MIL Email Publisher (NZ)

Source: World Vision

• Death toll continues to rise, with more than 180 people confirmed dead and 1,300 injured, as search efforts for missing people remain underway

• World Vision reports that children amongst most vulnerable

• Communications and access to the hardest-hit areas remain challenging

• World Vision is identifying urgent needs, with support focused on shelter, safe water, hygiene, and essential items for children and families

World Vision are carrying out rapid emergency assessments following the powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck Colombia on 10 August.

World Vison is working with local authorities and organisations to assess needs, identify humanitarian access routes, and determine where assistance is most urgently required.

The child-focused humanitarian organisation warns that children are most at risk following the deadly earthquake, which was felt across several major cities, including Bogotá, Manizales, Pereira and Cali, with its epicentre located in the department of Chocó.

“Children are particularly vulnerable when emergencies disrupt homes, essential services, and the systems that normally protect them,” says Peter Gape, Bi-national Director for Colombia and Venezuela.

“Ensuring their safety and wellbeing will remain central to our response. Our teams are working directly with communities, authorities and humanitarian partners to understand where the greatest needs are and how assistance can reach families safely and quickly.”

World Vision is focusing on the immediate needs of children and families.

Planned assistance includes emergency shelter and essential household items such as tarpaulins, tools, blankets, sleeping mats, mosquito nets, kitchen utensils and lamps, along with water filters, hygiene kits, purification tablets and community water storage solutions to address water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) needs.

World Vision also plans to establish Child-Friendly Spaces to provide safe environments and activities for children and adolescents affected by the emergency, alongside ready-to-eat food for the most vulnerable.

The full impact of the earthquake is still unfolding, with several areas remaining without electricity and water, and communication systems are disrupted and overwhelmed. The earthquake, which had a depth of 88 kilometres, was felt as far as Ecuador and Panama, where metro service was suspended as a precaution following the seismic alert.

As the scale of the disaster becomes clearer, attention is turning to the immediate needs of children and families affected.

World Vision New Zealand National Director, TJ Grant, says,

“New Zealanders know too well how suddenly an earthquake can turn lives upside down. Our teams are already on the ground, working with local partners to understand where the needs are greatest and help ensure children and families get the support they urgently need.”

Source: New Zealand Nurses Organisation

The Nursing Council chief executive is latest in a string of resignations after its board was gutted by Health Minister Simeon Brown, NZNO says.

Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says Nursing Council staff were told today that Catherine Byrne has resigned her role as chief executive.

“Catherine Byrne is a respected nurse leader who has steered the Nursing Council through important developments including introducing new nursing standards and Te Tiriti-led cultural competency guidance, kawa whakaruruhau.

“Her departure follows three other recent departures from the Council’s executive team; the chief nursing education advisor and two legal advisors.

“The Councils’ executive are leaving in droves. This is the direct result of the Minister’s gutting of the Council’s board.

“Since late last year, Simeon Brown has replaced eight existing members, despite four of them wanting to stay on. Of the remaining four, two internationally qualified nurses resigned in protest and the other two members did not seek reappointment,” Kerri Nuku says.

The changes at the Nursing Council echo changes at the Medical Council which the Minister said were made because of their “ideological agenda (https://www.thepost.co.nz/politics/361024008/simeon-brown-ousts-medical-council-leadership-over-ideological-agenda)”.

“Simeon Brown has now gone after the Nursing Council because it rightly believed that improving the health outcomes of Māori through culturally safe care was better for all of Aotearoa New Zealand,” Kerri Nuku says.

Source: Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

Amman/Jerusalem, 13 August – Thousands of people in Gaza, Palestine, are at heightened risk of death and severe illness, as Israeli authorities continue to restrict the entry of engine oil and spare parts into the enclave, warns Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

These supplies are needed to keep hospital generators, ambulances, water pumps and water trucks running. The impediment of these essential services is emblematic of Israel's systematic destruction of the necessities for life in Gaza.

In some facilities, MSF barely has enough engine oil to last a month, and some of our equipment has already been affected by shortages. We are forced to try and find stocks at the local market for extortionate prices. The supply of engine oil is so limited that the price has increased 20 times in the last six months. By the end of July, it was
more than US$1,300 per litre. Neither the quality nor the availability is guaranteed.

On 5 August, one of the generators at the MSF field hospital in Deir Al Balah broke down. Forced to rely on a smaller backup generator, teams had to drastically ration electricity during this time. We were only able to run the operating theatre for people in the most critical condition; nurses could not sterilise essential equipment, x-ray services stopped, and people with painful burns were left to suffer in extreme heat without air conditioning.

“What we are witnessing in Gaza is not a series of isolated shortages, it is a policy of attrition by design,” says Filipe Ribeiro, MSF Head of Mission in Palestine. “For more than two years, we have observed Israel's policies impairing the entry of supplies. These policies do not merely delay aid; they dismantle the very systems people rely on to survive.”

“Today it is engine oil and spare parts. Tomorrow it will be something else,” says Ribeiro. “The items change, but the logic remains the same:

• reduce people to conditions where life becomes untenable, where dignity
• is systematically stripped away through the denial of the most ordinary,
• most essential goods. This is not bureaucracy. It is a deliberate effort to make existence itself impossible.”

In Gaza, most electricity has been cut by Israeli authorities and much of the electrical infrastructure has been destroyed. Hospitals and other essential services now rely almost entirely on generators. Without engine oil and replacement parts, these generators are increasingly breaking down.

If generators stop working, there are no alternative power sources such as solar systems or replacement equipment. New generators or new vehicles have also been blocked by Israeli authorities.

“When generators break down, hospitals are at risk,” says Ola Bardawil, deputy project coordinator. “Newborn babies in incubators, people who rely on oxygen generators, or those in need of lifesaving surgery will suffer.”

The withholding of engine oil and spare parts is not isolated, but part of wider restrictions imposed as part of Israel's genocide, using structural violence to intentionally limit access to vital services and supplies. The entry of engine oil and spare parts alone will not be enough to improve the lives of people in Gaza. Israel must immediately lift its blockade and allow the sustained, unhindered entry of all medical, humanitarian and commercial supplies needed to respond to people's immense needs.

The consequences extend far beyond hospitals. Currently, people's access to drinking water relies on trucks bringing water to the areas where they are sheltering. A survey carried out in July by organisations monitoring water and sanitation found that 90 per cent of households experience moderate to high water insecurity.

Without engine oil, all transport is at risk of stopping, including much needed water trucks at the height of the summer heat. This also means ambulances, buses enabling medical staff to come to work, and trucks collecting humanitarian supplies. Bakeries and flour mills also run off generators, meaning food production could be affected.

One of the generators in MSF's water desalination hub is already damaged due to the lack of engine oil and spare parts to replace what is broken.
In June, we had to start reducing its use from 12 to seven hours per day, resulting in a decrease in drinking water production from 600,000 litres to 350,000 litres a day. This means over 40,000 fewer people can receive water each day.

Israel's restrictions have become increasingly expansive, preventing the entry not only of generators and vehicles but also routine items, from ointments for skin diseases to rubber seals needed for machines to clean medical equipment. The shortages now extend across virtually every aspect of life in Gaza, leaving hospitals and humanitarian organisations without basic supplies.

Source: Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa

 

Proceedings have been filed today (eds 12 August) in the Wellington High Court challenging the government’s approval of BlackSky spy satellite launches from the Rocket Lab site at Māhia.

The grounds state the satellites risk supplying Israel’s military with targeting data to use in Gaza.

 

New Zealand-founded space company Rocket Lab is BlackSky’s primary launch provider.  It launched a BlackSky satellite from Māhia back in March, with further launches recently approved by the Minister for Space.

 

The claim challenges former space minister Judith Collins’ approval of four launches, despite protest at BlackSky’s links to Israel.The claim is also made against the new space minister Chris Penk, who in April approved 26 more satellite launches which the plaintiffs hope to stop.

 

The pleadings are laid under the Outer Space and High-altitude Activities Act 2017.

 

The three plaintiffs are New Zealand citizens.  

 

The first plaintiff, Yasser Abdulaal, is an engineer in Christchurch.  His family sought refuge in Gaza when Zionist militia inflicted the Nakba (catastrophe) in 1948.  

They have suffered the devastation of Israel’s air strikes on Gaza since October 2023.

“More than 85 of my extended family have been killed in multiple air strikes by Israel. My two sisters have had to live in terrible conditions with their families in tents in the Al Mawasi area for more than two years now.”

 

“Israel is still bombing and killing in Gaza. We hope that we will stop these satellite launches.”

 

Maher Nazzal, the second plaintiff, is an information technology professional based in Auckland. His parents were displaced from their homes during the 1967 Naksa (the “setback”), when Israel occupied the West Bank.

 

“I have seen firsthand the struggles Palestinians face, including members of my own family. They continue to endure severe oppression and displacement in the West Bank and Gaza.”

 

“I am proud to be part of this legal action. We are asking our government to take meaningful action in support of Palestinian rights and to uphold its obligations under international law.”

 

The third plaintiff is Dr Timoti Te Moke (Ngāti Rangitihi, Tapuika and Tonga). He is a doctor working at Middlemore and Auckland Hospitals.

 

“I’m joining this case because I feel a strong affiliation with the Palestinian people.  Tangata whenua and Palestinians have both suffered colonial violence and so have a powerful connection with each other.”

 

Dr Te Moke is an independent candidate in the Māngere electorate for the upcoming 2026 general election.    

 

The pleadings note that Judith Collins and MBIE knew, when they approved the launch of BlackSky’s spy satellites in late 2023, that BlackSky’s satellites had been used by Israel. 

At the time, air strikes by Israel over Gaza had killed nearly 20,000 people.

 

The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa, which is backing the case, raised their concern over Israeli military use for BlackSky satellites with Collins in November 2024.

PSNA spokesperson Rinad Tamimi says the result was ‘wilful ignorance.’

 

“Neither Collins nor MBIE questioned, when they were deciding to grant BlackSky’s payload permit in December 2023, whether the Israeli military was a current end-user of the satellites.”

“All Collins or her ministry needed to do was pick up the phone and ask whether the Israelis were part of the deal. But it’s most likely they feared they would get an answer they didn’t want.”

 

Collins refused all PSNA requests to reconsider her approval of the satellite launches. 

 

France based publication Intelligence Online reported in July 2024 that Israel was BlackSky’s ‘main foreign customer’.

 

A recent Federal Court outcome in Australia requires the Australian Defence Minister to release information on Australian arms exports to Israel.

 

Australia based Palestine advocacy organisations say they sought the information so they could assess whether these exports, such as F35 aircraft spare parts, could be used to commit human rights abuses, or were contrary to Australia’s international obligations or commitments.

 

“Right throughout the western world there is a pattern of secrecy about  arms exports to Israel.  It’s now unravelling.  Complicity with genocide is being exposed. Our government is part of that duplicity and now exposure,” Tamimi says.

 

Sam Vincent, one of the lawyers acting for the plaintiffs, says BlackSky is well known for the sophistication of its geospatial data.

 

“It is no secret that Israel has systematically relied on geospatial intelligence, such as BlackSky provides, for its targeting.”

 

“The case against the former space minister is that she did not take into consideration New Zealand’s obligations under the Genocide Convention nor broader international human rights law when she approved these satellite launches.”

 

“This was despite the likelihood that Israel was using these satellites, and would continue to use them for military targeting.” 

 

“Against protestations, the four BlackSky satellites Judith Collins approved are now in space.”

 

“There are 26 more BlackSky satellites now approved for launch by the new Minister – while Israel continues to strike Gaza. We are seeking an order that will quash the Minister’s approval and direct that he inquire into BlackSky’s likely supply of data to Israel.” 

 

Another of the lawyers acting for the plaintiffs, Ruby Haazen, says the UN’s independent commission of inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel has found Israel to have committed genocide in Gaza.  

 

“Many scholars, such as Omar Bartov, and international organisations such as Amnesty International, and the International Association of Genocide Scholars, have also found Israel has committed genocide in Gaza,” Haazen says.

 

“In January 2024, the International Court of Justice found it plausible that Israel’s military operations in Gaza risked irreparable harm to Palestinians rights under the Genocide Convention, putting all states on notice of their duty to act to prevent genocide. New Zealand is obliged to live up to that duty.”

Source: New Zealand Nurses Organisation

NZNO West Auckland nurses and Te Atatū MP Phil Twyford will host a meeting tomorrow to discuss ways to end understaffing at Waitākere hospital!

Waitākere Hospital is among the worst-staffed and worst-resourced hospitals in Aotearoa.

Patients, whānau, and healthcare workers are all feeling the consequences. As nurses and healthcare assistants working in West Auckland see the impact every day.

Where: Te Pai Centre, Te Pai Place, Henderson, Auckland

When: 7pm to 8.30pm, 13 August 2026

Source: Ministry for Culture and Heritage

The national Vietnam Veterans’ Day commemoration will be held on Tuesday 18 August at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington.

“We invite New Zealanders to join us at Pukeahu to commemorate Vietnam Veterans’ Day and honour everyone who served during the Vietnam War,” says Secretary for Culture and Heritage Leauanae Laulu Mac Leauanae.

“This year marks 60 years since the Battle of Long Tan, one of the most significant engagements involving New Zealand personnel during the Vietnam War and an important moment in our shared Anzac military history.

“On 18 August 1966, a three-person New Zealand artillery Forward Observer party, attached to Australian infantry, came under intense attack from a much larger enemy force in the Long Tan rubber plantation.

“In extremely difficult conditions, Captain Maurice Stanley, Lance-Bombardier Murray Broomhall, and Signaller Willie Walker kept communications open and directed artillery fire that was critical to the outcome of the battle.

“They were supported by the gunners of 161 Battery, Royal New Zealand Artillery, based at Nui Dat. Working with Australian and American artillery units, they delivered sustained and accurate fire that helped prevent the defending force from being overwhelmed.

“The Battle of Long Tan showed the courage, professionalism and teamwork of New Zealand and Australian personnel under immense pressure.

“As we mark this 60th anniversary, we honour those involved in the battle, the more than 3,000 New Zealand military personnel who served in Vietnam, the civilian medical and aid workers who supported them, and the 39 New Zealanders who lost their lives.

“Vietnam Veterans’ Day is a time to reflect on their service and sacrifice, acknowledge the challenges veterans and their whānau faced after the war, and ensure their stories are remembered by future generations.”

People attending this year’s commemoration are asked to arrive at the Hall of Memories at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park by 10.45am for an 11.00am start.

Further information

Vietnam Veterans’ Day commemorates the service of New Zealand military and civilian personnel during the Vietnam War.

The date marks the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan, fought on 18 August 1966.

More than 3,000 New Zealand military personnel served in Vietnam between 1964 and 1975, alongside civilian medical and aid workers.

Thirty-nine New Zealanders lost their lives during the conflict, including two civilians.

More information about New Zealand’s involvement in the Vietnam War is available at:

https://vietnamwar.govt.nz/ (https://vietnamwar.govt.nz/)

https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/vietnam-war (https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/vietnam-war)

Captions:

long-tan-memorial.jpg – Dedication of Long Tan memorial cross on the site of the battle, 1969 (Noel Bell/VietnamWar.govt.nz)

Source: Environmental Protection Authority

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) welcomes the fine for the Far North Waters Alliance (FNWA) for illegally clearing vegetation within, or within a 10-metre setback of, a natural wetland.

On 5 August the Whangārei District Court fined the FNWA $42,250 after pleading guilty to a charge under the Resource Management Act.

The EPA initiated the charge, which relates to the clearing of approximately 0.35 hectares of indigenous vegetation (primarily kānuka and mānuka trees) in and around the Sweetwater Bore Wetlands, near Awanui in Northland, in August 2023.

The general surrounding area of the site contains regionally significant features including dune lakes, peat swamps and shrublands on dunes.

EPA Acting General Manager of Compliance, Monitoring and Enforcement, Brian Ruiterman, says the successful prosecution shows the importance of following the rules around protected areas, such as wetlands.

“Our natural wetlands are taonga that need to be protected. The Resource Management Act and planning frameworks make it very clear what is and isn’t allowed to happen in and around these natural resources.

“We welcome the guilty plea and the court’s decision and hope it serves as a reminder of the care needed when working in and around Aotearoa New Zealand’s sensitive environments.”

The FNWA also donated $25,000 to a charity for use in wider wetland restoration projects in the Far North District.

During sentencing, Judge K G Reid observed that the public would expect a high standard of care to be exercised by the water entity.

“The works may have been important, but so was ensuring that the commissioning work was appropriately authorised and that the environment was protected,” said Judge Reid.

Editor’s note:

There is also an enforcement order requiring the landowner to remediate the area. Read more about that here: Kaitaia wetland enforcement order | EPA (https://www.epa.govt.nz/industry-areas/compliance-monitoring-enforcement/enforcement-activities/kaitaia-wetland-enforcement-order/)

Source: New Zealand Nurses Organisation

A decision by the New Zealand Nursing Council to pause part of its recertification process will put patients at risk, NZNO says.

Every year the Nursing Council audits five percent of practising nurses to provide assurance that nurses are meeting continuing competence requirements (https://www.nursingcouncil.org.nz/Public/Nursing/Continuing_competence/NCNZ/nursing-section/Continuing_Competence.aspx).

Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says the Nursing Council temporarily paused Recertification Audit requirements earlier this month as part of a “strategic review of the continuing competence requirements for enrolled and registered nurses”.

“Despite this, the Nursing Council is continuing to assess nurses’ portfolios as part of their Annual Practising Certificates.

“This makes no sense. The only explanation is the new board appointed by the Minister of Health has asked for the pause so culturally safe competencies and references to Te Tiriti o Waitangi can be removed from the process.

“Simeon Brown has form here after admitting he made unprecedented and sweeping changes (https://www.thepost.co.nz/politics/361024008/simeon-brown-ousts-medical-council-leadership-over-ideological-agenda) to the Medical Council because he believed members were ‘pursuing an ideological agenda and becoming distracted from its core responsibilities’.

“This is a further ministerial overreach from Simeon Brown who has already gutted the Council board and made four of his own appointees. This took the number of nurses on the board from seven down to four.

“The Minister is the one pursuing an ideological agenda here. How can patients be assured nurses are competent in their work if the audit process is paused? This puts patients at risk,” she says.

As the largest independent organisation of nurses, NZNO has written to the Nursing Council seeking a meeting to discuss the pause and the strategic review, Kerri Nuku says.

“The Minister needs to leave nursing registration to those who understand nurses and the importance of providing culturally appropriate care. There is a growing body of evidence in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally that culturally safe care improves health outcomes and the adherence to treatments.

“Patients need experienced nurses deciding if nurses are competent in their work, not the Health Minister,” Kerri Nuku says.

– Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa will this week hold its annual Hui-ā-tau – the biggest hui for indigenous nurses in Aotearoa New Zealand – in Tāmaki Makaurau. Details about the programme are to follow.

Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand

Fire and Emergency New Zealand received calls for 17 incidents between 12 pm and 1pm today, Wednesday 12 August, the fifty-third time the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) has taken strike action.

Of the 17 incidents, eight were in areas impacted by the strike.

Two were medical events that were attended to by Hato Hone St John, as per contingency planning.

One was a minor incident and four were false alarms.

One was for a structure fire in Invercargill that Fire and Emergency was alerted to at 12.42 by the occupant of the house who was trapped inside. Two Assistant District Commanders arrived at 12.48 and 12.50, by which time the occupant had been removed from the house. Volunteer fire crews were deployed from Invercargill, Wallacetown, Winton and Bluff. The first truck arrived at 12.54.

“Fire and Emergency would like to thank members of the public at the scene. Without their help this incident could have ended very differently,” Deputy National Commander Megan Stiffler says.

“We have repeatedly warned about the risk the NZPFU is placing the public in every time it goes on strike.

“We acknowledge and appreciate the dedication of the volunteers and Operational Commanders who responded to this incident and the Communication Centre Managers who coordinated the response.

We also recognise the volunteers and staff across the country who have managed the 53 strike responses to date.

“We continue to call on the NZPFU to call off these reckless strikes and have asked it to urgently return to independent facilitation so we can make progress toward a fair and sustainable settlement.

“Fire and Emergency remains committed to achieving a fair and sustainable settlement so we can continue working to keep communities safe.

“As we have unfortunately seen today, emergency responses will be delayed when strike action takes place,” Megan Stiffler says.