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The decade-long partnership between the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and leading local technology investor Movac continues, with the Super Fund committing $35 million to Movac’s Growth Fund 7 (MGF7).

The Super Fund is one of several institutional investors to back MGF7, which has raised $185 million at first close, almost double its initial target, and expects to hit its $200m fund cap next month.

Mark Vivian, Partner at Movac, said that strong support demonstrated investor confidence in Movac’s disciplined investment approach and strong track record, and reflected the considerable opportunities presented by New Zealand’s maturing technology sector.

Rishab Sethi, Acting Director of Private Equity at the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, manager of the $93 billion Super Fund, said the Super Fund had been the largest investor in several of Movac’s previous funds and the two organisations had built a close and highly effective working relationship.

“We're always looking for commercially attractive opportunities to invest in New Zealand,” said Sethi.

“For the past 10 years, Movac's growth funds have given us a way to support local companies when they need that support the most, to contribute to New Zealand's burgeoning tech sector, and to generate positive returns for the Super Fund. We're very pleased to further develop our partnership with them.”

The Super Fund has consistently maintained a strong bias towards its home market, with some 11 percent of its portfolio invested in New Zealand assets – including more than $500 million in private companies via external managers such as Movac.

A reply to the Guardian’s “best ever”: the Southern Hemisphere Fiction 100
 
22 June 2026 – The Academy of New Zealand Literature has compiled the first-ever list of the top 100 works of fiction from the Southern Hemisphere. It is published today. Read the list here: https://www.anzliterature.com/feature/the-southern-hemisphere-fiction-100/
 
It was created as a response to a list of 100 novels published last month in the Guardiannewspaper, which they described as “the greatest literature ever published in English, as voted for by authors, critics and academics worldwide.” Only three writers from countries in the southern hemisphere were included in the Guardian’s list – two novels from the 1980s and one from the 1990s.
 
The Guardian’s list also excluded all but one of the Nobel literature laureates from the southern hemisphere, and many of the most important fiction writers in world literature – like Mario Vargas Llosa, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Nadine Gordimer, Roberto Bolaño and Janet Frame.
 
“How could a list of ‘the greatest literature ever published in English’ exclude so much of the world?” asks Paula Morris, founder of the Academy of New Zealand Literature. “This alternative Fiction 100 reminds us that where lists are made is important. I hope it encourages readers to new as well as familiar regions, countries, cultures and names.”
 
Almost 200 writers, critics, scholars, librarians, booksellers, editors and festival directors – most from the southern hemisphere – nominated books for the Southern Hemisphere Fiction 100. The ANZL included novels and short-story collections, and – like the Guardian– allowed books written in another language that are available in English translation.

World-renowned Wildlife Photographer of the Year opens at Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum this Sunday, bringing 100 extraordinary nature photographs from across the globe to Tāmaki Makaurau.

On loan from the Natural History Museum, London, the exhibition opens to the public on Sunday 28 June, with an exclusive Members’ Preview on Saturday 27 June. (ref. https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/visit/exhibitions/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-2026 )

Now in its 61st year, Wildlife Photographer of the Year is the most prestigious photography event of its kind, showcasing award-winning images that capture hidden animal behaviour, spectacular species and the breathtaking diversity of the natural world.

Auckland Museum Director of Audience Engagement Victoria Travers says the exhibition invites visitors to look more closely at the planet we share.

“It’s a privilege to bring Wildlife Photographer of the Year back to Auckland and share some of the most compelling photos taken of our natural world today. These images invite us to see both the beauty of our planet and the challenges it faces.”

Exhibition visitors will have the chance to enter the draw to win the ultimate expedition cruise for two, valued at over $20,000. In partnership with Lindblad Expeditions, one visitor will win an eight-day Alaska expedition for two with National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions, travelling through the spectacular coastlines of Alaska and British Columbia.

Young photographers can also take inspiration from the exhibition through Nature Next Door: Photography Competition, open to students from Year 0–13. Tamariki and rangatahi are invited to photograph wildlife in their own backyard, local park or neighbourhood, with three entry categories and prize packs up for grabs.

During the July school holidays, families can enjoy Walk on the Wild Side: Gallery Encounters, with two larger-than-life wildlife enthusiasts roaming the Museum’s natural science galleries from Saturday 4 to Sunday 19 July, 10am–12pm and 1–3pm daily. Inspired by nature documentaries, these “Attenborough-in-training” characters will share funny, fascinating and surprising stories about the animals on display, encouraging kids to look closer at the natural world around them.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year is open at Auckland Museum from Sunday 28 June to Sunday 23 August 2026. Entry is included with Museum admission, which is free for Aucklanders. Museum Members can see the exhibition first at the Members’ Preview on Saturday 27 June, 9am–1pm.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London, and supported by local exhibition partner Lindblad Expeditions.

The Better Taxes for a Better Future campaign welcomes the Green Party's tax policy announcements released earlier today is an important step towards rebalancing New Zealand's tax system: to close the gaps in tax on big corporates; to tax wealth, not just hard work; and to generate the revenue we need to fund the things that matter.

“Right now, ordinary people and small to medium local business are paying their tax and contributing the most to funding essential public services, like schools, hospitals and transport infrastructure, while big corporates and the wealthiest people aren't paying their fair share,” said Kate Stone, Better Taxes campaign manager and spokesperson.

“In 2023 IRD research showed that the wealthiest families were paying less than half (9%) the tax rate of average Kiwis (20%), because while we tax every dollar workers' earn, we do not tax wealth properly in New Zealand. The Green's commitment to tax the super-rich 2.5% on net assets over $10m (excluding the family home), and to tax assets and gifts that people receive without working for them where they exceed $1m (excluding family farms and homes), are critical moves if we are going to tackle this unfairness and the inequality it perpetuates. We believe that pairing these policies with a comprehensive Capital Gains Tax would be even better!”

The Better Taxes Campaign considers these policies, alongside the commitment to a $10,000 tax-free threshold and more progressive tax rates, have the potential both to address immediate cost of living pressures, and to tackle skyrocketing wealth inequality that was on full display in last week's Rich List.

“We're not anti-wealth or opposed to success. But it's a question of balance. Over the last 40 years the wealth of the super rich in NZ has increased from $5.3b to $126bn, while child poverty rates have tripled. It is clear that the “success” of the wealthiest few is not lifting up everyone in Aotearoa, and we need to make significant changes now, if we're to avoid even greater inequality and the breakdown of social cohesion and democracy that come with it, as we're seeing globally.”

“Better Taxes also welcomes the moves to close some of the gaps in taxes on big corporates, to level the playing field for local small and medium businesses and to ensure the biggest corporations are contributing back into our economy, from which they're extracting huge profits,” said Stone.

Last year, alongside Tax Justice Aotearoa, we released the Big Tech Little Tax report which  demonstrated that some of the biggest tech companies were making billions of dollars in New Zealand and paying barely any tax. Last week we released expanded and updated research, which estimated tax minimisation practices by Big Tech have conservatively cost over $600m in the last five years.

“Our analysis shows these companies already have obligations under existing law to pay withholding taxes of at least 5% on much of the funds that they send to their parent company overseas and it is great to see the Green Party commit to cracking down on Big Tech,” said Stone.

“Finally, it's a no brainer to introduce a bank levy on the big four banks. Our recent polling showed there is majority support for such a levy, including amongst voters who support the current government. It was clear during Budget announcements that the Minister of Finance had been keen to advance such a levy, so we hope that there can be cross-party support for this measure that has already been adopted in Australia, the UK and some other EU countries.”

“If the big four try to pass the levy on to their customers then smaller banks will be given an opportunity to compete and people can vote with their feet. We would also recommend an excess profits tax on the big banks, which the UK has adopted, to create a disincentive for the major Australian-owned banks to take Kiwis for a ride, ” said Stone.

You can read the full Better Taxes and Tax Justice Aotearoa policy platform here: https://www.bettertaxes.nz/tax_policy_statement?utm_campaign=greens_tax_policy_2026&utm_medium=email&utm_source=tja

The Better Taxes for a Better Future Campaign is a coalition of over 20 organisations led by Tax Justice Aotearoa.

What if a zinc supplement could help reduce the severity of autism symptoms?

A world-first study is underway at the University of Auckland, testing the effects of zinc on human brain cells grown in the lab.

Auckland Medical Research Foundation granted almost $145,500 to Physiology Professor Johanna Montgomery, who is leading the research at the University’s Centre for Brain Research, with support from PhD student Zoe Payne, Professor James Ellis from the University of Toronto, and Dr Kevin Lee from the University of California in San Francisco.

Montgomery has spent the past 15 years looking at links between autism and SHANK genes.

These genes are vital for brain cell communication, but some people with autism are born with missing or altered SHANK genes.

For the past 10 years, Montgomery’s team has been looking at the impacts of zinc on SHANK and other genes in the brains of mice.

That research demonstrated that giving zinc to pregnant and lactating mice helps prevent their offspring from showing autistic behaviours, such as anxiety, deficits in social interactions, and repetitive behaviours.

Earlier research by Montgomery’s team showed giving zinc to young mice reversed some symptoms of autism.

“Zinc clearly has an effect during the brain-wiring period when the foetus is developing, but perhaps more importantly it had beneficial effects when supplementation was given after the mice were weaned,” she says.

In some mice, autistic behaviours completely disappeared with zinc treatment, while other mice displayed reduced severity of symptoms, she says.

Montgomery warns it’s too early for people with autism to start taking zinc, which can cause harmful effects at the wrong dosage.

Autism can be caused by numerous factors and not all are associated with the gene variants targeted in the research with mice.

“We don’t yet know the effect of zinc on humans with autism – that’s why we’re carrying out this research on human brain cells.”

Over the years, Montgomery has reached out to families of people with Phelan-McDermid syndrome, a developmental disorder that typically includes autism, severely impaired learning, speech difficulties, gastrointestinal disorders, seizures, and low muscle tone.

The research team has now partnered with those families and will take blood samples from about five people with Phelan-McDermid syndrome, which is caused by the SHANK 3 gene being partially or completely deleted.

The University of Toronto has sent cell samples from people with SHANK 2 gene variants, which are also associated with severe autism, to be used in the experiments.

The blood cells will be “trained” and multiplied in incubators in the lab to become thousands of brain cells, which the scientists can use to research the impacts of zinc.

Electrodes will test how well signals travel between brain cells, before and after the cells receive a dose of zinc.

“We predict there are altered connections between brain cells in people with Phelan-McDermid syndrome and autism.

“Our mouse models showed zinc strengthens communication between brain cells, so we want to see if this is also the case in human brain cells.”

Montgomery is working with a clinical nutritionist, paediatric neurologist and neuropsychologist to design a pilot clinical trial to examine the effects of zinc supplementation on people with Phelan McDermid syndrome.

If funding can be found, the pilot clinical trial will start by exploring the impacts of zinc on the social behaviours and cognitive abilities of people with Phelan McDermid Syndrome, then broaden to include people with severe autism.

Almost one percent of the population in New Zealand is diagnosed with autism, but there is currently no drug treatment available specifically for autism or Phelan-McDermid syndrome, she says.

For some people, autism spectrum disorder is a mild condition that requires no treatment, but for others it causes severe disabilities.

Many children with SHANK gene variants have intellectual disabilities and many parents have to leave work to care for their children full-time, Montgomery says.

“I would love it if this research eventually helps families to experience improvement in their children with Phelan-McDermid syndrome.

“I remember one of the parents saying, ‘I wish one day I could hear my child say Mum’.

“It’s heartbreaking that they haven't had that experience and it would be amazing to find a way to help.”

Previous funding from Auckland Medical Research Foundation and grants from the Health Research Council, Marsden Fund, and Neurological Foundation have paved the way for the current research.