Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: New Zealand Nurses Organisation

A new proposal that will require Te Whatu Ora to offer all eligible graduate nurses jobs in the public health system will help keep them in nursing and in Aotearoa New Zealand, NZNO says.

Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO national student vice-chair Dawn Blyth says the election policy from Labour announced today would be welcomed by nursing students.

“Traditionally up to 90% of nursing graduates have been employed into hospitals where they receive invaluable on-the-job mentoring and skill development.

“However, despite recent promises from the Coalition Government to hire 1800 graduates this financial year, less than half of graduates over the past two years have received job offers.

“It is soul-destroying for nursing graduates to study for three years and hope for a job and then not get one. A survey of nursing students last year found more than 61% were considering moving overseas for work if they couldn’t get a position in New Zealand,” Dawn Blyth says.

Outgoing NZNO Te Rūnanga Tauira (student) chair Poihaere Whare says hiring all eligible graduates would help create a sustainable pipeline of Aotearoa New Zealand-trained nurses.

“A focus on getting nurse graduates into primary care will help whānau get the care they need in their own communities.

“However, only around 250 of the 400 graduate places were filled by primary care employers last financial year because they are so stretched, they don’t have the capacity to mentor new nurses.

“And with current pay rates for primary care nurses at levels around 11% lower than their hospital counterparts, nurses are leaving family doctor clinics for better pay. Nurses working for Māori and Iwi providers earn even less.

“If Labour is serious about building the nursing workforce and fixing the health system, it must fund primary care sufficiently so all nurses working in the sector can receive pay parity with Te Whatu Ora nurses,” Poihaere Whare says.

Source: Billo

A study of nearly 168,000 Meta video ads, tracked from July 2025 through June 2026, finds that only five out of 13 categories peak their profitability in the fourth quarter. The others get the highest ROAS in other months.

August 31, 2026. The fourth quarter isn’t the most profitable for every brand, according to new data from marketing platform Billo. Data showed that across 13 product categories, the best-performing month landed in seven different months of the year.

Home & Garden brands earned the most per ad dollar in July 2025, Baby & Toddler peaked in January 2026, and Electronics didn't peak until May 2026, all outside the fourth quarter most brands plan around.

The company analyzed nearly 168,000 Meta video ads placed over the last twelve months, from July 2025 through June 2026, measuring ROAS, or return on ad spend: purchase value divided by ad spend.

“You can watch thousands of campaigns and see the same mistake every year,” said Donatas Smailys, co-founder and CEO of Billo. “Gift categories made Q4 look like the answer for everyone, so brands whose real peak is July or May just borrowed the same calendar without checking their own numbers. Every campaign we've analyzed tells a different story about timing. A brand pouring its best creative into November when its category actually peaks in July is burning its strongest work on one of its weakest months.”

Every category has its own peak month

No single month works for every category. Home & Garden, for example, earned its best return in July 2025, a full quarter before most brands start ramping up holiday budgets. Apparel & Accessories and Software also peaked in that same month.

Each figure below is that category's ROAS, meaning the dollars in purchase value earned per dollar of ad spend, in its single best month:

• Summer peak (July 2025). Home & Garden ($5.33 per ad dollar), Apparel & Accessories ($4.77), Software ($2.06)
• Early autumn peak (September 2025). Sporting Goods ($4.76), Services ($2.88)
• Q4 gifting peak (November-December 2025). Animals & Pet Supplies ($2.08), Business & Industrial ($2.69), Health & Beauty ($2.44), Food & Beverages ($3.07), Toys & Games ($2.90)
• Winter peak (January-February 2026). Baby & Toddler ($5.83), Arts & Entertainment ($5.67)
• Spring peak (May 2026). Electronics ($5.01)

Only five of these categories, the Q4 gifting cluster, actually peak in the fourth quarter. The highest return in the entire window belongs to Baby & Toddler, which earned $5.83 per ad dollar in January, not November or December. That figure, along with Arts & Entertainment's February peak and Electronics' May peak, comes from the first half of 2026, the more recent of Billo's two half-year reports, so Billo considers each of these three the strongest month so far, not a confirmed annual pattern.

“The Q4 rules work for gift categories, since that’s where it was built,” said Donatas Smailys. “The mistake is applying it everywhere else, as if every category shops like a holiday shopper. The same blind spot shows up with clicks: a brand chasing whatever month gets the most clicks falls into the same trap as a brand chasing Q4. Both are optimizing for a signal that isn’t the one that actually pays.”

What brands should do

Check when your own category has performed best over the past year before setting a second-half budget. Billo's benchmark reports break ROAS down by category and month, so brands can compare their results against that baseline.

Not every category has a clear seasonal pattern to check against. Services, Business & Industrial, and Baby & Toddler show no repeatable peak in Billo's data. Brands in these categories should spread their spend evenly across the year rather than concentrating it in a single month.

“Every brand we work with already has the answer to when their season is, it's in their own ad data,” said Smailys. “The mistake is looking at the calendar instead of looking at your own numbers. Once you build creative around your actual peak month, you're feeding the algorithm exactly when it's most likely to convert.”

Methodology

Billo publishes these benchmarks twice a year, covering ROAS, CTR, and hook rate across 13 categories, drawn from tens of thousands of Meta video ads. The current window runs from July 2025 through June 2026, presented across two half-year reports rather than a single calendar year: 88,329 ads and $122 million in ad spend in the first half of 2026, and 80,069 ads and $105 million in spend in the second half of 2025, for a combined $418 million in tracked purchase value. ROAS is calculated as purchase value divided by ad spend. Full data for both reports, including the CTR and hook rate benchmarks referenced here, is available on Billo's site.

About Billo

Billo is the leading UGC marketplace founded in 2019 that connects brands with creators to produce high-performing social video ads. It is based in Lithuania, built for US needs, and led by co-founder and CEO Donatas Smailys. The platform combines the power of UGC content with a streamlined production process, helping brands increase brand awareness, drive traffic, and boost conversions with authentic creator videos on TikTok, Meta, YouTube, and other platforms.

Source: University of Auckland (UoA)

MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2026

As Auckland debates congestion charging, research highlights an often-overlooked impact of vehicles on the city’s roads: the pollution stirred up as they travel.

A 13-year study of Auckland air quality found road dust was a significant contributor to PM₁₀, tiny airborne particles associated with respiratory and cardiovascular problems.

The study, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, analysed data collected at three Auckland air-quality monitoring sites: Queen Street in the CBD, Khyber Pass, a major arterial route near the city centre, and Penrose, close to a large motorway.

PM₁₀ data from the three sites was used to identify contributions from soil, fuel, biomass burning, secondary sulphate, marine aerosol and road dust. The researchers combined this with traffic data and information on temperature, wind speed and rainfall, using a series of models to examine factors influencing PM₁₀ concentrations.

Lead researcher Dr Mingyue Selena Sheng, from the University of Auckland Business School’s Energy Centre, says the findings highlight the importance of looking beyond exhaust emissions when considering the impact of road transport on air quality.

“Our findings show that road dust is, at times, a dominant and statistically significant contributor,” says Sheng.

“Much of the focus has been on reducing what comes out of the tailpipe, but road dust and other non-exhaust emissions need our attention.”

Non-exhaust emissions include particles from the wear of brakes, tyres, clutches and road surfaces, as well as dust and other material deposited on roads that is “resuspended” or lifted back into the air by moving vehicles, tyres and atmospheric conditions.

In one analysis, road dust had a larger estimated effect on PM₁₀ than fuel emissions, and the researchers’ modelling suggests a 1 percent increase in road dust is likely to cause an 8.8 percent increase in PM₁₀ concentration.

Co-author, Business School economist Dr Le Wen, says non-exhaust emissions are closely linked to the physical movement of vehicles, so the number and type of vehicles on our roads matters.

Heavy vehicles, defined as those weighing more than 3.5 metric tonnes, represented about 4 percent of traffic on average in the dataset, and the researchers found evidence of an association between a higher proportion of heavy vehicles and increased PM₁₀ levels.

Although the percentage of heavy vehicles is relatively low, Wen says their role in resuspending road dust and contributing to PM₁₀ levels plays a disproportionate role in air pollution.

The findings are particularly relevant as transport shifts towards electric vehicles which typically weigh more due to their batteries.

“While electric vehicles offer a pathway to reducing tailpipe emissions, their environmental benefits may be offset by increased non-exhaust emissions, especially from heavier vehicle fleets.

“Moving to electric vehicles has important benefits, but it doesn’t make particulate pollution from road transport disappear. If we want cleaner urban air, non-exhaust emissions need to be a key part of the conversation.”

The researchers say tackling non-exhaust emissions will require targeted measures alongside efforts to cut tailpipe pollution. The paper suggests https://rsnz.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1080/03036758.2025.2514094 transport policy should require vehicles carrying soil and other loose material to keep it contained in urban areas and consider time-based restrictions to reduce air pollution during peak periods.

Source: Child Poverty Action Group

The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) is calling on the Government to reverse the latest welfare law change stripping unemployment benefits from thousands of 18 and 19-year-olds which they say will deepen hardship for young people.

From November 2026, 18 and 19-year-olds will be denied Jobseeker Support if their parents earn more than $67,225 combined. An estimated 4,300 young people are expected to lose eligibility for support.

CPAG Chief Executive Lyn Amos says the policy punishes young people for a lack of jobs, not a lack of effort.

“Youth unemployment is nearly 15 percent and higher again for young people with disabilities. Jobs are hard to find right now, and this law doesn't change that. It just removes the safety net from under young people while they look,” Ms Amos says.

“This isn't about parents 'stepping up.' The families affected have lost the Family Tax Credit for these young people who are no longer counted as dependents – yet they're still expected to fully support unemployed 18 and 19-year-olds. Younger children in these households will feel that squeeze first.”

Earlier this year, it was an OIA request from CPAG which revealed the Prime Minister’s office had no evidence on file (https://www.cpag.org.nz/news/revealed-pms-office-received-no-advice-that-there-are-jobs-for-young-people) that jobs were even available for 18 and 19-year-olds, despite his repeated statements suggesting there were.

CPAG's newly released Manifesto to Reduce Child Poverty (https://www.cpag.org.nz/our-campaigns/a-manifesto-to-reduce-child-poverty-2026), written by 11 researchers across incomes, housing, health, disability and education, specifically calls for this policy to be reversed.

One of the Manifesto’s authors, Auckland University economist Susan St John, says this change that treats young adults as dependent children is supposed to “reduce benefit dependency and encourage people into work, but in practice it swaps one dependency for another, with no analysis of its potentially harmful effects (https://theconversation.com/jobseeker-changes-turn-young-adults-into-dependent-children-and-squeeze-households-further-266785).”

“Young people don't choose to be unemployed in a recession. What they need is support to find secure work and further education – not to be told the taxpayer owes them nothing because of what their parents earn.”

CPAG says the change will push more families into poverty and deepen their hardship and comes as the country continues to miss its statutory child poverty reduction targets.

The Manifesto calls for all 18 and 19-year-olds to retain access to a benefit if they need one, alongside a wider package of reforms to Working for Families, benefit abatement rates, and student loan repayment thresholds, to lift children and young people out of poverty.

Notes to Editors:

– CPAG is an independent charity that has researched and advocated on child poverty in Aotearoa New Zealand for 32 years.

– The Manifesto for Child Poverty Reduction (August 2026) and an executive summary are available at A Manifesto to Reduce Child Poverty (2026) – Child Poverty Action Group (https://www.cpag.org.nz/our-campaigns/a-manifesto-to-reduce-child-poverty-2026).

– CPAG’s Policy Briefs are at https://www.cpag.org.nz/policy-briefs (https://www.cpag.org.nz/policy-briefs).

– Key figures: 169,300 children (14.3%) in material hardship in the year ended June 2025 (StatsNZ), up 47,500 since 2022; the legislated 2028 target is 6%. Child poverty is estimated to cost 3-4.5% of GDP a year ($13.5-18 billion).

– Manifesto authors: Innes Asher, Gerard Cotterell, Rebekah Graham, Frank Hogan, Alan Johnson, Michael O’Brien, John O’Neill, Jenny Ritchie, Susan St John, Nikki Turner, Janfrie Wakim.

Source: New Zealand Minerals Council

Let mining grow is the message for the Government elected on 7 November, says New Zealand Minerals Council chief executive Josie Vidal.

Today the minerals council is sending its Election 2026 manifesto (https://mineralscouncil.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/2026-Election-Manifesto.pdf) to all Members of Parliament, outlining how the mining industry can grow its contribution to the economy, jobs, conservation efforts, and regional communities.

“We believe mining is a ray of light in the economy and the Government should support growth,” Vidal says. “Minerals export earnings are at $3.1 billion, having doubled since 2023, and now represent 2.7% of New Zealand total goods exports. That puts them ahead of many iconic export sectors such as wine and seafood.

“The sector employs 5,870 people (2024), up 11% from 2023, and with the mines in the pipeline more than 1,500 new jobs can be expected. These are high wage jobs and the sector is one of the most productive in the economy.

“It is important for responsible decision makers to look at facts and evidence to assess the economic value of mining,” Vidal says. “We advocate for policy and law that enables investment and growth, so that New Zealand can make the most of its resources, within reasonable guardrails.

“In an increasingly volatile world, it is important to show we have stable Government and the ideal is cross-party agreement from the main political parties on impactful issues, allowing for clarity and confidence for businesses, investors, and trading partners.

“There is a lot of international interest in mining in New Zealand and in 2025 there were 551 mining exploration applications compared with 450 in 2024. That doesn’t mean there is going to be a mine on every corner because not every exploration permit ends in a mine. But there are some serious contenders that will bring jobs and money into our economy. They pay taxes, royalties and rates here, and support businesses that supply goods and services.

“While politicians are influenced by public perceptions, it is important they realise that research shows a sizeable majority of New Zealanders think mining is important to the economy and they would prefer New Zealand to mine its own minerals over importing them.

“We want the next Government to understand mining is not a threat to high value conservation land; the seabed can be mined responsibly, and New Zealand has a significant scientific and technical contribution to make to managing its environmental impact; and that gold, coal and other critical minerals we have here should be mined responsibly to contribute to global supply, so that quality of life can improve for all.

“The best path forward is a lighter touch from Government and continued engagement by decision makers with the mining sector and experts in the field,” Vidal says.

Source: Screenrights

Screenrights has announced six projects will be supported by the 2026 round of its annual Cultural Fund, to total $293,400 in funding for this year’s focus of Learning Through Story.

Two Aotearoa New Zealand initiatives have been selected: a ‘Māori & Pasifika Impact Producing Lab’ will provide training in impact producing for up to eight Māori and Pasifika screen practitioners in Aotearoa New Zealand, provided by Nine Islands Media and supported by a $50,000 grant; and ‘He Kōrero Tuku Iho – Stories Carried Forward’ will see Film Bay of Plenty deliver a place-based screen storytelling series of workshops and story labs supporting diverse communities to translate lived and cultural stories into screen narratives, with $44,000 in funding from the Screenrights Cultural Fund. And a $50,000 grant will support ‘The Writers Lab for women screenwriters over 40’ to select female and non-binary writers over 40 from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand to participate in a script development intensive brought to Australia by Brooke Hemphill and based on a successful model rolled out in the USA, Canada, the UK and Europe.

In Australia, Young Yarnz will build a classroom focused digital platform with interactive, curriculum aligned learning modules around screen content featuring First Nations knowledge holders, with a grant of $50,000. Brock Casting Services’ ‘Lights On: Story-Led Learning for Disabled Creatives’ will receive $49,400 for their disability-led screen training initiative to remove the structural barriers that prevent disabled creatives from accessing real pathways into the screen industry. And Studio Gilay will receive $50,000 for ‘Animation as Living Story’, a series of culturally safe online modules designed to transform industry production methodologies, addressing the underrepresentation of Indigenous practitioners in Australian animation.

“This year’s focus, ‘Learning Through Story’, attracted an exceptional calibre of applications. From culturally safe classroom tools to mentorship for emerging storytellers, the six selected projects will help diverse screen stories reach and empower communities across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand,” says Screenrights Board Director and Cultural Fund Working Group Chair Tom Alegenourias. “The Screenrights Cultural Fund continues to be a vital springboard for initiatives that break down barriers and build lasting sector capability.”

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 over $2.2 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.

https://www.screenrights.org/cultural-fund

ABOUT THE SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS

Animation as Living Story

Activity: A series of culturally safe online modules designed to transform industry production methodologies, addressing the underrepresentation of Indigenous practitioners in Australian animation. Modules will be based on the stages of the animation pipeline and will provide practical guidance for creatives to meaningfully embed Indigenous story into every stage of the animation cycle from initial concept to technical execution. The resource will be hosted online via a free, open-access microsite, ensuring it is available to students, producers and studios throughout Australia. In parallel, a comprehensive survey of the animation industry will be conducted with the University of Sydney, collecting data to quantify current gaps in Indigenous representation and protocol.

Location: Sydney, NSW, and online across Australia

Amount Funded: $50,000

Recipient Quote: “Studio Gilay is Australia’s leading majority Indigenous-owned animation studio, and proud recipient of the 2026 Screenrights Cultural Fund. This is a major milestone for us, and the beginning of important work. The grant will allow us to deep-dive into the immense power and impact potential of Indigenous storytelling in the digital realm. As we step into this space, we recognise that our role as a conduit, bringing the rich stories, knowledge systems, and artistry of our communities to life with animation – also requires building rigorous protocol around those voices to enable safety, protection and sustainable practice.” – Jake Duczynski, Studio Gilay

He Kōrero Tuku Iho – Stories Carried Forward

Activity: A place-based screen storytelling learning programme delivered across the Bay of Plenty, supporting diverse communities to develop the skills and confidence to translate lived and cultural stories into screen narratives through a combination of workshops and story labs. The programme focuses on learning rather than production, creating space for participants to explore story, voice, and perspective in a supported environment. Key sessions will be captured and developed into a digital learning resource, extending the programme’s impact beyond immediate participants and supporting ongoing access for educators and emerging creatives.

Location: Bay of Plenty, North Island, New Zealand

Amount Funded: $44,000

Recipient Quote: “We're incredibly excited and grateful to receive support from the Screenrights Cultural Fund. It gives us the opportunity to bring He Kōrero Tuku Iho – Stories Carried Forward to the Bay and support local storytellers to develop stories grounded in place, identity and lived experience. We can't wait to bring everyone together and get started.” Jade Kent, Film Bay of Plenty

Lights On: Story-Led Learning for Disabled Creatives

Activity: A disability-led screen training initiative to remove the structural barriers that prevent disabled creatives from accessing real pathways into the screen industry. With an inaugural five-person pilot proving the model works, Cultural Fund grant funding will support three new outcomes: a documented story-led curriculum; a protected online learning platform hosting training materials and downloadable resources; and a new cohort of eight participants to test, refine and strengthen the model. Participants learn on-camera skills, screen literacy, professional confidence and industry readiness through engaging with screen stories and developing their own, with immediate impact for participants and lasting infrastructure for the screen sector that can be delivered, licensed and adapted nationally long after the grant period ends.

Location: Brisbane, QLD, and online across Australia

Amount Funded: $49,400

Recipient Quote: “Lights On started because I could see there was a gap in our industry. Incredible disabled talent was out there, but the pathway in wasn’t. Our pilot showed us just how much potential there is when people are given the right opportunity, training and support. This funding is a huge step towards changing that. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built so far, and even more excited about where Lights On can go from here. Thank you, Screenrights, for believing in and supporting our vision.” – Liza Brock, Brock Casting Services

Māori & Pasifika Impact Producing Lab

Activity: An 8-week professional development programme for up to eight Māori and Pasifika screen practitioners across Aotearoa New Zealand, the lab provides training in impact producing for film and series, focusing on how stories can be designed to reach, engage, and influence audiences and communities. Delivered entirely online, the programme combines live workshops, applied strategy development, and facilitated feedback sessions. Delivered by Māori, Pasifika, and international impact experts and produced by Nine Islands Media, the lab responds to a clear gap in the New Zealand screen sector, where impact producing is not yet widely taught or formalised, particularly in ways that centre Indigenous and community-led storytelling approaches. The programme is supported by Ngā Aho Whakaari and Pasifika TV / PCBL, strengthening reach, participation, and dissemination of outcomes across Māori and Pasifika screen communities.

Location: Auckland, NZ and online across New Zealand

Amount Funded: $50,000

Recipient Quote: “There’s incredible Māori and Pasifika storytelling coming out of Aotearoa, but there are still very few opportunities for practitioners to learn how to build impact around that work. This Lab is about giving people practical tools to think beyond the screen – to build partnerships, reach the communities and decision-makers who matter, and create strategies that can help our stories have a longer life and greater effect. We’re really grateful to Screenrights for backing us to create that opportunity and invest in a growing area of practice for Māori and Pasifika storytellers.” – Cleo Fraser (Te Arawa), Nine Islands Media

The Writers Lab for women screenwriters over 40

Activity: A script development intensive for female, non-binary and gender diverse screenwriters over 40. Based on a successful model that has been running for 12 years in the USA, Canada, the UK and Europe, the intensive will see 12 writers mentored and supported to advance and build their screencraft, community, and careers, at a 5-day, 4-night in-person Lab intensive. Hosted by The Writers Lab founders Elizabeth Kaiden and Nitza Wilon, the intensive will pair writers with established industry mentors who will share feedback and support to further the projects and the careers of participants. The Lab will empower a select group of talented writers in this historically disenfranchised demographic by building skill sets, preparing the cohort for employment, and increasing genuine and authentic on-screen representation of women and gender diverse people to inspire, educate, and activate audiences.

Location: Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia (applications will be open to all female and non-binary writers over 40 from Australia and New Zealand)

Amount Funded: $50,000

Recipient Quote: “I had the incredible fortune to attend The Writers Lab flagship international Lab in 2023 and ever since, I've been urging the founders, Elizabeth Kaiden and Nitza Wilon, to come to Australia. We are beyond thrilled to receive this grant and support Australian and New Zealand women over 40 in their screenwriting careers, craft and community as we work to tackle on-screen ageism and gender bias. With only nine of the 29 highest-grossing Australian films of the last 10 years crediting female writers, there is an urgent need to strengthen the pipeline of female-led projects that platform female-centric narratives and female protagonists. With Screenrights' support, we can do exactly that.” – Brooke Hemphill

Young Yarnz

Activity: An interactive learning application that helps teachers deliver culturally safe First Nations learning through guided screen stories and classroom ready activities. Through a pilot scheme, Young Yarnz has built a strong library of culturally led video lessons featuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander storytellers and knowledge holders, and has proven that schools want this learning. However, the current LMS is not designed for primary school classroom delivery and does not allow truly interactive learning on classroom screens. This project will build a simple, classroom focused application designed for use on interactive screens, packaging screen story lessons into a guided classroom experience with a teacher facilitation mode that sequences the lesson, provides prompts, and supports discussion and reflection.

Location: Fremantle, WA, and online across Australia

Amount Funded: $50,000

Recipient Quote: “We’re incredibly grateful to Screenrights for supporting the next stage of Young Yarnz. Teachers across Australia are required to teach First Nations content as part of the curriculum, but many tell us they simply don’t have the resources or confidence to do it, so it often ends up not being taught. This funding will help us change that. With the support of the Screenrights Cultural Fund, we’ll build a purpose designed digital platform that transforms our screen content featuring First Nations knowledge holders into interactive, curriculum aligned learning modules. For Young Yarnz, this is a huge step towards making quality First Nations education more accessible to classrooms across Australia.” – Marlanie Haerewa, Young Yarnz

Source: Hāpai Te Hauora

This Gambling Harm Awareness Week, Hāpai Te Hauora is asking people to look beyond why someone becomes hooked and consider what has been designed to hook them.

HOOKED, a new online campaign sparks honest kōrero about some of the strategies gambling operators use to capture attention and keep people playing.

Featuring creators and storytellers Joe Daymond, Montel Tivoli and Tahu Hollis, the campaign explores how gambling is promoted through sport, social media and group culture, while touching on the hooks behind casino environments, online targeting and the belief that it is possible to beat the house.

The campaign comes as New Zealand prepares for a regulated online casino market from 2027, making it even more important that people understand the design features, marketing and other tactics that can encourage people to keep gambling.

Hāpai Te Hauora Chief Operating Officer Jason Alexander says gambling harm is still too often framed as an individual failure.

“The goal of the gambling industry is to keep people playing and extract as much money from them as possible. Harm is the consequence, and it is whānau who are left carrying it,” says Alexander.

“By showing people the game behind the game, we can shift the focus away from blame and help whānau understand the influences that can draw them in, keep them playing and bring them back.”

Alongside HOOKED, Hāpai will share insights into the psychology behind gambling, rangatahi-led creative content and locally led storytelling from partners across the motu.

Alexander says the campaign is not about policing people’s behaviour or telling whānau what to do.

“It is about giving people the full picture so they can make informed decisions, recognise the red flags and have supportive conversations with the people around them,” says Alexander.

“Awareness is important, but people also need to know what they can do next and where they can go for support.”

The campaign will connect individuals and whānau with Pātea, a free kaupapa Māori digital platform offering 24/7, judgement-free information, practical tools, lived-experience stories and connections to counselling and local support.

“Gambling harm is bigger than the bet. It can affect relationships, finances, hauora and the wider whānau,” says Alexander.

“Our people are not the problem. They deserve information that exposes the systems driving the harm, support that reflects their realities and solutions that protect their mana.”

HOOKED was created by Hāpai Te Hauora in collaboration with creative agency Mahi Tahi and will run across digital and social media throughout September.

Gambling Harm Awareness Week runs from 31 August to 6 September 2026.

Watch HOOKED and learn to spot the red flags at https://gamblingharm.nz.

Free gambling harm information and support is available at https://patea.nz.

Source: Save the Children

Overcrowded shelters for families displaced by Nepal’s flash floods are putting children’s health and safety at risk, with the number of children at one centre doubling in a single afternoon, Save the Children said as rescue and recovery efforts enter their fifth day.

More than 700 people have been killed and more than 2,400 remain unaccounted for after a glacier collapse on 26 August unleashed a torrent of rock, ice, mud and debris through Himalayan mountain river systems. [1]

With roads and bridges destroyed, many survivors in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading districts remain cut off from vital services, including shelter, clean drinking water, food, medical assistance and child protective services.

Many children and their families are being brought to temporary holding centres, often run by government or local authorities in schools or sports facilities, where people are registered, assessed and referred to medical facilities, aid distribution sites and shelters in the hills surrounding flood-affected areas. Some families are also sleeping on the floors of aid distribution sites due to the limited number of shelters available.

Save the Children visited a holding centre in Nuwakot, one of the main districts in central Nepal affected by the flash floods, approximately 37 miles (59 kilometres) from the capital Kathmandu. The number of children being housed at the centre doubled from 30 children to 60 in the span of an afternoon after more families and children were transported there by truck.

The rapid increase in the number of children and families arriving at the limited holding centres is putting additional pressure on already stretched facilities and raising concerns about children’s health, safety and access to essential services.

Ishaan-, 9, was moved from one holding centre to another along with his grandparents and four other family members and was still wearing the same muddy and dirty clothes he was wearing when the water, mud and debris hit.

Ishaan said:

“They told us we were moving so we got on a truck and moved from where we were staying but we arrived at this centre which has more people and is more crowded. I cannot stay inside, it is too stuffy. I want to play and stay outside.”

While local authorities are fighting against time to rescue people, children who have survived the ordeal are now facing uncertainty and are feeling unsettled after being constantly moved from centre to centre, raising the risk of overcrowding as well as limited access to toilets, showers and other personal hygiene facilities as well as the risk of the spread of illnesses between children living and sleeping in close proximity to each other.

Tara Chettry, Country Director Save the Children Nepal, said:

“We are extremely concerned right now about children who are vulnerable to psychological distress after a massive disaster such as this and moving them frequently from one holding centre to another without a proper rationale or without adequate tracing in place significantly intensifies the risks to these children.

“Stability matters for children following a disaster. Not only are they feeling distressed after losing their friends and family members but now they have to deal with an added layer of anxiety.

“We’re urging local authorities to work quickly to establish safe and spacious temporary shelters for children and to ensure that every movement of children is carefully planned, coordinated and guided by the best interest of the child.”

Save the Children is in Nuwakot and has been distributing essential items to children and families including baby kits and hygiene kits as well as blankets for families, toothbrushes and toys for children to help recover from their ordeal. Save the Children is also providing clean drinking water to affected families and working with local authorities, where needed, to reunite separated children with their families.

Save the Children has been working in Nepal since 1976 as the country's largest child-focused organization, operating across numerous districts in areas like education, health, child protection, and disaster response.

References:

[1] National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority: https://ndrrma.gov.np/en/rasuwa

Content available here: http://www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4C2SPMGEHF

About Save the Children NZ:

Save the Children works in 120 countries across the world. The organisation responds to emergencies and works with children and their communities to ensure they survive, learn and are protected.

Save the Children NZ currently supports international programmes in Fiji, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Laos, Nepal, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Areas of work include child protection, education and literacy, disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation, and alleviating child poverty.

Source: Palestine Forum of New Zealand

Every year on 30 August, the international community marks the Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, a day meant to honour those who vanish into state custody, whose families are denied even the basic mercy of knowing whether their loved ones are alive or dead. This year, that day falls at a moment of particular anguish for Palestinians in Gaza, where the scale of the missing has reached a level that can no longer be described as an unfortunate byproduct of war. It is, increasingly, documented as policy.

The numbers behind the silence

According to the Palestinian Center for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons, between 2,500 and 3,000 people in Gaza meet the strict definition of enforced disappearance taken by Israeli forces during home raids, at military checkpoints, or amid the storming of hospitals, and never accounted for since. This is a distinct category from the estimated 4,000 to 5,000 people believed to remain lost beneath the rubble of bombed buildings, and distinct again from the more than 11,200 Palestinians the Palestinian Ministry of Justice has recorded as missing or forcibly disappeared since October 2023 over 4,700 of them women and children.

Behind every figure is a family that has not been permitted to grieve, because grief requires an ending, and Israel has given them none. Under international law, enforced disappearance is defined precisely by this refusal: authorities detain a person, then deny holding them, or refuse to disclose their location, condition, or fate. Families are left in what the UN calls a state of ambiguous loss, unable to mourn, unable to hope with any certainty, unable to move forward.

A pattern, not an accident

Palestinian prisoner organisations issuing a joint statement this week described a third consecutive year in which detainees taken from Gaza have been cut off entirely from families, lawyers, and independent monitors whose identities, locations, health, and in some cases their deaths, concealed. This is what distinguishes enforced disappearance from the ordinary chaos of conflict: it is a deliberate act of erasure, one that denies not just liberty but recognition of a person's existence at all.

2026: twenty years of a convention still unmet

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, the only treaty in the world dedicated specifically to eradicating this practice. Its anniversary theme, “Victims first. Actions now,” is a call that rings hollow for Gaza's families, who have waited not years but generations for accountability that never arrives. Twenty years on, enforced disappearance continues in every region of the world and Gaza today stands as one of its starkest, most concentrated examples.

What the day demands

On this International Day, families gathered outside the Red Cross offices in Gaza, demanding what should be an unremarkable request: to know where their sons, fathers, daughters, and sisters are. Palestinian rights organisations are calling for the disclosure of every missing person's fate, unimpeded Red Cross access to all detainees, and an independent international mechanism empowered to investigate and hold perpetrators accountable.

The Palestine Forum of New Zealand stands with Gaza's families in that demand. A world that claims to have learned the lessons of history cannot continue to look away while an entire people is left to search rubble and prison rosters for the missing. Recognition is the first act of justice. Gaza is asking only to be seen.

Where are our loved ones?

Source: ASB Bank

ASB Investor Confidence Survey Q2 2026

New Zealand investors are keeping a close eye on domestic politics, with a record 40% saying they are 'very concerned' about how local political uncertainty will impact their investments, according to the latest ASB Investor Confidence Survey.

A further 46% said they were 'concerned', taking total concern to 86%. Global geopolitical and economic concern levels are also at a record high with 57% of investors 'very concerned'.

However, rising concern has not translated into more investment changes, with no increase in the proportion of people making or considering changes as a result.

ASB Senior Economist Chris Tennent-Brown says the findings show that while political uncertainty is weighing on sentiment, it's a positive sign that investors are not immediately acting on it.

“Politics can create uncertainty and it is understandable that New Zealanders are paying close attention, especially with a general election coming up. But concern on its own is not a reason to step away from a well-considered investment plan, particularly as many investments perform as expected, with the US share market a positive example of all-time highs despite the uncertain geopolitical backdrop.”

“Markets can move quickly in response to news, and trying to time those movements can mean missing periods of recovery and growth. For most investors, the more useful focus is whether their portfolio remains diversified, aligned with their goals and appropriate for their timeframe.”

When it comes to where Kiwi see the best return on investment, rental property has plummeted this quarter, with only 10% of Kiwi saying they see it as providing the best return.

“This makes sense, the property market has been flat for a while and this is clearly impacting investor sentiment for rental property ownership, and the housing market in general.”

“Consequently, Kiwi whose main investment was a rental property were significantly more likely to be very concerned about local political outlook, likely seeing potential for change in the rental market affected by local policy,” says Chris.

Overall nett investor confidence declined five percentage points over the quarter to 1%, now at the same level recorded in June 2025, when the Trump tariff policy first kicked in.

“The survey tells us people are concerned, but they are not necessarily acting on that concern. That is a sensible distinction. Staying invested through periods of uncertainty can help investors participate in market gains, while a long-term plan provides a stronger foundation than reacting to any political cycle.”

Note:

The ASB Investor Confidence and KiwiSaver survey measures New Zealanders' behaviour and attitudes towards investing. The following analysis is based on 784 online interviews in Q2'26 with adults aged 18 years and older throughout New Zealand from the Dynata panel. A sample of this size has a maximum margin of error of 3.5% at the 95% confidence level. Fieldwork occurred between 1st April – 28th June 2026. Note that fieldwork took place after the Iran-Israel-US conflict and resulting fuel crisis began on 28th February.