MIL Email Publisher (NZ)

Source: Northland Regional Council

PUBLIC TRANSPORT COST EFFICIENCY AWARD 2025/2026

Northland Regional Council’s (NRC) transport team has been recognised with the national Public Transport Cost Efficiency Award for 2025/26.

Of New Zealand’s 17 regional councils, Northland’s BusLink network was recognised for having the lowest cost per capita, the lowest cost per kilometre and the lowest cost boarding.

The award is a fantastic achievement that recognises NRCs commitment to delivering an efficient and cost-effective public transport network to the people of Te Taitokerau.

It reflects the work undertaken by the NRC Transport team to carefully manage operating costs, maximise fare revenue and secure private funding contributions to help offset costs.

Recent fare adjustments have also contributed to improving the overall financial performance and sustainability of the public transport network.

NRC’s BusLink network includes CityLink and SchoolLink services in Whangārei and BusLink services around the region; the Far North Link, Mid North Link, Bream Bay Link, Hokianga Link and Hikurangi Link. Find out more at buslink.co.nz.

Source: Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland

MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2026
University of Auckland researchers have conducted what may be the world's deepest physiological study of freedivers, helping explain blackouts and other effects of extreme depth.

Research into why freedivers black out and experience unusual symptoms at extreme depths has been recognised by the American Physiological Society as one of the world's top recently published physiology papers.

The pioneering study collected arterial blood samples from elite freedivers at depths of up to 80 metres during open-water dives, offering rare insight into how the body responds to extreme physiological stress.

Professor Simon Mitchell, head of anaesthesiology at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, and consultant anaesthesiologist Dr Tom Scott, led the ambitious expedition to Dominica in the eastern Caribbean, backed by Inkfish Expeditions. Bringing together researchers, elite freedivers and specialist mixed-gas divers, the mission investigated how the body responds to extreme breath-hold diving.

“No one had ever collected arterial blood samples during dives like these before,” Mitchell says.

“What makes this study remarkable is how difficult it was to pull off. This project required multiple areas of expertise to come together for it to work.”

Mitchell has been named the 2026 recipient of the prestigious NOGI Award for Science, recognising his contributions to diving science.

The American Physiological Society has also selected his paper, ‘Arterial blood gas changes in progressively deeper breath-hold dives’, for APSselect, a monthly showcase of outstanding physiology research published in the society's journals.

The research examined three elite freedivers, including University of Auckland alumnus and world champion William Trubridge, the first person to dive deeper than 100 metres without changing his weighting or using fins.

The study unveiled three major findings.

“Carbon dioxide levels go extremely high during these deep dives, high enough to explain many of the symptoms freedivers experience at depth,” Mitchell says.

The team also found the reason for the sudden loss of consciousness some freedivers experience near the surface.

“We showed that oxygen levels drop extremely quickly as divers return to the surface and their lungs expand. That's why blackouts can happen so suddenly, with almost no warning,” he says.

A third, unexpected finding was a previously unknown physiological phenomenon. Rather than continuing to rise as the lungs are compressed during descent, oxygen levels peaked at about 40 metres before declining during deeper descent.

“Nobody knew that occurred, before this study,” Mitchell says.

The findings could help make freediving safer.

“Our work explains why those blackouts occur and serves as a reminder not to put yourself in situations where they're more likely,” he says.

“It's important to freedive very conservatively and never push beyond your limits. The deeper you go, and the longer you stay at depth, the higher the risk.”

The research suggests the unusual sensations elite competitive freedivers experience at extreme depths may stem from carbon dioxide impairing brain function.

“We at least have an explanation for it now, and it should remind people not to push deeper if they're getting those kinds of symptoms,” he says.

Blood samples were collected at 20, 40, 60 and 80 metres to track how oxygen and carbon dioxide levels changed during breath-hold dives.

“The project depended on three areas of expertise: the freedivers' ability to complete the dives, the mixed-gas divers, including me, who could spend four hours underwater day after day, and the extensive surface support that made the entire operation possible,” he says.

Among the expedition's key personnel was Dr Richard Harris, the Australian anaesthetist and cave diver who helped rescue 12 boys and their football coach from Thailand's flooded Tham Luang cave system in 2018. Harris joined the team as one of the specialist mixed-gas divers responsible for collecting blood samples at depth.

The study was inspired by Professor Mike Grocott's landmark research, which measured arterial blood gases in climbers at extreme altitude, including near the summit of Mount Everest.

“I read that Everest paper and thought, 'What if we could do the same thing in freediving?' Nobody had done it before,” Mitchell says.

The project team is planning a return to Dominica next year to continue investigating the effects of extreme carbon dioxide levels and explore whether additional safety recommendations can be developed for freedivers, he says.

A mini-documentary released on YouTube follows the expedition and captures the challenges of conducting science in one of the world's most demanding environments.

Mitchell is quick to share the credit.

“We had an amazing team from the University and extraordinary support from Inkfish,” he says.

Read the study

See the mini-documentary

Source: Burnett Foundation Aotearoa

Burnett Foundation Aotearoa today called on all political parties to commit to the goal of zero local HIV transmissions by 2030.

“With numbers tracking downwards in recent years we have a real shot at becoming the first country to eliminate local transmissions, but it won’t happen without the support of whoever forms the next government,” says Liz Gibbs, CEO of Burnett Foundation Aotearoa, formerly the New Zealand AIDS Foundation.

“Better medicine funding, increased testing, reducing stigma and racial inequities, are all necessary for us to eliminate local transmissions,” said Liz.

The Foundation distributed its Roadmap to Zero (https://www.burnettfoundation.org.nz/media/5784/roadmap-to-zero.pdf) to candidates from all parties today, outlining the practical steps needed to eliminate local HIV transmissions by the end of the decade.

“The progress we’ve made so far in reducing local transmissions was only possible because of the continuity in support from successive governments. And it’s only through this spirit that we can get to zero”.

The roadmap outlines four key priorities, which include expanding access to prevention tools like PrEP and modern HIV medicines, improving access to HIV testing, addressing health inequities experienced by Māori, and continuing efforts to reduce the stigma that still surrounds HIV.

According to Burnett Foundation Aotearoa, almost half of HIV diagnoses in 2025 were diagnosed late, while New Zealand continues to lag behind comparable countries in funding and approving modern HIV medicines. The Foundation is calling for faster access to new treatments, including long-acting injectables like Cabuneva already available overseas, and broader access to HIV prevention services.

“Eliminating local HIV transmission is not only a health goal, it's an economic one. Earlier diagnosis, better access to treatment and wider uptake of prevention tools reduce lifelong health costs and prevent future infections.”

The Foundation is also urging parties to commit to targeted action to address inequities. In 2025, Māori accounted for a quarter of all locally acquired HIV diagnoses despite making up a much smaller proportion of the population. “Future progress depends on solutions designed by, with and for Māori communities,” said Gibbs.

Burnett Foundation Aotearoa said reducing stigma must remain a central part of New Zealand's HIV response.

“Too many New Zealanders still hold outdated beliefs about HIV. Stigma discourages people from getting tested, accessing prevention tools and seeking care. If we want to reach zero transmissions, we need to ensure people feel safe, supported and informed.”

“Aotearoa has a genuine opportunity to achieve something that would be internationally significant. Zero local HIV transmissions by 2030 is within reach. Now we need political leaders to help us get there.”

Source: World Vision New Zealand

This World Humanitarian Day, World Vision warns that the growing use of drones in conflicts is threatening children’s survival, humanitarian access, and aid workers’ lives.

In the past three years, more than 1,000 humanitarian workers have been killedi, with 350 killed in 2025 alone, the second-highest number ever recorded.

The danger to humanitarian workers has been mirrored by attacks on health and education facilities, with more than 8,500 attacks on education services in 2024/5ii and nearly 800 attacks on health care centres and personnel in 2026 so fariii.

World Vision New Zealand’s Head of International Partnerships, Stephen Court, says the use of drones in conflict has made humanitarian work more dangerous than ever before.

“The buzz of a drone overhead signals danger and causes panic for children, families, and humanitarian workers.

“Drones can now be heard above hospitals in Sudan, over war-torn villages in Ukraine, along roads where aid convoys are travelling, and where children wait for food, medicine, clean water, and safety.

“The growing use of drones and other emerging technologies are ultimately leaving children cut off from the help they need most,” he says.

Court says drone attacks are being used more widely in places like Sudan and Ukraine and there are regular reports of children hiding when they hear the hum of drones overhead.

“Technology may be changing how conflicts are fought, but it cannot change our responsibility to protect human life and dignity. Every drone strike that closes a clinic, destroys a road, or forces aid workers to turn back is also an attack on a child’s chance to survive.

“Humanitarian workers are not targets. Hospitals are not targets. And children are not collateral damage,” Court says.

He says when aid workers are attacked or blocked from reaching people in need, children are left waiting for food, medicine and protection that may never come.

Court says protecting humanitarian workers is ultimately inseparable from protecting children. Every attack that prevents aid workers from reaching a community exposes children to hunger, disease, violence, exploitation, and despair.

On World Humanitarian Day (19 August), World Vision honours the humanitarian workers who have lost their lives and those who continue to serve in the world’s most dangerous places, but says remembrance must also be matched by protection, access, and accountability.

The children’s humanitarian charity is calling for:

– Protection for humanitarian workers, civilians, and civilian infrastructure in
line with international humanitarian law.

– Guaranteed safe, sustained, and unimpeded humanitarian access for children and families
affected by conflict.

– Independent investigations, accountability, and consequences for attacks on
humanitarian workers, healthcare facilities, and other civilian

infrastructure.

– The international community to address the humanitarian consequences of drones
and other emerging military technologies, including their impact on

humanitarian access, civilian protection, and children’s safety.

Those wanting to support World Vision’s work with children living in some of the world’s most dangerous places, can give here: www.wvnz.org.nz/CHR (https://apc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wvnz.org.nz%2FCHR&data=05%7C02%7Cashley.miln%40worldvision.org.nz%7Cb3a6265e78254a4dbd0c08def7f43dd0%7Cd39a12cb99ee472bbf2de6e93e7d9f44%7C0%7C0%7C639220825611856425%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=1VLFEvKNu7T7KEyPq%2B2JeN5Fa8jKnfXXlJioA7yxxCY%3D&reserved=0)

World Humanitarian Day 2026

World Humanitarian Day is marked annually on 19 August. The 2026 campaign, #ActForHumanity, calls for stronger protection of humanitarian workers, accountability for attacks and safe humanitarian access for people in crisis.

About World Vision

World Vision (https://apc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wvi.org%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cashley.miln%40worldvision.org.nz%7Cb3a6265e78254a4dbd0c08def7f43dd0%7Cd39a12cb99ee472bbf2de6e93e7d9f44%7C0%7C0%7C639220825611890175%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=N1kgcGSPElFelxwEM15jQcXoj30IYtxE7ZJ8ib6F3zs%3D&reserved=0) is a Christian humanitarian organisation dedicated to working with children, families and their communities to reach their full potential by tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. For more information, please visit www.wvi.org (https://apc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wvi.org%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cashley.miln%40worldvision.org.nz%7Cb3a6265e78254a4dbd0c08def7f43dd0%7Cd39a12cb99ee472bbf2de6e93e7d9f44%7C0%7C0%7C639220825611914625%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2BC3ynQJ%2FkHsQxJpudVaNOnekyNl42Lag8BzVrB6ztVM%3D&reserved=0)

Source: Health and Disability Commissioner

Safety and quality of care for older people must be at the centre of any reform of New Zealand’s aged care system, Aged Care Commissioner Erin James says.

This comes following the release of the Aged Care Ministerial Advisory Group’s report 'A place to grow old, securing the future of aged care,' which was published today.

The report makes a raft of recommendations, including increasing access to home-based care, streamlining assessment of care needs, and implementing changes to the aged care funding model.

“I welcome the release of this report, which reflects considerable thought from the Ministerial Advisory Group about what is needed for a sustainable aged care system that meets future demand,” Ms James says.

“New Zealand’s aged care system is under pressure. Many older people are struggling to access the care they need, when and where they need it, which is a significant concern.

“However, it is critical that we are designing a system that is not only focused on funding adequacy, but also on the conditions required for safe, rights-based, person-centred care.”

Ms James says she is supportive of increasing older people's options for care, including increasing access to home-based care.

“This is highly desirable for many older people and supports their independence, choice and connection to their family, whānau and community.

“The recommendation to extend the Ngā Paerewa Health and Disability services standards to in-home care providers is positive and is something HDC has been advocating for over many years.

“However, current monitoring and oversight of the residential aged care system should not be diminished given the particular vulnerabilities of people in these care settings.”

Ms James noted that it will be important that safeguarding approaches and the rights of older people are key focuses of subsequent reform.

“This will help ensure that older people’s rights to dignity and respect are upheld and they are protected from avoidable harm in care settings.”

She says she looks forward to working alongside relevant stakeholders as these proposed changes progress to ensure older people can access safe, quality health care, which is not only essential for their wellbeing, but a fundamental right.

Ms James says she hopes to see older people and their family or whānau involved in the future reform of our aged care system.

“As Aged Care Commissioner I will be focused on ensuring that the rights of older people remain embedded in the design of any future aged care system and will continue to monitor the impacts of reform on access and quality of care.”

The Aged Care Commissioner advocates for quality health and disability services on behalf of older people and their family and whānau.

HDC promotes and protects the rights of people using health and disability services as set out in the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights (https://www.hdc.org.nz/your-rights/the-code-and-your-rights/) (the Code).

Source: Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi

Today’s Ministerial Advisory Group report on aged care will only deliver the system older New Zealanders need if it comes with real pay equity for the workforce that delivers it.

“More than ever, as our population ages, we need to get this system right and built to last, but the key to that is a workforce that is fairly paid and protected for the vital work those caring for the elderly do,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.

The PSA is the union representing thousands of workers caring for the elderly in their own homes.

“We support the vision of a properly integrated aged care system that helps people age well in their own homes. But the report itself admits a more integrated system will not be achievable ‘without a sustainable and capable workforce to deliver it’.

“The Government commissioned this report after scrapping pay equity, and then excluded workforce pay and conditions from this review’s scope.

“You can’t have it both ways. If a well-trained, fairly paid workforce is critical to making this reform work, and the report says it is, then pay equity and secure employment must be part of the conversation.

“We’re calling on all parties this election to commit to restoring and maintaining the legally established pay equity rate for home support workers. Anything less isn’t reform, it’s a repeat of the same underfunding that’s driven workers out of the sector for years.

“We need home support workers more than ever, and they need a secure career path so more stay and more join this vital workforce to care for our rapidly ageing population in their homes.

“But home support workers are employed in a precarious way, chasing broken shifts with no guarantee of hours. That has to change to a model that delivers fairly paid, guaranteed shift work, not piecemeal rostering that leaves workers unable to plan a life or build a career.

“We welcome the recommendation to extend Part 6A of the Employment Relations Act to care and support workers, which protects workers’ jobs and conditions when contracts change hands between providers. The PSA has already settled cases confirming this coverage, but the Government needs to make sure it is never in doubt.

“On worker’s travel, the PSA has already had to take legal action under the Wages Protection Act because home support workers were being short-changed on the true cost of driving between clients. The report’s proposal to modernise in-between travel is a step in the right direction, but it must properly cover the real cost of vehicle use.

“We support a genuine workforce strategy for care and support workers, but it needs to be developed in real partnership with unions, not just consultation after the decisions are made.

“This is a significant report, and it deserves genuine engagement from every party and that means commitment to funding the system properly and guaranteeing workers see the benefit. It has never been more vital to get this right.”

The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi (https://www.psa.org.nz/) 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.

Source: Oxylabs

Researchers have found that cloud platforms and baseline infrastructure tools drive employer demand across more than 850,000 listings.

Vilnius, Lithuania, August 14, 2026. – The U.S. labor market has recently posted its worst monthly numbers in over a year. But for tech professionals wondering where to invest their time, the skills employers want haven't changed.

A new analysis by Oxylabs, a web intelligence company, examined roughly 850,000 U.S. tech job postings published between January 2025 and March 2026. The finding: cloud platforms and foundational infrastructure tools – not the buzziest skills on social media – dominate hiring requirements.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) appears in 30% of all postings. It is followed by Microsoft Azure (24%), Git (21%), Excel (15%), Google Cloud Platform or GCP (14%), Kubernetes (14%), Docker (13%), Power BI (9%), Terraform (8%), and Tableau (7%).

Nearly 42% of all analyzed postings required knowledge of at least one major cloud platform. AWS and Azure also emerged as the most co-mentioned duo, appearing together in 15% of job descriptions.

The report highlights a market heavily weighted toward infrastructure, with cloud platforms accounting for 47% of all tool mentions, followed by DevOps tooling at 30% and business intelligence at 18%.

“The picture we saw after analyzing close to a million job postings largely confirms what experienced developers would guess – cloud, infrastructure, and data skills are in high demand. Where it gets more interesting is in the proportions: cloud platforms and DevOps tooling dominate job ads even more heavily than survey-based rankings suggest, while some high-visibility skills (the ones trending on X or headlining conference talks) appear less often than you might think,” said Andrius Kūkšta, Tech Lead at Oxylabs.

Data Infrastructure Beats Online Hype

Despite ongoing tech layoffs, hiring activity rose sharply earlier this year, with the first quarter of 2026 accounting for 39% of all listings in the dataset – 3.7 times more activity than the same period a year earlier.

Software engineering roles represented the largest share of posting volume at 38%, followed by Data Science and AI/ML at 14%, Tech and Engineering Management at 14%, and DevOps and Cloud roles at 12%.

The distribution of tool requirements across function categories reveals a market that is heavily weighted toward infrastructure and deployment, with more specialized data and analytics skills concentrated in narrower segments of the workforce.

Looking at the five broad tool categories analyzed, Data Storage and Infrastructure tools – primarily cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and GCP – account for 47% of all tool mentions across tech job postings. DevOps and Developer Experience tools, led by Git and including Docker, Kubernetes, and Terraform, represent 30%.

Business Intelligence and Analytics tools – Power BI, Tableau, and Looker – account for 18%. Data Ingestion and Transformation tools such as dbt, Fivetran, Kafka, and Airbyte make up just 4%, while Orchestration and Observability tools like Airflow represent 1%.

“Chasing the most ‘advanced’ or talked-about tools without building cloud fundamentals first is a risky strategy. The data suggests professionals should first identify their target role category, then master the toolset specific to that path,” said Kūkšta.

Regional Patterns and Industry Demand

Geographically, California led total posting volume at 13%, followed by Texas at 8% and New York at 5%. However, Virginia stood out by posting nearly three times as many tech jobs per capita as the national average, driven by its massive concentration of data centers serving major cloud providers.

While AWS was the top-requested cloud platform across the majority of states, Azure took the lead across a specific cluster of Upper Midwest and Southern states, including Minnesota, Indiana, and Tennessee, reflecting regional enterprise ties in manufacturing and healthcare.

Outside of the core tech sector, which generated 45% of all listings, professional services accounted for 17% of hiring demand, followed by finance and manufacturing at 8% each. Media and entertainment also emerged as an active recruiter for cloud-native talent, relying heavily on AWS and Git for digital production pipelines.

Full research report: https://oxylabs.io/press-area/tech-tools-us-job-postings-demand

About the Expert

Andrius Kūkšta is a Tech Lead in the R&D team at Oxylabs. Over more than eight years there, he has progressed through roles including Analyst, Software Engineer, ML Engineer, Data Engineer, and R&D Engineer. He has contributed to several core products and is the author or co-author of five patents based on Oxylabs technologies. His work focuses on the latest AI and emerging technologies, translating trends into practical solutions. Outside of work, he is involved in sports analytics for the basketball club Žalgiris Kaunas.

About the Oxylabs Research Team

Oxylabs Research is the research and storytelling team at Oxylabs. We use ethical, compliant Oxylabs scraping tools to collect only publicly available web data – never private, paywalled, or personal data – and turn it into clear, timely insights that help everyone make sense of a fast‑changing technological, economic, and social reality. Our work is designed to support original reporting and analysis by journalists and to serve the broader public good.

About Oxylabs

Established in 2015, Oxylabs is a web intelligence platform and premium proxy provider, enabling companies of all sizes to utilize the power of big data. Constant innovation, an extensive patent portfolio, and a focus on ethics have allowed Oxylabs to become a global leader in the web intelligence collection industry and forge close ties with dozens of Fortune Global 500 companies. Oxylabs was named Europe’s fastest-growing web intelligence acquisition company in the Financial Times FT 1000 list for several consecutive years. For more information, please visit: https://oxylabs.io/

Source: Greenpeace

Thousands of people across Aotearoa have taken part in a nationwide day of action today, calling on the Coalition Government to keep its hands off public conservation land and throw out the Conservation Amendment Bill.

More than 35 protests took place across the country, coordinated by Greenpeace and organised by local communities from Invercargill all the way up to Aotea Great Barrier Island.

Greenpeace campaigner Gen Toop says the scale of the mobilisation reflects how strongly New Zealanders feel about protecting public conservation land.

“New Zealanders are fed up with this Coalition Government's attempt to exploit and degrade public conservation land. These are the places where we go camping, tramping, hunting or fishing, and they are places that we love deeply.

“The Conservation Amendment Bill is rotten to its core. It opens the door to more mining, more commercial exploitation and degradation of the wildlife and places we all love.”

“Today, thousands of people, from all walks of life, have taken to parks, forests, rivers, and town centres, to demonstrate their opposition to the Bill and to tell the Government to keep its hands off public conservation land.”

The Conservation Amendment Bill proposes to change the purpose of the Conservation Act from protecting nature to enabling commercial exploitation “to the greatest extent practicable. It originally proposed making it easier to sell off around 5 million hectares of public conservation land, before the Government backed down and committed to removing those provisions.

Organisers at more than 35 protests across the country took action with their communities – from creating giant driftwood messages riverbanks, holding rallies in public parks and flying banners in conservation areas.

Speaking from the Coromandel protest, Catherine Delahunty, Chair of Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki, said, “Our community is participating in the national day of action to protect conservation land because the last thing we need is more development in our forests. We already have mining companies preparing for toxic gold mining on this land and the Conservation Amendment Bill is the last straw.

“Today our people are rallying in the Wentworth Valley against Rua Gold mining plans and some are also protesting Shane Jones who will be in Thames at 2pm. We must protect the forests, not the greed of multinational miners.”

Greenpeace’s Gen Toop says this is just the beginning.

“Public conservation land exists today because generations of New Zealanders have cared for it and fought to protect it. Today showed that people across Aotearoa are ready to do that again.”

“We know we have a responsibility to leave these places as wild and beautiful for the wildlife that depends on them, and for the generations who come after us.”

“In a month's time, people will come together in Auckland to March for Nature. The Coalition Government's war on nature cannot continue. It must bin the Conservation Amendment Bill, stop dismantling environmental protections and start protecting nature for generations to come.”

Photo and video: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Y39hNkUpT7l3KZMg63j5xreVnEJUuED7?usp=sharing