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Northland News – Report highlights strong progress for communities, environment

Source: Northland Regional Council

Northland Regional Council’s latest Annual Report demonstrates a year of strong progress, resilience, and partnership, with significant achievements delivered for the benefit of Northland’s communities and environment, Chair Geoff Crawford says.
Chair Crawford says the 2024/25 year was marked by major milestones in flood protection, biosecurity, and climate resilience, as well as prudent financial management that kept rates lower than forecast.
“Northlanders have faced some real challenges this year, particularly with severe weather events, but our teams have worked alongside communities to deliver practical solutions and support where it’s needed most.”
He says among the year’s highlights was the official opening of the Otiria/Moerewa Spillway, a $7 million project that provides vital flood protection for local residents. (By leveraging central government and other funding, council reduced the cost of this work to local residents to approximately eight cents per dollar.)
Upgrades to the Quarry Road bridge in Kaitaia have also removed a key flood risk, strengthening the Awanui River scheme and helping keep people and property safe. (By leveraging central government funding, council reduced the cost of this work to local residents to approximately 12 cents per dollar.)
The council continued to lead the way in biosecurity, securing $6.2 million in government funding to tackle invasive exotic Caulerpa seaweed and carrying out extensive marine pest surveys.
The Predator Free 2050 programme made significant strides, with major pest control efforts at Whangārei Heads and in the Bay of Islands.
In response to the impacts of ex-Tropical Cyclone Tam and other severe weather, the council’s Civil Defence and response teams worked tirelessly to keep communities informed and safe.
A year-long project to improve flood resilience at 35 marae was launched, and $600,000 was allocated to support 22 community-led climate initiatives across the region.
The council also strengthened its partnerships, consolidating its investment in Marsden Maritime Holdings and Northport, and signing Northland’s first iwi-council Mana Whakahono ā Rohe agreement with Ngāti Hine to support greater tāngata whenua participation in decision-making.
Financially, the council adopted a 3.54% rates rise for 2025/26 – below earlier forecasts – thanks to efficiencies, savings, and surpluses.
“The council also continued to support local events, regional sporting facilities, and environmental champions through its funding and awards programmes.”
Chief Executive Jonathan Gibbard says the report reflects the council’s ongoing commitment to delivering value for ratepayers.
“We’re focused on investing in the things that matter; protecting our environment, supporting our communities, and building a resilient future for Northland.”
The full audited Annual Report is available at www.nrc.govt.nz/annualreport
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Advocacy – Palestine Forum of New Zealand Statement on World Habitat Day

Source: Palestine Forum of New Zealand

On this World Habitat Day, we reflect on the universal right of every human being to live in dignity, with secure shelter, access to land, and a safe environment to call home.

For Palestinians, this right is systematically denied. Since the Nakba of 1948, millions of Palestinians have been forcibly displaced from their homes and lands. In Gaza, entire neighbourhoods have been reduced to rubble, with families left homeless and deprived of the basic means to rebuild. In the West Bank, home demolitions, land confiscation, and the expansion of illegal settlements continue to strip Palestinians of their right to a safe and secure habitat. Refugees scattered across the region and the world remain denied the right to return to their ancestral homes.

World Habitat Day calls us to remind the international community that shelter and land are not privileges—they are human rights. The ongoing destruction and dispossession in Palestine are not natural disasters, but deliberate policies of occupation and apartheid.

We stand in solidarity with Palestinians struggling to protect their homes, villages, and lands. We call on the New Zealand Government and civil society to support international law, oppose the destruction of Palestinian habitats, and affirm the inalienable right of Palestinians to live freely and securely in their homeland.

Because a just and peaceful world can only be built when every family, in every nation, has a place to call home.

Palestine Forum of New Zealand

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Advocacy – IWCNZ Urges NZ Government to Act on International Law, End Silence, and Recognise Palestine

Source: Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand (IWCNZ)

It is a universal principle of humanity that all people should be entitled to safety, security, and life. The past two years have shown the world that statements alone are not enough.

The Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand (IWCNZ) calls on the New Zealand Government to act, and to honour and enforce international law everywhere. In recent days, a humanitarian flotilla has been intercepted and prevented from distributing much needed aid to the starving in Gaza, NZ citizens have been taken in international waters and remain in captivity, and a proposed “peace plan” disregards core international conventions and established structures.

These breaches show the dangers of governments remaining neutral in the face of injustice, and New Zealand’s silence signals not balance, but rather an abdication of responsibility.

A principled stance requires that Aotearoa honours its agreements and insists that all states we interact and conduct business with do so as well. If the NZ Government will not act in this case, or for the Palestinian people, time will show it will not act for others. The question is simple: who is next?

In this context, IWCNZ calls on our Government to immediately and unconditionally recognise the State of Palestine, demand the release of all those seized in international waters, require Israel’s compliance with international law in all cases, and impose sanctions for its ongoing and egregious violations of humanitarian law. To fail to do so is not a passive omission. It is a conscious political decision that undermines international law, human dignity, and the global consensus affirming the Palestinian right to self-determination.

IWCNZ represents Muslim women across Aotearoa, many of whom carry the trauma of war, displacement, and watching their families suffer in silence. Our Palestinian sisters are raising children under siege, giving birth under rubble, and grieving in front of cameras that only occasionally pay attention.

This is not simply a political matter. It is a humanitarian emergency. According to UN OCHA and UN Women, over two million people in Gaza are displaced, 94% of hospitals are damaged or destroyed, and more than 70% of those displaced are women and children. Estimates indicate over 65,000 dead, 150,000 wounded, and 500,000 facing famine-like conditions.We include the voices of Palestinian women whose testimonies reflect the unbearable cost of this crisis. As reported by Al Jazeera on 24 September 2025, Hiba al-Sheikh Khalil, a mother displaced multiple times in Gaza, said:

“I gave birth under siege with no milk, no diapers, no medicine — nothing.”

From UN Women’s September 2025 report, Niveen Adel, displaced more than ten times, shared:

“I can’t be mother, father, and head of the household all at once. I have no money, not even a bag of flour to feed us.”

These are not isolated stories. They represent the daily reality of millions enduring war, starvation, and erasure.

The New Zealand Government has claimed that recognition is premature. We ask: after 75 years of occupation, tens of thousands of dead, and over 150 countries already recognising Palestine, what exactly is premature?

Delaying recognition in 2025 is not neutrality. It is a choice to avoid responsibility rather than to act with integrity.

New Zealand’s voting record at the United Nations has shown inconsistency. While supporting humanitarian aid, it has repeatedly abstained from opposing resolutions affirming Palestinian sovereignty. Aotearoa is party to the UN Charter, which upholds the right to self-determination – a right the Government now selectively applies.

New Zealand once stood proudly against apartheid in South Africa. Today, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Territories describe Israel’s system as apartheid.

We ask: Will our government again wait until the injustice is safely in the past before finding its voice?

IWCNZ calls on the New Zealand Government to:

  • Immediately and unconditionally recognise the State of Palestine as a matter of international law and moral clarity.
  • Support international accountability mechanisms, including the ICC’s investigation into war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank.
  • End all military and security cooperation with entities complicit in the occupation.
  • Ensure refugee and humanitarian pathways for Palestinians impacted by ongoing violence.
  • Champion a foreign policy grounded in justice and consistency, not geopolitics or selective empathy.

We also call on Māori and Pacific leaders, interfaith communities, and civil society organisations to stand with us in solidarity. Recognition of Palestine is not just a foreign policy issue — it is a test of our national conscience.Silence is not neutrality. It is prolonging the suffering.

As Muslim women, we know too well the cost of silence when our pain is erased, our voices ignored, and our communities left to carry the burden of injustice alone. Today, we speak not only for Palestinian women, but alongside them.

We urge all New Zealanders, and especially our elected officials, to act with the same courage we ask of women under siege: to stand, to speak, and to end injustice and to support the oppressed.

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Employment – West Coast home care support workers to strike on October 23 – PSA

Source: PSA

Fifty-one West Coast home care support workers will be striking on Thursday October 23 in support of their claim for a fair pay offer and training they need to do their work safely.
The workers, who are PSA members, voted overwhelmingly to take strike action following the failure of Health NZ Te Whatu Ora to meet their concerns about better training and to make a pay offer that reflects their value to the health system. They have been bargaining since May.
The strike will run from noon to 2pm on Thursday 23 October and these workers will also hold two-hour stop work meetings in Greymouth, Hokitika and Westport on Monday 13 October.
They will join more than 11,500 Allied Health workers and 3,500 Mental Health Nurses and Assistants and Public Health who are also striking on 23 October in support of their own claims in various collective bargaining.
“The Government must fund health services properly, so that workers have enough money to live on and can continue to help New Zealanders facing challenges,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.
“The home community support workers provide high quality, in-home care for the elderly, people experiencing mental ill health, and patients requiring pre- or post-operative care at home,” Fitzsimons said.
“These workers go into homes alone and never know how they will be received by clients or their families. They can face difficult and sometimes dangerous situations where they can be verbally or physically abused,” Fitzsimons said.
“That’s why these workers need training in how to de-escalate tense situations and how to free themselves from unwanted contact.”
“Health NZ’s pay offer, which is below the cost of living adds insult to injury for this group of workers who were part of a pay equity claim that was retrospectively scrapped by the Government in May,” Fitzsimons said.
Home community support worker and PSA Delegate Rachelle Richards said she and her fellow workers like all healthcare professionals were “gravely concerned about the chronic underfunding of the sector.
“The underfunding puts a lot of pressure on workers, but we’re also worried about the effects of short-staffing and budget cuts have on patients. Our services save money by reducing the need to acute and crisis care.
“The employer’s offer is not good enough – it doesn’t recognise all the work we do under increasingly difficult circumstances. It doesn’t acknowledge our training needs nor the increasingly complex environment we work in.
The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is 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.
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Auckland Museum – Dive into the world of Sharks at Auckland Museum this Summer

Source: Auckland Museum

Sharks is set to take centre stage at Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum this Summer, opening Wednesday 10 December 2025.  

Sharks invites families, students and enthusiasts into a world dominated by members of the shark family to explore their genetic diversity, territories, interactions and significance to ocean ecosystems.

Created by the Australian Museum, this acclaimed exhibition invites visitors to explore the often misunderstood but fascinating world of sharks. Highlighting the very latest science alongside cultural perspectives, Sharks reveals the diversity of these ancient fishes.

Visitors will encounter nine life-sized scientifically accurate models, including the now extinct 270-million-year-old Helicoprion (also known as the Buzzsaw Shark); the Hammerhead Shark, known for its unique head shape and 360-degree vision; and the Great White Shark, one of the most famous (and feared) species of shark. Other life-sized sharks on display are the Tiger Shark, Greynurse Shark, Prickly Dogfish, Epaulette Shark and Frill Shark.

© Australia Museum

The exhibition features hands-on learning through artefacts and tactile displays, which include a megalodon jaw and a Great White tooth. Immersive and interactive experiences allow visitors to navigate through a shark body via a 3D interactive scan, adapt a shark to survive in changing environments, and see the world in 360-degrees through the eyes of a Hammerhead. State-of-the-art projections and a specially designed ‘oceanarium’ bring sharks to life as they swim virtually through their ocean habitats.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a quarter of the world’s sharks are threatened with extinction. This exhibition presents the very latest information on conservation, sharks’ impact on oceans, and efforts to protect sharks. Shark safety is also highlighted, enabling visitors to make informed choices when entering marine environments – the natural domain of sharks.

Clinton Duffy, Curator of Marine Biology at Auckland Museum, and shark expert, says, “Sharks are one of the most misunderstood animals on the planet. Most people can name a couple of sharks, such as the Great White Shark, Tiger Shark, Hammerhead or Bronze Whaler. But sharks are a really diverse group, with over 500 species, ranging in size from the tiny cigar shark to the Whale Shark, the largest fish in the ocean.”

“Sharks have so much to tell us about evolution, ocean ecosystems, and our natural world,” says Duffy.

David Reeves, Tumu Whakarae Chief Executive at Auckland Museum, says, “Sharks are among the most fascinating animals in our world, and we’re thrilled to bring this acclaimed exhibition from the Australian Museum in Sydney to us in Auckland, just in time for summer.”

“Sharks hold a particular place in popular mythology, sometimes unfairly portrayed, so this exhibition is an opportunity for visitors to get up close to appreciate their beauty and diversity. Visitors can learn about the vital role sharks play in our oceans, and we hope they’ll come away with a deeper understanding of our marine environment,” says Reeves.

Sharks comes exclusively to Auckland Museum and opens Wednesday 10 December 2025 until Monday 27 April 2026. Tickets are on sale from Thursday 6 November 2025.

Auckland Museum Membership and Mini-Membership (for ages 5-15) provides unlimited free entry to Sharks, discounted event tickets and exclusive Member-only events. Find out more at: aucklandmuseum.com/membership.

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Pacific – Vatu Dei Release Debut Album for Fijian Language Week 2025

Source: Kane Parsons

The bold and beautiful harmonies of Fijian songs and storytelling are set to reach a wider audience with the announcement that Vatu Dei are releasing their debut album this October as part of their Pasifika Artist in Residence for Palmerston North.

The album, produced in collaboration with The KaRs and Hokozoo Productions, will be launched during Fijian Language Week 2025, celebrating the richness of the Fijian identity and the strength of Pasifika voices in Aotearoa.

Vatu Dei, meaning “Steadfast Rock,” is a collective of talented Fijian artists who celebrate culture through meke, the traditional form of Fijian song and dance. Their work blends chants, harmonies, spoken word, and contemporary performance to share the stories of Fijian legends, love, indigenous history, and everyday life.

Rooted deeply in iTaukei (indigenous Fijian) traditions, the collective is dedicated to preserving ancestral knowledge while offering a fresh and powerful voice for the next generation.

The Creative New Zealand Pacific Arts Regional Residency, supported through Creative New Zealand’s Pacific Arts Strategy in partnership with Palmerston North City Council, invests in Pasifika artists whose work strengthens cultural identity, builds community connection, and pushes creative boundaries.

“We are thrilled to partner again with Palmerston North City Council to co-invest in strategic opportunities for Pasifika creative communities in the region. It’s fantastic that Melanesian artists have been selected, as this aligns with one of our strategic priorities, ‘Pacific arts include our whole village,’” says Erolia Ifopo, Mana Pasifika Navigator, Pacific Arts from Creative New Zealand.

Stephanie Velvin, manager of community development at Palmerston North City Council, adds, “We’re proud to support Vatu Dei as they take this next step. They bring a fresh perspective and a strong connection to culture, which perfectly embody what this residency is all about.”

Joe Bose, speaking for Vatu Dei, says the collective is honoured to receive the residency and excited to release their first body of recorded work:

“Vatu Dei are not only about reviving traditions—we are reimagining what it means to be Fijian in the modern world, carrying the past forward with strength and pride.”

Album Release

The debut album from Vatu Dei will be available on all major streaming platforms from October 5th, 2025. https://music.drm.co.nz/vatu-dei or Promo Player – Vatu Dei

The album launch will take place at PN City Library at 4 pm on Friday, 10th October.

Vatu Dei will present a flagship live concert as part of their residency celebrations in Palmerston North on Friday,December 19th, at 7 pm at the Globe Theatre, Palmerston North.

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Health and Employment – Te Whatu Ora nurses, midwives, health care assistants and kaimahi hauora vote to strike on 23 October

Source: New Zealand Nurses Organisation

Frustration over their patient safety concerns remaining unaddressed after a year of bargaining has resulted in more than 36,000 NZNO nurses, midwives, health care assistants and kaimahi hauora voting to take further strike action.
The Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO members today voted to hold a four-hour strike from 11am to 3pm on Thursday 23 October.
NZNO chief executive Paul Goulter says the NZNO negotiating team has now held 31 days of meetings with Te Whatu Ora since collective bargaining began in September 2024.
“Today’s vote shows NZNO’s Health NZ -Te Whatu Ora members are frustrated that one year on, their concerns about safe staffing levels not being enforced and the risks that creates for patient safety, are still not being heard.
“Our members are telling Health NZ they are understaffed and overworked. Te Whatu Ora’s own figures show that New Zealand’s hospitals were, on average, 587 nurses short every shift last year.
Health Minister Simeon Brown has acknowledged they “need to be hiring more nurses at Health NZ,” Paul Goulter says.
“It’s time for Te Whatu Ora to now reflect this in their bargaining approach; remove the covert recruitment freeze, enforce safe staffing levels and commit to hiring nurse graduates.
“Te Whatu Ora nurses, midwives, health care assistants and kaimahi hauora will stand proudly alongside primary school teachers, allied health and mental health workers on 23 October,” Paul Goulter says.
Notes:
  • NZNO members will strike from 11am to 3pm on Thursday 23 October 2025.
  • The strike will occur at every place in New Zealand at which Health New Zealand provides health services and/or disability support services.
  • NZNO members will provide Life Preserving Services. 
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Environment – ‘Nitrate emergency starts here’: Greenpeace pins blame on Canterbury dairy conversions

Source: Greenpeace

‘The Nitrate Emergency: it starts here.’ That’s what a freshly-installed Fonterra farm sign said outside Canterbury’s first complete dairy conversion this morning. Greenpeace installed the modified Fonterra sign saying that there can be no new dairy expansion in a nitrate emergency.
Greenpeace spokesperson Will Appelbe says “The dirty dairy industry, led by Fonterra, is responsible for Canterbury’s drinking water crisis. The nitrate emergency starts here – on Fonterra dairy farms just like this one, that contaminate drinking water with cow urine and fertiliser runoff.
Greenpeace’s sign was installed outside a controversial Wongan Hills dairy conversion in the Kaituna Valley, which the organisation believes is the first operational conversion in Canterbury this year.
“There can be no more dairy expansion in a nitrate emergency,” says Appelbe. “There are simply too many cows on the Canterbury plains and we can’t afford to add any more. New Zealand needs to reduce the dairy herd size, not grow it.
“Runoff from this dairy conversion will end up downstream in the Kaituna River, and then flowing into Te Waihora – already one of the most polluted lakes in Aotearoa.”
Studies show that regions of intensive dairying in Aotearoa have high rates of nitrate contamination – which is linked to several health risks. A prominent Danish study indicated that long-term exposure to levels of nitrate as low as 1 mg/L may be linked to an increased risk of bowel cancer, while other studies have linked levels of nitrate at 5 mg/L or higher to an increased risk of pre-term birth.
A recent groundwater study by GNS Science indicates that more than 100,000 people in New Zealand may be exposed to nitrate at 5 mg/L or higher – predominantly in rural areas like Canterbury.
“Everyone has the right to safe healthy drinking water but right now, many families in rural New Zealand can’t drink the water from their kitchen tap without fear of getting sick – particularly in Canterbury,” says Appelbe.
Greenpeace is calling on Cantabrians to vote for fresh water in the upcoming local elections. Appelbe says aspiring councillors have been put on notice.
“Environment Canterbury has declared a nitrate emergency, but there is so much more to do. Incoming ECan councillors must be prepared to put their money where their mouth is. It’s time to put an end to dairy expansion and phase out the use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser – because safe, healthy drinking water is a fundamental human right.
“Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell held a press conference about the extortionate price of butter. When will he front up to the people of Canterbury for causing the nitrate emergency?”
Notes:
  • Environment Canterbury issued the Wongan Hill’s farm with effluent discharge consents in January, which enabled the conversion to intensive dairying. The farm can milk up to 800 cows a day, with 400 cows wintering in a composting feed barn.
  • The intensive dairy farm is located next to the Kaituna River which flows into Te Waihora.
  • Kaituna River has been identified as a site of cultural and ecological significance. It provides important habitat for indigenous birds and freshwater fish. It supports two bird species that are nationally Threatened (Australasian crested grebe and Pied cormorant), and one that is nationally At Risk (Black cormorant). It is distinctive as one of only two lowland rivers in New Zealand where Australasian crested grebe are known to breed.
  • Te Waihora is a living shallow, brackish coastal lake-lagoon that is nationally and internationally significant for its cultural and ecological values. It is also one of New Zealand’s most polluted lakes.
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Agriculture – New movement restrictions boost Otago’s bovine TB protection

Source: OSPRI New Zealand

Disease eradication agency OSPRI’s introduction of a new Movement Control Area this week adds to initiatives already underway in Otago to eradicate bovine TB.
Restricting the movement of livestock is intended to be a precautionary measure, limiting disease spread.
The number of infected herds in the region has reduced recently to five in Otago – four beef herds and one deer. There are 16 infected herds across New Zealand.
“Otago, and central Otago in particular, is considered a hot spot for bovine TB because of the spread of the disease within the possum population in the area,” says Simon Andrew, OSPRI’s general manager of disease control planning and integration.
The possum is bovine TB’s main ‘vector’ or disease carrier.
“The movement control area we started from 1 October protects 110 farms within this region but also farms in surrounding disease-free regions.
“Other work we have underway in the area includes the assessment and scheduling of follow-up TB testing for animals which have grazed in TB risk areas.
“We have completed all the additional follow-up testing of animals which may have been in contact with those from currently and previously infected herds in the area.
“More than 1200 additional tracing tests have been completed in the area so far this year,” Simon says.
Earlier this year an aerial 1080 possum control operation was successfully delivered in the Clutha region.
OSPRI is also increasing its wild animal control and survey programme for the 2025/2026 year, including additional possum control in the South Waitaki.
“Our possum control and wild animal surveying for the next financial year in Otago will cover 507,065 hectares. Just under 120,000 hectares will be in the South Waitaki.
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Advocacy – New Zealand Activists Abducted – PFNZ

Source: Palestine Forum of New Zealand (PFNZ)

The Palestine Forum of New Zealand expresses its deep alarm and outrage at the abduction of Rana Hamida, Samuel Leason, and Youssef Sammour. These three New Zealanders, committed to justice and human rights, have been unlawfully taken while engaging in peaceful advocacy for Palestine.

Their abduction is a grave violation of international law and human rights principles. It is an attempt to silence voices of solidarity and to intimidate those who stand against injustice.

We call on the New Zealand Government to take urgent and decisive action to ensure the immediate and safe release of Youssef, Rana, and Samuel. As citizens of this country, their protection and freedom must be a matter of the highest priority.

We further urge the international community to join in condemning this abduction and to hold those responsible accountable. The world cannot remain silent while peaceful activists are targeted for standing up for justice.

The Palestine Forum of New Zealand stands firmly with Youssef, Rana, and Samuel, and with all who are unjustly detained for their commitment to freedom and human dignity.

They must be released immediately.

Palestine Forum of New Zealand