care targets
  • Transparency from outsourced procedures is required including cost, type and volumes.
  • Data collection and reporting from Health NZ must improve.
“The fact that Health NZ does not collate and publish this vital information means Minister of Health Simeon Brown is making decisions based on guess work and assumptions.
“Health NZ must do better to report its basic functionality which is, how many people get treatment and how many get declined.”
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National population estimates: At 31 March 2026 – Stats NZ information release

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Births and deaths: Year ended March 2026 – Stats NZ information release

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Advocacy – Israeli Naval Warships Encircle and Intercepting Civilians on the Global Sumud Flotilla–250 Nautical Miles from Gaza in Another Illegal High-Seas Interception in International Waters

Source: Global Sumud Flotilla

MEDITERRANEAN SEA — The Global Sumud Flotilla is currently surrounded and under active interception by Israeli naval warships in international waters, approximately 250 nautical miles from the coast of Gaza. This military encirclement marks the commencement of another illegal, high-seas aggression four days after 54 civilian vessels lifted anchor from Marmaris to establish a humanitarian corridor and break Israel's illegal siege of Gaza.

Three New Zealanders are currently facing illegal interception, including Hāhona Ormsby, Mousa Taher, and Julien Blondel.

A Pattern of Extrajudicial High-Seas Piracy

This active naval confrontation is a direct continuation of the lawless Israeli military assault launched just two weeks ago, off the coast of Crete. During the previous interception, located over 650 nautical miles from Gaza, within the Greek Search and Rescue (SAR) zone, israeli military forces illegally boarded, sabotaged, and abducted 181 peaceful human rights defenders across 21 civilian vessels, subjecting participants to documented detention as well as physical and sexual violence.

By intercepting the flotilla at a perimeter of 250 nautical miles today and in Cyprus’ SAR zone, the israeli regime continues to demonstrate a systematic disregard for international maritime law, freedom of navigation on the high seas, and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Dismantling the Manufactured Propaganda Pretext

This military interception follows a coordinated week-long propaganda campaign broadcast by state-controlled Israeli regime media outlets, including N12 and amplified by their own self-proclaimed ‘propaganda yacht” filled with influencers spreading the Israeli regime’s lies. This established playbook seeks to manufacture consent to carry out war crimes and crimes against humanity against an unarmed, non-violent civil society mission composed of doctors, journalists, and humanitarians.

The Global Sumud Flotilla legal team has placed the international community on formal notice that the participants are entirely unarmed, and any violence executed on these vessels remains the sole legal responsibility of the Israeli regime and the country’s leaders allowing it to happen. Active criminal investigations are moving forward across twenty countries, and individual liability will also be pursued in international courts for all forces enforcing this genocidal siege.

Connecting the Siege: From Crete to Sirte

The naval interception of the flotilla occurs in tandem with an aggressive containment strategy on land, where the Global Sumud Land Convoy—comprising more than 30 vehicles including 7 specialized ambulances and 20 mobile homes—has halted near Sirte, Libya. Eastern Libyan authorities, acting under direct political pressure from Egypt, have positioned military forces to block the overland humanitarian route toward Rafah.

The consecutive targeting of both the sea and land components of the mission makes clear that the illegal siege on Gaza has expanded into a global architecture of violence, occupation and expanded impunity. This represents an extraterritorial projection of the ‘Greater israel' doctrine, deploying proxy political influence and military force across sovereign international borders to crush civil society support for Palestine.

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Chief Ombudsman says fishing boat camera footage should not be excluded from the OIA

Source: Office of the Ombudsman

The Chief Ombudsman says a proposal in the Fisheries Amendment Bill to exempt commercial fishing camera footage from release under the Official Information Act is unnecessary and excessive.
John Allen made an oral submission on the Bill before Parliament’s Primary Production Committee today.
Mr Allen says the array of measures included in the Bill including carving out fishing camera footage from the OIA aren’t justified because the law already offers protections.
“In my view, these measures risk undermining the OIA, and lowering trust and confidence in both the fishing industry and in government.”
Mr Allen says the OIA provides mechanisms to withhold information when disclosure is not in the public interest.
Since the wider roll out of on-board cameras in June 2023, The Ministry for Primary Industries has provided written summaries of incidents and, in some cases, has allowed requestors to watch the footage.
The Ombudsman has only received a handful of complaints, which suggests the public is generally comfortable with MPI’s written summaries. The Ombudsman has not recommended the release of any full camera recordings in any of these cases.
“We’ve been satisfied each time that the public interest in disclosure has been met by the written summaries. However, we reserve the right to find otherwise in cases where the summary failed to reflect the gravity of the incident recorded,” Mr Allen says.
“The OIA ‘carve out’, along with other provisions in the Bill including one which imposes a penalty of up to $50,000 for leaking footage from fishing boat cameras, goes well beyond the protections given to information provided to other regulators.
“I suggest the committee recommends excluding those clauses from the Bill.”
“The Bill, as it stands, will achieve nothing more than preventing the public from assessing the worst examples of regulatory failures by the Ministry or most shocking breaches of the law by the fishing industry. This is contrary to the purpose of both the OIA and the Fisheries Act.”
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Older New Zealanders and families paying the price for delayed aged care reform

Source: Aged Care Association

The Aged Care Association says the closure of Enliven’s Reevedon Rest Home in Levin reflects the cumulative impact of years of underinvestment and delayed reform in aged residential care, with older New Zealanders and their families increasingly carrying the consequences.
“This is not a surprise. It is the predictable result of a system that has been under sustained pressure for many years,” said Hon. Tracey Martin, Chief Executive of the Aged Care Association.
“For more than a decade, successive governments have been warned that the funding model does not reflect the true cost of care. Multiple reviews have identified the same issues, yet meaningful reform has continued to be delayed.”
Reevedon is a 40-bed rest home made up entirely of standard rooms, the type of care relied upon by older New Zealanders living on superannuation alone.
“These are exactly the beds New Zealand cannot afford to lose,” Tracey Martin said.
“Standard room care is essential for older people who do not have the financial ability to pay premium accommodation charges, and yet these are increasingly the beds under the greatest pressure.”
Families and communities increasingly carrying the pressure
The Association says the impact of long-term system pressure is now being felt directly by older New Zealanders, their families, and local communities.
“When homes like Reevedon close, the pressure does not disappear. It shifts elsewhere,” Tracey Martin said.
“It shifts onto families trying to find suitable care, onto hospitals struggling with discharge delays, onto primary care services, and onto communities trying to support older people with increasingly limited options.”
“For too long there has been an assumption that the system would continue to absorb this pressure. That assumption is no longer holding.”
Aged care is health care
The Association says the closure reinforces the need for aged residential care to be recognised as core health infrastructure.
“Aged care is not separate from the health system. It is a fundamental part of it,” Tracey Martin said.
“If aged care capacity reduces, the consequences are felt across the entire health system.”
“When older people cannot access the right care at the right time, the pressure inevitably shows up elsewhere, particularly in hospitals and on families already under strain.”
Funding settings no longer match reality
The Association says the current funding model is increasingly disconnected from the realities of modern aged residential care.
“Residents are entering care later in life, with significantly more complex clinical and care needs than in the past,” Tracey Martin said.
“At the same time, the costs of delivering safe, high-quality care have continued to rise, while funding has not kept pace with those changes.”
“There is also very limited ability within the current model for providers to reinvest in ageing infrastructure and facilities. Over time, even well-run homes come under increasing pressure.”
Need for reform now urgent
The Association says the closure highlights the urgent need to move from discussion to implementation.
“We are well past the point of identifying the problem. The sector, government, and the wider health system all understand the pressures that exist,” Tracey Martin said.
“What is needed now is practical reform that stabilises the system and supports long-term sustainability.”
The Aged Care Association is calling for progress on a three-stage reform programme:
1. Stabilise the system
  • Establish an aged care infrastructure investment fund
  • Introduce an admission and discharge payment
“These are practical measures that could help prevent further loss of capacity in the short term,” Tracey Martin said.
2. Sustain the system through fair funding
  • Move to evidence-based funding for clinical care
  • Implement a split funding model to improve transparency for residents and families
“New Zealanders deserve transparency around what the health system funds and what individuals are expected to contribute themselves.”
3. Make the system investable
  • Agree a sustainable operating margin
“Without the ability to reinvest in facilities and infrastructure, closures like this will continue over time.”
A warning sign for the future
The Association says Reevedon is unlikely to be the last service closure unless meaningful reform occurs.
“This is not an isolated issue. Providers across the country are facing similar pressures,” Tracey Martin said.
“If we continue to lose standard room capacity, older New Zealanders and their families will increasingly find that access to care depends not on need, but on ability to pay.”
Closing
“This is ultimately about what kind of country New Zealand wants to be as our population ages,” Tracey Martin said.
“We can either act now to strengthen and modernise the system, or we can continue to allow pressure to build until families and communities are left carrying more and more of the burden themselves.”
“Older New Zealanders deserve certainty that care will be available when they need it. Increasingly, that certainty is being eroded.”
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GLOBAL: Executions surge to highest record figures in 44 years – Amnesty International

Source: Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand

Executions in 2025 soared to the highest figure recorded by Amnesty International since 1981, with 2,707 people executed across 17 countries, revealed the latest annual report from the human rights organization on the global use of the death penalty.
The staggering rise recorded in the report Death Sentences and Executions 2025, was down to a handful of governments determined to rule by fear. Iranian authorities, the main drivers behind the spike, executed at least 2,159 people, more than double its 2024 figure. Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia raised its execution tally to at least 356, using the death penalty extensively for drug-related offences. Executions in Kuwait almost tripled (from 6 to 17), while they near doubled in Egypt (from 13 to 23), Singapore (from 9 to 17), and the United States of America (from 25 to 47). Overall, executions rose by 78%, after at least 1,518 executions were recorded in 2024. The 2025 total does not include the thousands of executions that Amnesty International believes continued to be carried out in China, which remained the world’s lead executioner.
“This alarming spike in the use of the death penalty is due to a small, isolated group of states willing to carry out executions at all costs, despite the continued global trend towards abolition. From China, Iran, North Korea and Saudi Arabia to Yemen, Kuwait, Singapore and the USA, this shameless minority are weaponizing the death penalty to instil fear, crush dissent and show the strength state institutions have over disadvantaged people and marginalized communities,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
The resurgence of highly punitive approaches in the “war on drugs” drove efforts to expand the use of the death penalty. This was reflected in the number of executions, with close to half (1,257 or 46%) of all known executions recorded for drug-related offences: in China (+), Iran (998), Kuwait (2), Saudi Arabia (240) and Singapore (15). Algeria, Kuwait, and the Maldives made legislative efforts to expand the scope of the death penalty to include drug-related offences.
The government of Burkina Faso adopted a draft bill that included reinstating the death penalty for offences such as “high treason,” “terrorism,” and “acts of espionage”, while the authorities in Chad established a commission to review matters related to the death penalty – including its reinstatement.
Executions carried out by handful of countries
While executions surged, executing countries remain an isolated minority. China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, USA, Viet Nam and Yemen are the same 10 countries known to have carried out executions every year in the last five years and that have consistently shown disregard for safeguards established under international human rights law and standards.
Four countries resumed executions last year (Japan, South Sudan, Taiwan and United Arab Emirates), bringing the total number of executing countries to 17.
Progress was made elsewhere around the world, proving hope is stronger than fear.
No executions or death sentences were recorded in Europe and Central Asia. For the 17th consecutive year, the USA was the only country in the Americas to execute people, with close to half of all US executions carried out in Florida. Executions in Sub-Saharan Africa were confined to Somalia and South Sudan. Afghanistan was the only country in South Asia to pursue executions; Singapore and Viet Nam were the only countries known to do so in Southeast Asia. Tonga was the only country in the Pacific to retain the death penalty in law.
“It’s time for executing countries to step into line with the rest of the world and leave this abhorrent practice in the past. The death penalty does not make us safer. Rather, it is an irreversible affront against humanity that’s driven by fear, with utter disregard for international human rights law,” said Agnès Callamard.
The flame of abolition continues to burn
When Amnesty International started its work against the death penalty in 1977, only 16 countries had abolished it. Today, that number has risen to 113 – more than half the world’s countries, while more than two-thirds are abolitionist in law or practice.
Against a backdrop of predatory behaviours, fear and hate, some countries took steps demonstrating that, with continued pressure and determination, global abolition is within reach. Authorities in Vietnam abolished the death penalty for eight offences, including drug transportation, bribery, and embezzlement, while Gambia abolished the death penalty for murder, treason and other offences against the state. In a historic move, the Governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, granted clemency to Rocky Myers – the first clemency granted to a Black person on death row in the state.
In Lebanon and Nigeria, bills were introduced to abolish the death penalty, while the Constitutional Court of Kyrgyzstan declared attempts to reintroduce the death penalty as unconstitutional.
“With human rights under threat around the world, millions of people continue to fight against the death penalty each year in a powerful demonstration of our shared humanity,” said Agnès Callamard. “Total abolition is possible if we all stand strong against the isolated few. We must keep the flame of abolition burning bright until the world is entirely free from the shadows of the gallows.”
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Greenpeace – Lumsden water supply nitrate contamination above preterm birth risk level

Source: Greenpeace

Greenpeace is warning pregnant people against drinking from the Lumsden water supply, following nitrate testing on Sunday which revealed that the town’s water was testing at 6.14 mg/L of nitrate (NO3-N) on average.
Greenpeace freshwater campaigner Will Appelbe says, “This is a public health crisis. Pregnant people in Lumsden who are drinking this water are at an increased risk of preterm birth, and everyone who drinks from this water supply for a long period of time is at an increased risk of developing bowel cancer.”
Greenpeace testing in 2023 revealed that the town supply was over 4 mg/L of nitrate. In the last three years, the town supply has increased by approximately 2 mg/L, putting it above the 5 mg/L threshold associated with an increased risk of preterm birth, and well above the 1 mg/L threshold associated with an increased risk of bowel cancer.
The New Zealand College of Midwives recommends that pregnant people exposed to drinking water nitrate above 5 mg/L ‘consider accessing an alternative water source’.
“Rural communities like Lumsden deserve so much better. They shouldn’t be having their water supply contaminated while rich dairy CEOs in Auckland get to drink safe, clean water,” says Appelbe.
“They are effectively drinking poisoned water.”
“This is an outrage – we are talking about basic human rights being breached here. About 15% of New Zealanders could be exposed to nitrate contaminated water that is making them sick. Many don’t even know about it. The dairy industry has a lot to answer for.”
Greenpeace is calling on district councils to make their nitrate test results publicly available.
Appelbe says, “Gore and Selwyn District Council have already started publishing their nitrate level test results. It’s not difficult. Other councils need to follow suit as soon as possible. It’s just common sense.”
“More action is needed, and it should have started a long time ago. Monitoring nitrate levels and informing the public of risk is the bare minimum.
“But ultimately, we need to stop nitrate from getting into the drinking water in the first place. That means reducing the size of the dairy herd, and phasing out the use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, because urea and cow urine are the primary sources of nitrate contamination.”
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Universities – Scientists crowdfund menstrual health research – UoA

Source: University of Auckland (UoA)

Scientists at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland have resorted to crowdfunding research that could have material benefits for women’s health.

This May, which is Menstrual Health Awareness Month, University scientists are campaigning to crowdfund research they believe could help save women from dangerous infections.

The microbiologists are investigating the hygiene of reuseable period products, menstrual cups and discs, which have exploded in popularity, but lack safety information.

“We did a literature search at the beginning of this idea and found only four studies that have investigated the formation of biofilms on the menstrual cups,” says Dr Priscila Dauros-Singorenko, a research fellow in Molecular Medicine and Pathology at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland.

Biofilms are communities of microbes that attach tightly to surfaces and surround themselves with protective substances. They can be more difficult to remove with washing and mild disinfectants than free‑living microbes.

The studies that Dauros-Singorenko and her supervisor, Associate Professor Siouxsie Wiles, did find were carried out in conditions unlike those occurring in a vagina.

“That got me thinking about whether we could investigate the safety of these products in conditions that mimic a menstruating vagina,” Wiles says.

The products have grown rapidly in popularity in light of their affordability and sustainability.

Based on industry retail spending data from 2023, New Zealanders spent approximately $79 million on disposable menstrual products.

Dauros‑Singorenko and Wiles were keen to work together on the investigation. However, despite a clear gap in evidence on how to use these products safely, they have struggled to attract research funding over the past 18 months.

Their study aims to independently test how well different microbes can form biofilms on a range of menstrual cups and discs under conditions that closely mimic real use.

The study will focus on organisms known to form biofilms and to be associated with biofilm‑related infections, including bacteria linked to menstrual toxic shock syndrome, urinary tract infections and bacterial vaginosis, as well as yeast that can cause thrush.

They will also test a variety of products currently on the market. The global number of menstrual cups and discs has grown rapidly, yet regulation varies widely.

In New Zealand, these products are not considered medical devices and are subject to very limited safety regulation.

While many established brands provide clear information about materials, manufacturing standards and cleaning instructions, cheaper products sold online often provide little or no safety information.

“We want to know whether material quality, design or price makes a difference when it comes to biofilm formation,” Dauros-Singorenko says.

In the meantime, Dauros-Singorenko recommends women buy reusable menstrual products from well-known brands and follow the care instructions.

The team has launched its crowdfunding campaign during Menstrual Health Awareness Month to support the study.

They note that historically only a small proportion of health research funding is directed toward conditions that primarily affect women outside of cancer.

“In Aotearoa, more than one million people are of menstruating age,” Wiles says.

“Reusable period products are affordable and sustainable, so we want to make sure people can use them with confidence, backed by independent scientific evidence.”

You can contribute here: https://support.auckland.ac.nz/mcr